the Virgin, Bishops Cannings. 5 
which is lft. 7in. above the floor, and the exit from it on to the 
bridge was by another doorway in the same wall, the sill of which 
is 11ft. 3in. above the floor. The opening in the respond of the 
nave arcade is 3ft. 5in. above the level of the upper doorway in the 
aisle wall; and the label of the archway beneath, leading into the 
transept, is cut away on both sides in such a manner as to suggest 
the probability that @ dridge (and not a screen) was carried across 
the aisle, with other steps from it to the opening in the respond, 
and thus to the rood loft, as indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 9, 
Plate II. As will be seen by reference to the sketch on the same 
plate, and to the elevation, Fig. 2, Plate I., the position was a 
difficult one in which to get a passage through the wall of the 
respond, owing to the aisle roof being so near to the arch: the 
opening was thus necessarily low, the entire height being only 
4ft. lin. That this size should have been sufficient raises the 
question of the use of the rood lofts, and confirms the theory which 
the cramped dimensions of rood stairs often found seems to suggest 
—that these were not intended for the passage of adults, and that 
the ceremonial of the rood loft was not one in which the priest took 
part, but rather such as the mere decoration of the rood and lighting 
of tapers by an acolyte. 
At the west end of the north aisle (at G Fig. 1, Plate I.) are 
features of the greatest interest, which are illustrated by Figs. 1 
and 2, Plate II. Previous to the restoration of the Church all that 
could be seen in this wall was a small window of twelfth century 
date, high up and near the respond of the nave arcade: the di- 
mensions of this window on the outside were 3ft. high from 
sill to springing and 63in. wide: it was blocked up with modern 
masonry on the outside, but open to the interior: there are holes 
for a stanchion bar in head and sill, and marks on the south jamb 
of the hooks to which a shutter was probably hung, the stone-work 
being rebated for it. Upon removing the plaster from the inside 
of the wall a similar window was discovered nearly in the centre of 
the width of the aisle, the sill of which was only 38ft. 4in, from the 
floor-level. The dimensions of the outer opening of this window 
are, 2ft. 6in. high from sill to springing and 122in. wide: this 
