rble support the structure.

[Illustration: THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE]

In the #North Choir Aisle#, on opposite sides, may be seen two interesting
mediaeval relics. On the north side is part of a fourteenth-century
reredos, probably that which stood behind the high altar. It was found at
the back of the present altar, concealed behind the regulation panels on
which the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments were painted. It had
evidently been itself partially repainted in a rougher style than the
original. The painting represents the Resurrection. The portrait of an
abbess is to be seen in the left-hand corner; above is a row of ten
figures--saints, bishops, and holy women. On the opposite wall, carefully
preserved behind a sheet of glass, is a piece of fifteenth-century
needlework; originally it was a cope, and was in more recent times used as
an altar cloth, its shape having of course been altered to adapt it to its
new use.

The east end of the north choir aisle, internally apsidal though not
externally, is now fitted up with an altar as a chapel for week-day or
early morning services. Passing to the south we enter the ambulatory. It
is vaulted in stone, and the plain horseshoe arches at the end without any
ribs (see illustration), are worthy of notice. In this space several
interesting relics of the old abbey, and some conjectural models of
the church in its former condition, may be seen. Here, too, is a
fifteenth-century walnut wood chest: and here are two stone cressets,
possibly used by the builders, which when done with were built by them
into the walls, where they remained until discovered during the
nineteenth-century restoration of the church.

[Illustration: THE AMBULATORY, LOOKING NORTH]

Among the relics is a very curious one which was found in 1839. A grave
was being dug in the south aisle near the abbess's door, and about five
feet below the floor the workmen came upon a singular leaden coffin. It
was 18 in. wide at the head and tapered gradually to 13 in. at the foot;
it was only 5 ft. long and 15 in. deep. The lead was very thick, and the
seams were folded over and welded, no solder being used. The lead was much
decayed. The curious thing about it is that when it was opened not a bone
was found within it; the lead coffin had contained an oaken shell which
crumbled into dust on exposure to the air, but within the coffin lying on
a block of oak, so shaped as to receive the head of the corpse, was a
tres