By C. E. Pouting, F.S.A. 



213 



over the roof still exists. I have traced the foundation of the west 

 wall of the cloister for some distance northward in a line with the 

 west front of the Church, but with this exception no part of the 

 original monastery remains. The entrance to the Church from the 

 monastery was by the doorway into the north aisle at the south-east 

 angle of the cloister, and the arch of this doorway is, unlike any 

 other throughout the building, enriched with carving. 



The Church was built for the double purpose of a monastic and a 

 parish Church — its plan has been arranged for this, and the details 

 of the separate parts have been designed to emphasize their use. It 

 will be seen that the chancel (the monks' choir) and the transepts, 

 which were used as chapels, have a distinctly different treatment to 

 the nave and aisles, which formed the parish Church. The windows 

 of the monastic Church have a distinct type of tracery; their 

 mouldings are richer and more varied; plinths on the outside and 

 string courses both inside and outside are carried round this part 

 only ; the buttresses here are terminated by pinnacles, and the 

 gargoyles are carved, whilst those of the parish Church are plain. 1 



The chancel being the Church of the monastery, the parish altar 

 was placed under the western arch of the tower — the way to the 

 chancel from the cloister being behind it. The floor of the crossing 

 and transepts, also of the eastern bay of the nave and aisles, is 

 thirteen inches above the general floor of the nave ; and the fact of 

 this raised level being carried so far westward indicates that the 

 altar was in this position. There are remains of a niche and piscina, 

 coeval with the building, in the east wall of the north transept. 

 The niche has a shelf and is groined — the front part of the canopy 

 has been cut away, but traces of it and of its flanking pinnacles 

 remain ; it is covered with the original rich colouring and gilding ; 

 and the lily painted on the splayed sides, with the predominance of 

 blue in the decoration, indicates that the altar which stood here was 

 dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 



Portions of the two steps across the south aisle remain, and a 

 piscina, coeval with the structure, exists in the south wall for the 



1 There were two secular priests set apart to attend to the services in the parish 

 Church. 



