s are two
quatrefoils, set in which are figures (1) of a man attacking another man
drinking, and (2) one man driving another away. The sculpture over the
south door was destroyed in the fire of 1840, but a careful restoration
of it has been made. It consists of a man in the middle fighting with a
dragon, with sword and shield, and at the sides in the quatrefoils (1)
Delilah cutting the hair of Samson, and Samson and the lion; (2) a man
and woman fighting. The ends of the aisles are also ornamented with
arcading in three storeys, the lowest of which is like the lowest storey
of the arcading at the west end of the nave; the second a smaller series
of niches ornamented with gables and pinnacles; and the third a single
arcade on each side of the window, filled with geometrical tracery and
resembling those on the sides of the other aisle windows.

It cannot be said that this mass of niches and arcading at the west end
is either ingenious or successful. Arcading is a very beautiful
decoration where it is employed, as in a triforium, in single storeys,
to cover a definite even space. But where it is used to fill up an
irregularly-shaped mass of wall which there is no need to decorate, it
looks incoherent and confused. Had the wall been left bare it would have
afforded an excellent contrast to the elaborate pattern of the central
window. As it is, this decoration seems to be conceived in a spirit, of
which there are further evidences in the decoration of the west front of
the east end--the spirit of a builder determined to display the
magnificence of his resources even at the expense of symmetry and
refinement. This is a weakness that might be expected in the designer of
a London hotel, but not in a great mediaeval architect.

The nave was fitted with benches, seats, and a very mean-looking organ,
in 1863. It is lit by gas jets round the capitals of the piers.

The tombs of the nave are described in a general account of the
monuments of the church.

The present pavement dates from 1731. It was laid down according to the
design of William Kent, under the direction of Lord Burlington, the
amateur architect of Burlington House. The stone was given by Sir Edward
Gascoigne from Huddlestone. Some of the gravestones were also used for
the work. The work cost L2500, which was collected by subscription. The
pavement, though inoffensive, is not in keeping with the rest of the
church.

#The Transepts.#--The minster is generally enter