south half of which has perished, and which was finished
with a sloping gable and stone roof, is regarded as a rich specimen
of the elaborate carved work that characterised the late Norman
period. "The jambs contained five detached shafts set in nooks, and
having Norman bases and carved caps. Over each of these shafts there
springs a circular order, carved with rich Norman ornament, now,
however, very much decayed. The jambs of the doorway also formed
moulded shafts, supporting their order in the arch."[426] The
door-piece of the north transept wall is a prominent feature,
projects 4 feet 6 inches from the main wall, has two stories, and is
roofed with a sloping stone roof. The shafts have the usual Norman
caps and bases, and the mouldings of the arch are pronounced to be
peculiar in their profile. The outer one is enriched with small
medallions, the central with the billet, and the inner one with
rosettes. Above the archway there is an arcade of interlacing round
shafts--the shafts, which were destroyed, having Norman caps. "The
tympanum of the gable is covered with a reticulation of round beads
or rolls."[427] The south and west sides and a small portion of the
north and east sides of the tower remain. It is 35 feet square over
the walls, and "is carried up with plain masonry externally, but the
interior has immediately over the great arches of the crossing an
arcade of round moulded arches, supported on triple shafts similar
to those of the choir. Above this arcade is another story containing
simple round arched openings, which are lighted on the exterior by
circular windows containing quatrefoils. Over this tier is the upper
story, which contains three pointed and deeply-recessed windows on
each side of the tower. Broad, flat buttresses are placed at each
angle of the tower, similar to those of the main building, and these
were, no doubt, originally finished with turrets like those of the
transepts.... The upper part of the tower is later than the lower
part. This is apparent from the pointed windows of the top story and
the quatrefoiled circular windows of the story beneath. The lower
story immediately over the great arches is, without doubt, of about
the same date as the choir."[428] There were probably similar
staircases in other parts of the structure now removed, but the
app