powerful persons, who under various
pretences defied the rights of the religious house. So the abbot's first
work was to recover these. By help of the king's commission he was
entirely successful. But while inquiries were being instituted, and
proceedings for recovery were being taken, he conceived the design of
erecting a very noble church, and set about laying the foundations of
it. He could not, from his great age, have hoped to see much progress
made, but he did live to see a very considerable portion completed. He
devoted a great part of his private fortune, which was large, to the
work. He began with the transepts. This is in itself sufficient to shew
that there was a choir in use. The regular practice, when a wholly new
church was to be built, was to commence at the east end. The lower part
of both transepts is Simeon's work. It is of plain Early Norman
character, and represents all that is now in existence of what he
erected. From a slight increase in ornamentation in the capitals in the
north transept, we infer that the actual commencement was made in the
south transept. Of course these transepts were of four bays--not as at
present, of three only--the bay in each case nearest the central tower
having been destroyed when the tower fell. That tower was of Norman
date, and is sometimes spoken of as Simeon's Tower. But he cannot have
built the whole of it. If he raised it as high as the great supporting
arches, which is of course possible, there must have been also supports
in all the four adjacent portions of the church, reaching almost to the
summit of the arches, so that he would have had to build at least one
bay of the triforium and clerestory stages. If he did so, all such work
perished with the fall of the tower. It is more probable that he raised
the piers of the tower arches only a few feet higher than the main
arcade of the transepts.

Abbot Simeon's successor, Richard (1100-1107), proceeded with the
building. No abbot had been appointed by William II., and the works had
consequently been suspended for seven years. Notwithstanding many
troubles and distractions (he was actually deposed at a council at
Westminster in 1102, though restored by Papal bull in the next year),
Abbot Richard made great advance in the building of the church. He was
only abbot for seven years. By 1106 he had finished the east end, which
may have terminated in an apse as at Peterborough, and possibly the
tower. On October 17 in tha