n width between the transepts and the new nave is in the
aisles. The plan of the transepts had no influence on the plan of the
nave. The large triforium, small clerestory, and moderate-sized main
arches give way to a large clerestory, large main arches, and
practically non-existent triforium. These are unusual proportions in
English Churches of that period. At Ely, Westminster, Beverley, and many
other places, the proportions of Norman or Early English work influenced
those of the later Decorated and Perpendicular.

The records of the building of the nave are somewhat scanty. Stubbs
tells us that the foundation stone was laid on April 6, 1291, and that
it was begun on the south side towards the east. It has been supposed
that the chief object of making the new nave so much wider and loftier
than its predecessor, was that it might be built round the old work
without interfering with its utility.

But a petition, dated 1298, states that the old nave had long since
fallen (_diu est corruita_). If this were so there was no object in
refraining from disturbing the old work. It is uncertain whether the
nave had been purposely destroyed, or had fallen of its own weight. It
may be, though we have no record of the fact, that Thomas's Norman tower
fell down, as did so many Norman central towers, destroying with it some
part of the nave, and so made the rebuilding of that part of the church
necessary.

The nave is fully developed geometrical Decorated work. It is loftier
than the transepts, and its roof is low pitched. The main part of the
rebuilding seems to have been done between 1298 and 1320. The indenture
for glazing the great west window is still extant, and is dated 1338.
The nave must have been roofed before this.

The vault was probably intended to be stone, but the great width of the
building seems to have made the builders afraid, and they erected a
vault of wood, but shaped and ribbed to look like stone. The outer walls
of the clerestory, and the pinnacles of the south side of the nave show
vestiges of flying buttresses. It is uncertain whether these were merely
intended when a stone vault was projected, or whether they were actually
erected, and afterwards, being unnecessary for the support of a wooden
vault, were allowed to fall into disrepair. There are no flying
buttresses on the north side, and the pinnacles are much smaller.

The west front was undoubtedly the latest part of the work to be
finished, except t