140 Original Position of the High Altar 
And there is no doubt some difficulty in accounting for the use of 
so large a space of the Church at the rear of the altar, and between 
this and the Lady Chapel. 
II. There are at the foot of the columns ¢ d—the capitals of 
which are foliated—what appear to be the remains of two or three 
stone steps. The same appearance presents itself on either side, thus in- 
dicating that at some period or other two or three steps stretched across 
the whole width of the presbytery ; in which case the floor of this 
eastern portion must have been raised considerably at a period subse- 
quent to the original construction of the building. The mark of the 
original level, as pointed out by the Clerk of the Works, was plainly 
visible in August, 1876, before the present floor was laid down, and 
would appear to have been, as far as we could form an opinion, on 
much the same level as the aisles outside the present choir. Our 
judgment in this matter was confirmed by the Clerk of the Works 
whom we had the pleasure of meeting on the occasion of our last 
visit to the Cathedral, in January 1877. 
Now it was pretty evident to us, that these stones, which are 
still undisturbed, were not portions of the steps themselves, but of 
the skirting which surmounted the steps, inasmuch as they have 
mouldings which were clearly intended to be seen; and that this 
skirting went round the raised floor in this eastern portion of the 
presbytery. It was, and in some places still remains, above the 
characteristic stone bench or basement which runs under and between ~ 
the pillars all round the Cathedral ; and, when complete, it must have 
completely covered the bases of the Purbeck marble pillars. It 
seems clear therefore that it was no part of the original design. 
These steps and skirting are of the same material and workmanship 
apparently as the cross walls, and inverted arches, which have been 
inserted between the pillars. 
It would seem likely therefore, that, at the same time when these 
higher walls were erected, in place it may be of the lower wall or 
grating which existed previously, and so shut out from the lesser tran- 
septs what we believe to have been the original presbytery—(viz., the 
space enclosed between the lines marked a ¢ and 6 @) ,—the whole of the 
floor which lies eastward of the line ¢ d, and is now thrown into the 
