bout 100 feet from the
boundary; and was finished about 1130. Its nave consisted of eight bays,
and was about 140 feet long.

There was a very fine west front with a handsome central doorway of four
orders. The western wall was more than 7 feet in thickness, and had four
flat pilaster buttresses nearly 7 feet broad, and 15 inches deep.

The nave was provided with north and south aisles covered with
high-pitched wooden roofs, while the north and south transepts were also
roofed in a similar manner, and a small apsidal chapel projected from
the eastern face of each. The archway of the south transept apse is now
the entrance to St. Catherine's Chapel. With the exception of the
present elaborate entrance to the south transept and the window above
it, the transept is identical with that of the Norman minster.

The choir was only 80 feet long, reaching to the end of the present
stalls. Eastward it terminated in an apse. Its width can be judged from
traces of the original roof, still perceptible in the west wall of the
present choir. In accordance with a frequent arrangement, the ritual
choir extended westward of the crossing, and included the two eastern
bays of the nave.

In the centre was a low square typical Norman tower, 35 feet square, of
which the lower parts of the piers remain. To allow for the extension of
the ritual choir the eastern and western arches of the crossing were
carried on corbels.

White or grey sandstone from quarries in the district was used in the
construction of the minster, perhaps supplemented by stones from the
Roman wall. Stucco was applied to the exterior, red lines marking the
joints. There is no doubt that this stucco has materially helped to keep
the Norman stone-work in a good state of preservation.

It will be seen then that the original church was a Norman minster, of
moderate size, consisting of a nave, with north and south aisles, a
small choir, a low square tower, and north and south transepts.

Thus it remained till about 1250, when, as usually happened, the clergy
became dissatisfied with the smallness of their choir, and a new one was
projected on a much larger scale. Its length was to be equal to the
nave, while in height and breadth it was to be greater. The increased
length allowed room for the ritual choir on the east side of the
crossing.

Any extension of the cathedral on the south was prevented by the
presence of the conventual buildings: therefore the north choir-ais