f the nave
with the aisles is 88 feet, while the transepts measure, from east to
west, 81 feet. The total length has already been given as 556, and the
width from north to south across the transepts is 230 feet. The altitude
of the walls is 75 feet, which is a foot less than at Peterborough,
though three more than at Ely.

#The West Front#, the work of Bishop Edingdon, has been roughly handled
by its critics, though Britton calls it a fine specimen of Perpendicular
architecture. The original Norman work demolished by Edingdon was, as
excavations have proved, forty feet in advance of the present _facade_.
To judge by accounts of the destroyed portions, the west front in its
earlier state must have been far more imposing than it is at present,
for not only is it now commonplace in mass, but even the detail has no
particular charm to atone for the change. The whole of this work appears
so thoroughly Perpendicular in character that it has been questioned
whether at such an early date as that to which it is assigned the style
can have been so far developed. Woodward, indeed, though attributing to
Edingdon the walls and the principal part of the west end, declares the
tracery, the fronts of the porches, and much of the panelling to be
later; but a comparison of Winchester with another church undoubtedly
built by this bishop, at his native town of Edingdon, in Wiltshire,
supports the tradition which credits him with its erection. Besides this
evidence, we have additional proof in the fact that he left by his will
certain property to be devoted to the completion of the nave. Late
though his work may appear at first sight, yet when it is closely
examined and compared with Wykeham's work the difference is very
apparent.

[Illustration: THE WEST FRONT, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.
_S.B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]

The whole western _facade_ with its three bays is wanting in greatness,
and its effect may be said to be that of a large parish church rather
than a cathedral. Not only do we miss the western towers which are so
often the most striking feature of an English west front, but the screen
which masks the lower storey lacks the richness which distinguishes a
somewhat similar feature at Exeter. The curiously poor appearance,
notwithstanding its huge size, of the great west window is perhaps
chiefly responsible for the want of dignity in the whole; nor is there,
to redeem this, any delicate fancy in the tracery. The "merest stone
gratin