York, together
with various coats of arms. The lofty arches beneath the tower (55 feet
high) are of great grandeur, as will be seen from the illustration. The
four inside faces of the lantern are alike, each containing windows
above the three arches of the arcade, each of which comprises two
subarches springing from a quadrilateral shaft.

[Illustration: THE CROSSING, LOOKING WESTWARD.]

[Illustration: THE CHOIR.]

To the east is the #presbytery#, closed by the Wallingford or high altar
#screen.# This screen was sorely dilapidated, and all its niches were
stripped of their statues, no record remaining of whose statues
originally filled them. Mr. H. Hucks Gibbs (now Lord Aldenham) undertook
to restore this screen, making good the canopies and filling them again
with statues. The screen is of clunch, a hard stone from the lower chalk
formation quarried at Tottenhoe near Dunstable, a stone much used for
interior work in the church, though it will not stand exposure to
weather in exterior walls. The new statues are by Mr. Harry Hems of
Exeter; the larger ones of magnesian limestone from Mansfield Woodhouse,
Nottinghamshire, and the smaller of alabaster. They are excellent
examples of modern carved work. The general idea was to represent "the
Passion of our Lord and of the testimony of the faith in that Passion
given in the lives and deeds of men"[8] of English race. A careful
comparison of the screen (see illustration, p. 58), with the key given
(p. 59) will enable the reader to identify the persons represented.

[8] Lord Aldenham's words in describing his scheme.

The coloured altarpiece in high relief is by Mr. Alfred Gilbert, R.A.,
and is a work quite unique in character. It represents the resurrection.
In the centre is the upper half of our Lord's figure; on one side is an
angel holding a cross, emblem of faith; on the other, one holding a
crystal globe, emblem of dominion; the wings of these angels are formed
of mother-of-pearl, and before them are grills of brass scrollwork,
intended to give an air of mystery to their appearance. The work does
not appear to be fully finished, the grills being only roughly attached
to the wall. The space before the altar is paved with slabs of marble.

[Illustration: THE WALLINGFORD SCREEN.]

[Illustration: KEY TO THE SCULPTURE ON THE WALLINGFORD SCREEN]

In an arch south of the altar is Abbot John of Wheathampstead's chantry,
containing a splendid brass of Flemish workman