w nave, is at right angles
with it which would hardly have been the case had the two naves not
been on the same lines.
Needless to say the old east end could scarcely have extended beyond
the present nave, so that the new chancel was probably built without
disturbing the old church. The position of the older Lady Chapel
supports this view, while its bearing towards the north, as already
pointed out, indicates that the deflection of the new chancel is
simply copied from the older one.
The position of the south porch proves also that the south aisle was
as wide as the present one, while the fact that it was wider than the
nave shows that it was almost certainly not designed at the same time.
The nave is of six bays and is 54 feet high at the centre, while each
arch is 20 feet wide in the clear. The piers are slender, but, owing
to the depth of the panelling above the arches and the large size of
the windows, the weight upon them is reduced to a minimum. Shafts
carried up from the ground support the roof brackets, and there are
intermediate ones over the centre of each arch. The clearstory windows
of four lights each are in pairs, and the mullions are carried down to
form panelling and finish on the backs of the arches, which recede in
two sloping faces and form a somewhat unusual feature in the treatment
of the wall surface. The detail of the piers and arches is rather
weak, even for Perpendicular work.
[Illustration: INTERIOR FROM THE SOUTH DOOR.]
The =chancel= is about 93 feet long, and in height and width is 4 or 5
feet less than the corresponding nave measurements. Its width further
diminishes by about 31/2 feet in the length of the three bays. The
omission of a chancel arch is a step towards the ideal simplicity of
the late Perpendicular churches (_e.g._, St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich),
running from east to west without break, but the large rood piers and
reduced width and height of chancel make the pause demanded in so
long a church. The step at this point is of oak, and is probably the
original sill of the rood screen. The large figures of SS. Peter and
Paul were placed on the piers in 1861. Of the three arches which open
on either hand the centre one is widest, having four-light windows,
instead of three-light, over it. The panelling beneath the clearstory
is richer than that in the nave. The five four-light windows of the
apse are lofty and divided by two transoms, but the design is somewhat
commonplace.
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