for a church or abbey, as there are cases when the
former are comparatively small buildings (like the old cathedral at
Athens), and some parish churches and abbeys are larger than many
cathedrals. In recent times, indeed, some English abbeys or minsters,
such as those of Ripon, Manchester, St Albans and Southwell, partly on
account of their dimensions, have been raised to the rank of cathedrals,
in consequence of the demand for additional sees; others, such as those
of Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford, Chester and Peterborough, became
cathedrals only on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

Under the headings NAVE, AISLE, CHOIR, APSE, CHEVET, and LADY-CHAPEL,
the principal arrangements of the plan of a cathedral are dealt with,
and its architectural features, such as TOWER and SPIRE, PORCH,
TRIFORIUM, CLERESTORY and VAULT, are separately defined; while in the
article ARCHITECTURE the evolution of the various styles in England,
France, Germany, Italy and Spain, is set forth. It is only necessary
here to deal with the development of the eastern end of English and
foreign cathedrals, as it was in those that the greatest changes from
the middle of the 11th century to the close of the 16th century took
place.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Plan of Canterbury Cathedral.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Plan of Salisbury Cathedral.]

The earliest extended development of the eastern end of the cathedral is
that which was first set out in Edward the Confessor's church at
Westminster, probably borrowed from the ancient church of St Martin at
Tours; in this church, dating probably from the 10th century, two new
elements are found, (1) the carrying of the choir aisle round a circular
apse so as to provide a processional aisle round the eastern end of the
church, and (2) five apsidal chapels, constituting the germ of the
chevet, which transformed the eastern terminations of the French
cathedrals in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is only within recent
times that the foundations of the early church at Tours with its choir
aisle and chapels have been traced under the existing church. In Edward
the Confessor's church (1050) there were probably only three chapels and
a processional aisle; in the next example at Gloucester (1089) were also
three chapels, two of which, on the north and south sides of the aisle,
still remain; the same is found in Canterbury (1096-1107) and Norwich
(1089-1119), the eastern chapel in all three cases having be