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nave, or body of the church, which, by the apostolical constitutions, represented the ship of St. Peter, and preserved its name. This part of our Cathedral Churches seldom fails to produce a sublime effect by the simple grandeur of its outline and general amplitude of dimensions; the space eastward of the cross, called the choir in allusion to the choral service performed in it, is in the earliest edifices disproportionately short. The transept, a part of the church shorter than the nave, and running north and south on the plan, is frequently called the cross; it will be observed that the choir does not extend to the outer walls, but is situated between the piers, and the aisles serve as passages to the Lady Chapel, almost always erected eastward of the high altar. The aisles of the transept are generally separated into distinct chapels by ornamental screens. The principal part of the nave of Rochester Cathedral, an interesting specimen of Anglo-Norman architecture, is supposed to have been built by Bishop Gundulf, one of the most celebrated men of his time; amongst the prelates of the early Norman reigns were many possessed of consummate skill in architecture, which, aided by their munificence, was applied to the rebuilding of their Cathedral Churches. The nave of Rochester is more ancient than that of any Cathedral in the kingdom, and still retains most of the peculiar features of the style in which it was originally built. The alterations by which the appearance has been most affected are the enlarging of the western window and the raising of the roof."

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Bishop Gundulf removed the remains of his predecessors who had been buried in the old church into some part of his new fabric, which he caused to be completed for that purpose. He enclosed

5 Hope's Historical Essay on Architecture, 1835, p. 88.

No less than fifteen of the twenty-two English Cathedrals still retain considerable parts, which are undoubtedly of Norman erection, the several dates of which are ascertained. With equal extent and magnificence many of the churches belonging to the greater abbeys were constructed in this era. Few indeed have escaped their general demolition at the Reformation. - Dallaway's Discourses on Architecture, pp. 32 and 35.

7 Bishop Gundulf's chapel, in the white tower of London, affords perhaps the only instance of an Anglo-Norman building covered by the original vaulting. This chapel, fifty feet by forty in dimension, with aisles separated by an arcade, occupies the entire space from the second floor to the roof; the vaulting of its centre is semicircular, coved at the eastern end, but the impress of the frame-work or centering was either carefully avoided in the erection, or was afterwards chiselled or rubbed down. This chapel, one of the finest and most perfect specimens of the Norman style of architecture, now extant in this country, was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, and is now used as a record office.

the remains of Paulinus, the third bishop of this see, for whom he procured canonization, in a shrine of silver, at the expence of Archbishop Lanfranc: the number of rich offerings subsequently made at this shrine proved a fund of wealth to the church and monastery. St. Ithamar, the first English bishop of this see, died A.D. 655: his remains were afterwards enshrined in the new church by Bishop John, about the year 1130, and the priory contained a legend of his miracles.

Gundulf exchanged with Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent, some church land for three acres without the southern wall of the city of Rochester. Earl Odo is also said to have granted to the monks ground for a vineyard, the same which is now called "The Vines." By several charters it appears that the monks had a vineyard thereabouts."

King William the Conqueror, at his death, is said to have given one hundred pounds and his royal robe to the Cathedral Church of Rochester as a proof of his regard for Bishop Gundulf, who, being of great celebrity as an architect, had been employed by the king in directing the buildings in the tower of London.

When King William Rufus ascended the throne, Bishop Gundulf obtained several grants in favour of the church of Rochester, and from that king's successor, Henry I., he procured many privileges for the monks of St. Andrew's priory. In the grant of a fair to the city, held on the festival of St. Paulinus, the monks had permission to vend their merchandize after the king and his servants.

Amongst other munificent acts, Bishop Gundulf founded an hospital at Chatham, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, an endowment still existing under the patronage of the dean and chapter of the Cathedral. He also founded and endowed a nunnery at Malling, near Maidstone, the remains of which building attest its AngloNorman origin. The bishop also repaired the castle-walls of Rochester and founded the tower which bears his name, one of the

8 In some of the old leases there is mention of considerable quantities of blackberries delivered by the tenants of the bishop, which were used to colour the wine made from grapes growing in this vineyard. In parts of the weald of Kent the vine still grows wild in the hedges, and evidence of the vine having formerly flourished in England, is found in many names of places, as the Vineyard, near Gloucester, and the Vineyard, in Herefordshire, although it has been maintained that the vineyards of England were the apple orchards, and the wine, cider. The whole process of planting, pruning, stamping, and pressing of vines, was represented in an ancient stained glass window, formerly in a house at Chilwell, near Nottingham.

finest remains of antiquity in the kingdom. From a comparison of this tower and the keep of the tower of London, also built by him, with those of earlier construction, Gundulf is considered to have invented that description of castle architecture in which the lofty artificial mound was not deemed essential. The towers erected by Gundulf are very lofty, and contain four separate floors, the portal or entrance being many feet above the ground. His great merit consisted in various architectural stratagems, by which as much security was given to his towers as by real strength."

Rochester castle is interesting from its extent and the great preservation of its walls, the masonry of which is very good. King James I., in the year 1610, granted this castle to Sir Anthony Weldon, of Swanscombe, whose descendants have demolished the interior for the sake of the timber, but the walls defy de

struction.

Bishop Gundulf, after having held the see of Rochester thirtytwo years, during the reigns of William I. and II. and Henry I., died on the 7th of March, 1107, and was buried before the high altar in his own Cathedral.

Radulf, his successor, being appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1114, Ernulf, abbot of Peterborough, was advanced to the see of Rochester. This bishop also was an architect, and erected the chapter houses both of Peterborough and Rochester. He was a great benefactor to the priory of St. Andrew, and built the refectory and dormitory of the convent. Bishop Ernulf is supposed to have been the author of "Textus Roffensis," a manuscript relating to the early history of his Cathedral. He died in the year 1124.

The Cathedral of Rochester was entirely completed during the prelacy of his successor John, archdeacon of Canterbury, who was advanced to this see in 1125. The dedication of the church was celebrated on Ascension Day, the 7th of May, 1130, in the presence of King Henry I., many of the nobility and principal dignitaries of the church, including the archbishop of Canterbury, eleven English and two Norman bishops. During the ceremony a dreadful fire 9 Rickman's Discrimination of Styles in Architecture, p. 187, and Dallaway's Discourses, p. 274.

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10 Bishop John, who built the church of Frindsbury, about two miles northward from this city, granted it to the Cathedral, for the purpose of supplying the wax tapers, which burnt continually on the high altar.