inchester Cathedral is disappointing, and few are likely to echo the
opinion of an over-zealous admirer of the building who said that the
longer one looks at it the more one feels the low central tower to be
the only kind that would suit the huge proportions of the building. On
the contrary, it may be said that it is impossible to look at Winchester
without a feeling of regret that the superb mass of the great fabric,
the largest mediaeval church in England since the destruction of old S.
Paul's, is not crowned by a loftier central tower. There is a legend to
the effect that there were seven towers in the original design--the
central one, two at the west end, and one at each angle of the
transepts; and this seems to be supported by the solid character of some
of the piers in the transepts. Yet, despite the rather ungraceful
outline of the whole building, when its mere size is realised, it
gradually asserts its importance and incontrovertibly proves its right
to be considered one of the very finest structures in England.

It will not be out of place to quote a short criticism which sums up the
external qualities of the cathedral in a concise way:--"With the
exception of portions of the late work in the presbytery, the exterior
of Winchester is severe in treatment, and plain wall-space plays an
important part in the design. Plain parapets and simply treated
pinnacles characterise the work of the nave. The Norman transepts are
externally but little altered, except by the insertion of Decorated
windows to give more light to the altars in their eastern aisles; and De
Lucy's work eastwards is, compared with some work of its date, simple in
the extreme. Rather more elaboration was bestowed on the design of the
new eastern bay of the Lady Chapel by Prior Silkstede and Bishop
Courtenay; but, taken as a whole, Winchester has one of the simplest
exteriors for its size and importance in the country" ("Winchester
Cathedral" in _The Builder_ for October 1892).

The ground-plan of Winchester Cathedral is in the form of a plain Latin
cross, hardly broken in its outline save by the Perpendicular
prolongation of the Lady Chapel at the east end. But, simple as is the
plan, "the great length of the church" (to use the words of Fergusson)
"is pleasingly broken ... by the bold projection of its transepts, which
here extend, as usual in England, three bays beyond the aisles, their
section being the same width as that of the nave." The width o