windows. Unfortunately the general effect of the exterior, in spite of
the fine Norman towers and the beauty of the decorative sculpture of the
west front, is inferior to that of the interior, a 15th century porch
harmonising ill with the earlier work, whilst breadth is too great for
the height of the building.

[Illustration: Decorated Steeple]

Other good examples of Decorated Gothic are the Church of St. Mary,
Oxford, with a very fine spire; the nave and chapter-house of York
Minster, which has a very beautiful window at the western end, the
flowing tracing of which is specially distinctive of the style; the
choir of Lichfield Cathedral, which has, however, certain Early English
details; the choir of Carlisle Cathedral, with an exceptionally
beautiful eastern window of nine lights with elaborate tracery; the Lady
Chapel of Wells Cathedral; the crypt, all that is left of St. Stephen's,
Westminster, now used as a chapel of the Houses of Parliament, the
lantern tower of Ely Cathedral; the ruins of Tintern and Battle Abbeys,
with those of Melrose Abbey, which has also characteristic Perpendicular
features. To the same period as these ecclesiastical buildings belong
the Round Tower at Windsor, the Hall of the Bishop's Palace at Wells,
Conway, Caernarvon, and Chepstow Castles, all recalling Norman domestic
architecture in the general massiveness of their structure, that is
relieved by the comparative lightness of such details as the doors and
windows.

Unfortunately the second half of the 14th century was marked by a
tendency to destroy or obliterate the characteristic details of Early
English and Decorated buildings, a notable example of which is
Gloucester Cathedral, the beautiful eastern apse of which was pulled
down, whilst the piers and walls of the rest of the building were
concealed as much as possible, the barbarism being, it must be owned,
atoned for to some extent by the addition of a noble eastern window in
the Perpendicular style. The nave of Westminster Abbey, on the other
hand, begun just after the restoration of Gloucester Cathedral was
completed, harmonises well with the earlier choir, and may be quoted,
with the choir of York Minster and the naves of Canterbury and
Winchester Cathedrals, as examples of the transition from the Decorated
to the Perpendicular styles. To the final phase of the latter belong
Beverley Minster, the Cathedral of Chester, and the Abbey Church at
Bath, the western facades of all