each forming four lights, having a main transom in the centre, and another at the springing of the arch. The heading of the window is distributed in minor lights or openings formed by sub-divisions. Although a very fine window, its position is greatly to be lamented as destroying the beautiful character of the architecture on the western front; most of the windows of the nave are of the same date. Other parts of the church are so surrounded by buildings that little more than one portion can be seen at a time; they are extremely plain and almost destitute of ornament.

On the northern side of the choir, close to the eastern side of the transept, is a tower now unroofed, and called Gundulf's Tower, having usually been considered to have been built by that celebrated architect. The whole length of the Cathedral from east to west is three hundred and six feet, the width of the western front is ninetyfour feet, and the height of the tower one hundred and fifty-six feet. The earth has accumulated at the base of the western front so as to cause a necessity for a descent of several steps into the church at this entrance. The piers and arches of the nave are of Anglo-Norman architecture, with the exception of those nearest the transept; the arches are enriched with chevron mouldings, but the capitals of the pillars are plain, and the disposition of the shafts on the massive piers are dissimilar, not any two on the same side being exactly alike, although the opposite piers uniformly correspond in their arrangements.

The triforium presents a series of arches enriched with chevron and other mouldings of a similar description, and the face of the wall is not without ornament; above are the windows of the clerestory. A very fine open timber roof is supported on corbels representing angels bearing shields of arms; besides those of the bishopric, the priory, and city of Rochester, are the arms of the priory of Christchurch and of the archbishopric of Canterbury. The alteration of Bishop Gundulf's design by the introduction of the present western window is clearly to be distinguished by the abrupt termination of different arcades at the western end, some having been divided through the very centre of the arch.

The two easternmost arches of the nave are in the pointed style of architecture, and the central tower, which rises from the intersection of the nave and transept, is sustained by obtusely pointed

arches rising from piers of solid masonry, environed by shafts of Petworth marble, connected by fillets of the same material. A spire, which had been erected in 1749, has lately been removed.

The western transept is erected in the pointed style of architecture. At the northern end is a triforium, the lancet-formed windows of which have each a screen in front, divided into three arches of unequal height, supported by slender shafts of Petworth marble. The vaulting of the transept is of stone, and groined. Many of the smaller shafts and imposts of arches are supported by corbel heads, chiefly of ecclesiastics, not inelegantly sculptured. In the eastern wall is a recess under a large pointed arch, within which formerly stood an altar to St. Nicholas. The southern end of this transept exceeds in lightness of style and enrichment that on the north; and the roof is of framed timber, in imitation of vaulting. On the western side is the chapel of St. Mary, in which the consistory court is now held; and on the eastern side is the muniment room.

The whole length of the nave, which is so remarkable for its antiquity, is one hundred and fifty feet, measuring from the western porch to the steps of the choir, and in breadth between the pillars thirty-three feet, and between the walls seventy-five feet.1

When the choir was rebuilt in 1227, it was extended to a greater length by several feet than the nave itself; the length of the choir is one hundred and fifty-six feet. The length of the western transept is one hundred and twenty-two feet, and that of the eastern ninety feet.

From the floor of the nave is an ascent of ten steps to the choir; the organ, which is placed over the screen, was built in 1792 by Green, and its case was designed by the Rev. Ollive. From the screen to the eastern extremity of the choir the architectural style is uniform, consisting of two stories of pointed arches, the lower rising from slender pillars of Petworth marble, with plain capitals, and attached to solid piers by fillets. Above the larger arches is a triforium, or gallery, extending round the whole

19 The length of the nave of Hereford Cathedral, also of Anglo-Norman architecture, is one hundred and forty-four feet; Gloucester is one hundred and seventyfour feet in length; while that of Durham, of magnificent proportion, and very bold in its detail, is two hundred and sixty feet; but the nave of Ely Cathedral, completed at a very late period of the Anglo-Norman era, and of a very plain description, is no less than three hundred and twenty-seven feet long, excelling that of every other Cathedral in its extent.