By C. B. Ponting, F.S.A. 213 
over the roof still exists. I have traced the foundation of the west 
wall of the cloister for some distance northward in a line with the 
west front of the Church, but with this exception no part of the 
original monastery remains. The entrance to the Church from the 
monastery was by the doorway into the north aisle at the south-east 
angle of the cloister, and the arch of this doorway is, unlike any 
other throughout the building, enriched with carving. 
The Church was built for the double purpose of a monastic and a 
parish Church—its plan has been arranged for this, and the details 
of the separate parts have been designed to emphasize their use. It 
will be seen that the chancel (the monks’ choir) and the transepts, 
which were used as chapels, have a distinctly different treatment to 
the nave and aisles, which formed the parish Church. The windows 
of the monastic Church have a distinct type of tracery; their 
mouldings are richer and more varied; plinths on the outside and 
string courses both inside and outside are carried round this part 
only; the buttresses here are terminated by pinnacles, and the 
gargoyles are carved, whilst those of the parish Church are plain.! 
The chancel being the Church of the monastery, the parish altar 
was placed under the western arch of the tower—the way to the 
chancel from the cloister being behind it. The floor of the crossing 
and transepts, also of the eastern bay of the nave and aisles, is 
thirteen inches above the general floor of the nave; and the fact of 
this raised level being carried so far westward indicates that the 
altar was in this position. There are remains of a niche and piscina, 
coeval with the building, in the east wall of the north transept. 
The niche has a shelf and is groined—the front part of the canopy 
has been cut away, but traces of it and of its flanking pinnacles 
remain ; it is covered with the original rich colouring and gilding ; 
and the lily painted on the splayed sides, with the predominance of 
blue in the decoration, indicates that the altar which stood here was 
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
Portions of the two steps across the south aisle remain, and a 
piscina, coeval with the structure, exists in the south wall for the 
} There were two secular priests set apart to attend to the services in the parish 
Church, 
