82 ON MILTON ABBEY CHURCH. 



as he had means enough to keep her, there was no further diffi- 

 culty about the matter. 



THE GEEAT FIEE. 



The buildings put up by Athelstan were in due course suc- 

 ceeded by others in the Norman style, of which considerable 

 examples turned up during the restoration. Traces still exist in 

 the masonry of the present building which, like a great many 

 others, owes its origin to fire, as on the 23rd of September, 1309, 

 a tremendous thunderstorm occurred which struck the Abbey, 

 set it on fire, and consumed it so completely that the very muni- 

 ments perished. Twelve years seem to have passed before a 

 patent was granted for rebuilding the Abbey, Walter Archer 

 being abbot, and in due course the whole of this choir and the 

 walls of the south transept were erected in the style at that time 

 in fashion, the second Pointed or Decorated, and the rest of the 

 structure was not completed for probably more than a hundred 

 years after, while that munificent man, William of Middleton, 

 was abbot. He appears to have roofed in the south transept, as 

 it bears his monogram, and he further built the lower, the north 

 transept, and the refectory, which now forms the entrance hall 

 of the modern mansion. He was abbot 44 years, and he resigned 

 in 1525. It was long a matter of dispute whether the nave was 

 rebuilt after the fire. Certain remains to the westward of the 

 transepts, and attached to them, appeared to indicate that in 

 some degree at least it had been rebuilt. But when those frag- 

 mentary portions of windows were carefully examined it was 

 evident they had never been glazed. The most decisive proof, 

 however, came to light during the restoration, when the clerk of 

 the works, Mr. Yeoman, had the ground to the westward care- 

 fully dug out for a considerable space, and no traces whatever 

 of any previous building upon that site were discovered. 



PECULIAEITIES IN THE CHOIE. 



Let me next call your attention to some peculiar features in 

 the choir. First you will notice that there is no string course to 



