Both of the divisions are elegantly vaulted in the English style, with ridge ribs and tiercerons or intermediate ribs. On the north side is a range of clustered pillars and arches, forming five bays, which separated the aisle from the nave. Some of the arch openings are enriched with canopied monuments.
The east end (Fig. 808) contained a large traceried window of five lights, and some fragments of the tracery still cling to the arch. The window is rather short for its width, being kept high, so as to admit of an altar and reredos. The south wall has also been pierced with traceried windows, now, unfortunately, mutilated. The other division towards the west end contains a doorway, formerly sheltered by a large porch, now demolished.
The exterior (Fig. 809) presents, at the east and west ends, the appearance of complete gables, with a span roof, not a lean-to roof, as is usual over aisles. The buttresses are of good form, and the enriched cornice still survives. The parapet is gone, but at the west end a wide stone gutter, or alure, supported on corbels and roofed in, still remains. The windows of the western portion are less elaborate than those of the eastern portion.
In the angle between the two divisions of the aisle a staircase and bell turret are erected. Rising from a square base the walls are changed by a set-off on each angle into an octagon; a balcony is carried round the turret, and the top is finished with a modern pointed roof.
The whole of the architecture of the aisle is of unusually good design, and the building is altogether quite unique and full of beauty and interest.
Not the least remarkable feature in the structure is the range of canopied monuments which stand between the pillars on the north side. In connection with these monuments, the history of the edifice has been ingeniously traced by Mr. Chisholm-Batten.[153] The eastmost monument (see Fig. 808) is traditionally stated to be that of a Countess of Ross; and Mr. Chisholm-Batten, from various indications in the building, shows that it was, in all probability, the Countess Eufamia, daughter and heiress of the Earl of Ross, who erected this aisle, and is buried under the eastern monument therein. This lady was possessed of ample means to erect such a splendid structure. She married, first, in 1366, Walter de Leslie, and succeeded, in 1372, to the estates of Ross. Leslie died in 1382; and in the same year the countess espoused the Earl of Buchan, better known as the “Wolf of Badenoch.” He died in 1394; and thereafter the countess took the veil, and became abbess of the convent of Elcho.
Mr. Chisholm-Batten has detected the arms of Leslie, her first husband (on a bend three buckles), on one of the bosses of the vaulting of the western division; while on another boss is carved a bull’s-head caboshed, the arms of Bishop Bulloch, who occupied the see from 1420 to 1439.
As the style of the architecture accords with these dates, the inference is that the western part of the aisle was erected either by the countess or her son, Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross, and completed during the episcopate of Bishop Bulloch, and that the monument to the countess was erected by her son in the noble aisle which she had built, and in which she, no doubt, took great pride. The death of the countess took place before 1398. The aisle would thus date about the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century, and must be regarded as a splendid example of Scottish architecture of that period. Possibly some portions of the western division are older; but, if so, it has been remodelled and vaulted at the above date. The piers next the nave (Fig. 810) have the peculiar feature of a square plinth (somewhat like the small buttresses which enclose the adjoining tombs) running up the inner side to form a support for the springing of the vaulting (Fig. 810). This feature has the appearance of being an addition to the piers, thus suggesting that the aisle and its vaulting are of later date than the nave of the cathedral. The piers are clustered, and have moulded caps with round abaci.
The monument in the western division of the aisle (see Fig. 810) is believed to be that of Bishop Fraser, who occupied the see from 1498 to 1507;
and the style of the work confirms this view. The arched canopy, with its ogee head, and the third pointed carved work of its crockets and finial are in good preservation. The figure of the bishop is also well preserved. The fragments of a third tomb still exist under the arch, between the two already described (see Fig. 808). This has evidently been a late structure, with a canopy supported on a series of arches; but it is now so mutilated that its features cannot be distinctly made out. It is believed to be the tomb of Bishop Cairncross (1539-45).
It is thought that the western division of the nave was the chapel of St. Boniface;[154] for when Bishop Tulloch, about 1460, presented the bell (which still hangs in the south turret) to the church, he dedicated it to St. Mary and St. Boniface, probably because the chapels adjoining the bell turret were dedicated to these saints.
Besides the tracery of the windows and the beauty of the tombs, the aisle is rich in details. In the south wall there is a fine piscina (Fig. 811), and in the north wall an ambry, with a small stone penthouse. All the windows have label terminals, many of them finely carved with heads.
An octagonal font of remarkable design (Fig. 812) stands against the east wall of the aisle.
