Durhatn Cathedral, by Rev. William Greenwell, 67 



a remarkable man. We are told that he carried on tlie work of 

 the nave up to the roof — that is, that he completed the nave as 

 far as the vaulting. In the meantime, between the death of 

 Oarilef and the consecration of Flambard, we learn that the 

 monks went on with the church. There had been an agreement 

 between them by which the Bishop undertook the building of the 

 church, and the monks of the domestic parts of the monastery. 

 but that agreement came to an end on Carilef's death. That 

 part of the church which was built by the monks there can be no 

 doubt was the west side of the transepts, and the vaulting of 

 both. We are next told that after the death of Bishop Flam- 

 bard, in 1128, in the interval before the accession of Bishop 

 Galfred-Eufus in 1133, the monks completed the nave. There 

 was nothing left to complete but the vaulting, for Flambard had 

 finished the nave up to the roof. With this date, about 1130, 

 the architectural features well agree, notwithstanding the pointed 

 arch of the main ribs. I may here take the opportunity of say- 

 ing a few words with regard to the original vaulting of the 

 choir. It was very common in Norman churches to have a 

 wooden ceiling without any groined stone roof. This, however, 

 was not the case at Durham, where a stone vaulting was placed 

 over the choir almost immediately after the completion of the 

 walls. There is sufficient evidence of this from the marks still 

 left on the walls of the cloistory, but we have also the evidence 

 of historic relation. In 1104 the building was so far completed 

 that the monks were enabled to transfer the body of St. Cuth- 

 bert from the small building in the cloisters, where it had before 

 remained, to the Shrine, at the east end of the choir. At that 

 time a very remarkable event took place, as we learn from 

 William of Malmesbury's " Gesta Pontificum." He tells us that 

 the wood work supporting the roof over the shrine was still 

 there, which implies that the stone vaulting was only lately com- 

 pleted. He says there was a difficulty as to getting down the 

 wood work before the body of St. Cuthbert was placed in the 

 shrine. St. Cuthbert, however, came to the assistance of the 

 monks, and knocked the whole down during the night, and on 

 the following morning it was found spread on the floor without 

 having done injury to anything beneath it. Galfrid Rufus was 

 the next Bishop, and reigned from 1133 to 1143. We are told 

 that the Chapter -house was completed by him. Possibly it may 



