young, and a cheerfulness and playfulness of
manner in intercourse with them, that rarely is an attribute of any but a
benevolent mind. We must not, however, linger upon the personal history
of the founder. Associated with him in the ceremony of laying the
foundation, we find the name of the great feudal lord of the castle,
Roger Bigod, and most of the nobility and barons of the district, one of
whom, Herbert de Rye, was a devote from the Holy Land. The first stone
was laid by Herbert, the second by De Rye, the other barons placing their
several stones, and contributing in money to the work. The church, as
left by Herbert, consisted of the whole choir, the lower part of which,
now remaining, is the original building, though much concealed by modern
screenwork; the roofs and upper part are of later date. Eborard, the
successor of Herbert, built the nave, not then raised to the present
height, but terminating at the line distinctly traceable below the
clerestory windows. The Catholic cathedral, or Catholic architecture, so
miscalled _Gothic_, is the pride and glory of the middle ages. The
spirit of the times, of fervent aspiration towards heaven, speaks in it
more, perhaps, than in the purer models of more ancient works.
Architecture was then the language through which thoughts found
expression, speaking to the eye, the mind, the heart, and imagination.
Kings, clergy, nobility, people, all contributed towards these
structures. Painting, sculpture, music, found a place in them, and
flourished under the auspices of religion. "The Anglo-Norman cathedrals
were perhaps as much distinguished," says Hallam, "above other works of
man, as the more splendid edifices of later date;" and they have their
peculiar effect, although perhaps not rivalling those of Westminster,
Wells, Lincoln, or York.

We shall not attempt to expound the details of the building; but even the
uninitiated may discern at a glance that it is a work to which many a
different age has lent its aid. The simplicity of the Anglo-Norman style
is blended with various specimens of later date, not inharmoniously. The
nave, with its beautifully grained and vaulted roof, and elaborately
sculptured bosses, like forest boughs, and pendant roots, with tales of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and hosts of other old Scripture heroes carved
upon them, might almost seem one work with the sterner aisles, but modern
windows bespeak the hand of perpendicularism to have been busy