of the oval enclosure. This oval is supported by two
angels, the arms which hold the upper part being abnormally lengthened.
On each side is a round shaft, enriched with a deeply cut series of
ornaments running in a spiral; and at the head is a cushion capital with
interlacing ornamentation. On each side of the shaft is a square pillar,
the outer one having some curious figures of beasts and other objects
enclosed in circular rings, while the foliage of the inner one is
singularly like a premature specimen of Early English conventional
decoration. The topmost stone of this inner jamb is enlarged into a
corbel to support the lintel, and is carved with a large face. The
expense of the restoration of this doorway was undertaken by the
Bedfordshire Architectural Society.[15]

One or two bays of the north alley of #The Cloister# have been lately
restored by Canon Dickson as a vestry for the choir-boys. These are not,
of course, now open to the air. Against the wall of the church can be
seen the Norman arcading, showing there were cloisters from the first;
while the remains of the windows towards the cloister enclosure, to be
seen in the north and east alleys, tell us that they were rebuilt in the
Perpendicular period, probably in the last quarter of the fifteenth
century. Some corbels remain in the wall of the cathedral. The roof of
the cloister was therefore of wood; but there are remains of vaulting to
the west of the prior's door, so perhaps the western alley had a stone
roof. The first window to the west of the prior's door is original
Norman; all the rest (except one) were changed into three light windows,
apparently of the same date as those in the north aisle, but have lately
been reconstructed in the Norman style. This applies only to the windows
in the aisle; those in the triforium are of three lights, similar to
those removed from the aisle; and those in the clerestory are the
original Norman, just as on the north side.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Not many persons who travel by the Great Northern main line know
that a good view of Lincoln Cathedral is to be obtained from it.

[2] Introduction to Farren's "Cathedral Cities of Ely and
Norwich."

[3] Population of Ely, 1891, was 6,646; of Wells, 5,899.

[4] Ely is almost universally called a city, upon the supposition
that the mere fact of its having a cathedral constitutes the town
a city. But since the Norman Conquest the dignity