468 Malmesbury Abbey. 



of saw-tooth ornament, having a flab band of enrichment beneath 

 in the form of continuous arches, The triforium had round arches 

 of two orders, of which the outer is ornamented with zigzag and 

 carried by a detached column with scalloped capital. There appear 

 to have been small arches as in the nave, but in this case carried 

 by a single half-octagonal column. There was a string-course in 

 line with the springing of the crossing arches, above which is the 

 clearstory passage. In the angle next the tower pier is a double 

 column starting from a base at the triforium level and finishing 

 with a scalloped capital under the clearstory string-coarse, which 

 was doubtless repeated over each pier of the presbytery. The 

 original capitals clearly prove that these columns were intended to 

 support vaulting, and there is little doubt that the presbytery was 

 so covered from the first ; but as everything is destroyed above it 

 is impossible to tell its character. 



Externally the weathering over the aisle roof is in line with the 

 string-course between the present clearstory windows of the nave, 

 and there is no indication that the clearstory of the presbytery was 

 remodelled on the north side. 



William Worcester's " steppys " indicate that the original pres- 

 bytery had been lengthened to the extent of three bays. The 

 church was thenover three times the length of the present fragment, 

 and the central tower was exactly midway between the east end 

 of the Lady chapel and the west end of the nave. As already 

 suggested, the lengthening took place about 1267, thus following 

 the fashion of the time. Ely, Winchester, Worcester, Lincoln, and 

 St. Albans were all extended eastward in the thirteenth century, 

 for the sole reason of giving a sumptuous setting to the shrines of 

 their great saints. At Malmesbury the shrine of St. Aldhelm 

 would occupy the middle bay of the new work and have a small 

 altar at its west end. The marble pedestals for the shrines of St. 

 Alban, St. Frideswide, and St. Edward still remain tolerably perfect 

 but of the shrines themselves and their rich canopies above, the 

 invaluable description of that at Durham may be taken as a guide. 

 There the 



" sacred shrine was exalted with most curious workmanshipp of fine 



