By C. E. Ponting, F.8.A. 



171 



Norman aisle), with a priest's room over it approached by a turret 

 staircase starting from the aisle. The outer arch is of two orders 

 of chamfers, the inside carried on attached shafts with carved caps 

 — the one on the west is the original, and is a good specimen of 

 the natural form of carving of the Decorated Period ; the other 

 has been renewed. The priest's room has a fireplace in the east 

 wall (a brick arch taking the place of the Norman tympanum 

 removed to the sacristy doorway) and a square stone lavatory, or 

 sink, by it. In the north wall is a small squint, 12in. high x 

 2£in. wide, looking into the aisle. This room is lighted by an 

 original single-light window, with square head, on the west ; traoes 

 of two small pointed windows, or niches, can be seen in the south 

 wall over the archway, but these were displaced in the fifteenth 

 century when the present fine niche was added. This niche is a 

 triple one of square outline with carved cresting, the central com- 

 partment is carried nearly the full height and the canopies over 

 the side niches are on the same level, but intermediate canopies are 

 worked over the latter to adapt them to the lower figures — the 

 subject was evidently a Calvary. At about the same time the 

 niche inside the east wall of the porch was inserted, this has been 

 much mutilated, and the canopy cut away, but it bears evidence of 

 great richness. The parapet and pinnaoles were added when the 

 great re-modelling of the Church was carried out. 



This appears to have been commenced with the building of the 

 western tower shortly before the middle of the fifteenth century, 

 and followed by the re-construotion of the nave arcades. It is 

 clear that both of these works were done whilst the original outer 

 walls of the aisles stood, and the latter extended some feet farther 

 westward than the present aisles — thus the nave arches are carried 

 beyond the length of the present west end of the aisles, and the 

 exact length of the old south aisle can be seen on the south of the 

 tower staircase, where fragments of its parapet remain. Then 

 followed the ereotion of the sacristy and room over, the north and 

 south chapels, the re-modelling of the north and south transepts, 

 and the re-building of the north and south aisles. These works 

 were doubtless carried on consecutively, but they would occupy n 



m 2 



