dreda. King Henry III. was present, as well as Prince
Edward, afterwards king. When the new portion of the church was ready,
the remains of the four saints were removed further east. In the Norman
church the high altar was in the chord of the apse, assuming one to have
been built; after Bishop Northwold's alterations it was placed at the
east end of the present sixth bay, where the apse terminated. The shrine
of the foundress was placed some feet further to the east, its eastern
face standing about twelve feet in front of the existing altar.

This work of Bishop Northwold completed the plan of the cathedral as it
now stands. The lady-chapel was indeed built afterwards, but that is to
all intents and purposes a separate building. Nor is there any later
thirteenth-century work in the church itself. The building operations of
the second half of the century were confined to the domestic part of the
monastery. As these were doubtless carried out by the convent from its
own resources, there is little notice to be found of them in the records
of the see. It is known that the rectory, now in the deanery grounds,
belonged to this period. It was finished in the time of Prior
Hemmingston (1274-1288).

[Illustration: THE SHRINE OF S. ETHELDREDA AS GIVEN IN BENTRAM'S "HISTORY
AND ANTIQUITIES"]

The first half of the next century was a time of great and important
work at the church. In 1321 the first stone of the lady-chapel was laid
by Alan de Walsingham, the sub-prior, afterwards sacrist. It was
finished in 1349; and though John of Wisbech had the charge of the
erection, the sacrist having more important work to do at the church
itself, we can hardly doubt that the designs were by Walsingham. The
position of the lady-chapel, to the north-east of the north transept, is
unique. At Bristol it is to the north of the north choir aisle. At
Peterborough the lady-chapel (destroyed during the Commonwealth) was in
a nearly similar situation, projecting eastward from the north
transept. Whatever may have been the reason at Peterborough for this
unusual position (some say that a public road close to the apse
prevented an extension of the choir to the east), there is no necessity
to question the accuracy of the explanation generally given of the site
of the lady-chapel here--namely, that the place of honour, east of the
high altar, was already appropriated to the shrine of S. Etheldreda.

On the night of February 12, 1322, the eve of S. Erme