, but the geometrical east
windows of the chapels were inserted in them, and now give light to the
retro-choir. The ends of the choir aisles are apsidal within, but flat
without. This arrangement leads to great thickness at the corners of the
walls.

At one time there was a detached campanile for the bells of Romsey. This
was pulled down in 1625 and the bells placed in the wooden cage erected
for them on the roof of the central tower. At this time there were six
bells only, but in 1791 they were, according to one account, taken down
and sold, and a fresh peal of eight bells cast for the church. According
to another account the six bells were melted down, fresh metal added, and
from this the larger peal of eight bells was cast. It is said to be in
perfect condition now, the tenor bell weighing 26 cwt.

[Illustration: THE CHOIR, SOUTH SIDE]

The stone of which the Abbey Church is built, was quarried at Binstead, in
the Isle of Wight. These quarries are now entirely worked out, so that no
stone can be obtained thence for repairs.

It is not to be expected that the restoration has met with universal
approval, but it may be truly said that the alterations have been far less
drastic than in many churches, and that the interior of the Abbey Church,
as we see it to-day, has much the appearance which it had after it had
become the parish church of Romsey about the middle of the sixteenth
century.

[Illustration: THE NAVE, NORTH SIDE]

CHAPTER III

THE INTERIOR

Immediately after entering the Abbey Church by the north door, it will be
well, in order to get a general idea of its size and beauty, to take one's
stand close to the west wall under the large lancet window. There is
nothing to break the view from the west to the east walls of choir and
ambulatory, a total distance of about 250 feet; for the wooden screen
which separates the choir from the crossing is too light and open to break
the vista. It will be noticed that with the exception of the western bays
of the nave, and the three-light geometrical windows in the eastern wall
of the choir, and the two windows of the ambulatory, everything is Norman
or transitional in character. The aisles have stone quadripartite vaulting
except in the added bays to the west, where the vaulting is merely
plaster. The high roof, like many in Norman churches, is a wooden one, for
Norman builders rarely dared to throw a stone vault over the nave or
choir, for as yet the princ