arrangement, the upper storeys of the bays did not correspond
with the arches below them. The narrower upper division was now over the
wider lower arch, and _vice versa_. It should be said that the triforium
of the division next to the piers of the lantern was built blank,
because, being so much narrower than the other bays, it would have been
impossible to give it decoration of the same character, and also because
a solid space of blank wall would give better support to the tower. An
account has been given in the history of the building of the minster and
the manner in which the piers of the lantern gradually received their
casings. The daring shown in this alteration of the transepts and the
disregard for continuity of design are very characteristic of the
builders of the period. They lavished extraordinary labour on beautiful
detail, but they cared very little how one part of that detail fitted in
with another. The spirit of their art was entirely opposed to that of
the renaissance architects, for the success of whose designs uniformity
and continuity of plan and detail were absolutely necessary. It is
curious, also, that these very builders who were so daring and so
profuse of ornament, were often very careless in matters of structure,
and at times were even guilty of something very like jerry-building, as
the account of the restoration of the south transept will show. The
vaulting of the transepts is also most unusual and well worthy of
attention. It raises many problems which have been little noticed by
most investigators of the history of the minster.

Like the vault of the nave, it is of wood, and dates probably from the
beginning of the fifteenth century. In the north transept it is covered
with plaster; in the south this has been removed by Mr Street, and oak
panelling inserted. It has been stated that the vault of the nave and
choir, though wooden, resembles a stone vault in form and structure. Not
so that of the transepts, which is a curious compromise between the form
of the ordinary vault of stone and the simple barrel roof. It is an
attempt, in fact, to combine the advantages of both.

It is the merit of groined vaulting that it emphasises the division into
bays, and is capable of great richness of structural decoration. On the
other hand, it involves a great loss of height, for the ridge of the
vault can be little higher than the top of the clerestory windows, and
it cuts off the whole space covered by