We have seen that the sacristy is the only part of the original building which now remains. This is a plain rectangular structure, two stories in height, 45 feet long by 12 feet wide internally, which stands quite detached in the centre of the open space surrounding the site of the cathedral. The upper floor is, with all probability, believed to have been the chapter house; but it has been rebuilt, and is now used as the place of meeting of the Town Council. Externally the building has the appearance of a plain modern stone erection; but internally the ground floor preserves most of its original features. It is vaulted in six bays, with groined vaulting; but being low, and provided with very few small windows, the interior can only be dimly seen. The dog-tooth and other details, however, seem to indicate first pointed work. There is a range of arched seats, and an ambry at each side, towards the east end. The doorway entered from the choir, in the centre of the south side; and a staircase in the west wall led to the upper floor.
Mr. Chisholm-Batten thinks that this undercroft was the chapel of St. Nicholas, where a consistorial office was held in 1451, being more suitable for such an assembly than the open south aisle of the nave. So far as can now be ascertained, there were no other aisles connected with the cathedral.
The history of the cathedral subsequently to the Reformation is not well known. Under the Regent Morton the lead was removed from the roof, and the structure fell into disrepair. But it was partially repaired by Bishop Lindsay in 1615; and in 1649 it was not very ruinous. It would, therefore, appear that the tradition is probably correct which says that the masonry of the walls was removed by Cromwell, like that of Kinloss Abbey, for the construction of his citadel at Inverness.
This monastery, whose abbots once possessed regal sway over nearly the whole of Carrick, now stands a solitary deserted ruin in a small sequestered valley, about two miles from Maybole, on the road leading by Kirkoswald to Girvan. The monastic buildings, although much ruined, are still of considerable extent, and comprise, besides the church, more remains of ecclesiastical and domestic structures than are usual in our Scottish religious establishments. This has probably arisen from the quiet and secluded nature of the site, as well as from the protection afforded by the powerful Earls of Carrick.
The chartulary of the abbey is lost, but many of the scattered charters have been collected and printed by the Ayrshire and Galloway Archæological Association, and edited by Mr. F. C. Hunter Blair, 1886. From these and the introductory chapter most of the following historical notes are gleaned.
The abbey was founded by Duncan, Earl of Carrick, in the end of the twelfth century. By him lands and churches were granted to the Abbey of Paisley, on condition that the monks should found a monastery in his province of Carrick, after their own Order of Cluny, to which the said endowments should be handed over. These conditions were evaded by the monks of Paisley, who contented themselves with erecting a cell at Crosraguel, and kept the rest of the revenue to themselves. Such conduct was naturally complained of by the earl, and it was decided by William de Bondington, Bishop of Glasgow, that a monastery should be forthwith erected at Crosraguel. Earl Duncan is said to have superintended the erection of the structure, in which case it must have been in progress between 1244, the date of the bishop’s decision, and 1250, when the earl died. In 1265 the Pope confirmed the “Scriptum de Crosragmol” of Bishop Bondington.
Additional grants were made to the abbey by Earl Nigel, the successor of the founder. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The monks were of the Order of Cluny, in France. This order was first introduced into England at Wenlock, in Shropshire, whence monks were brought to Paisley Abbey by Walter, first Steward of Scotland. The ecclesiastics of that convent, being the superiors of Crosraguel, naturally colonised it with monks of their own order of Cluniacs.
During the fourteenth century the abbey is much associated with the history of the Bruces. The romantic marriage of the father of King Robert to the Countess of Carrick established the family in the earldom. The countess and her husband were benefactors of the abbey, and their neighbouring Castle of Turnberry became a protection to the monks.
During Edward’s invasion, in 1296, Henry de Percy was appointed Sheriff of Ayr. In 1306 he held Turnberry Castle, and a letter, dated by him from Crosraguel, asking for two engines of war to be sent to him, shows that siege operations were in contemplation.
During this disturbed period of Scottish history it seems probable that this abbey, like many other similar institutions throughout the country, suffered from the effects of war. The buildings show that the original structure of the monastery has been demolished, and that new edifices were erected in the fifteenth century; and it is supposed that this reconstruction was rendered necessary by the damage caused during the English invasion. When the kingdom became settled, after the War of Independence, King Robert granted a charter to the abbey, confirming the endowments of Earl Duncan; and in 1329-30, gifts from the royal purse, for the repair of the monastery, are noted in the Exchequer Rolls. The king was lavish in benefactions to the abbey. In 1324 he presented it with lands, and, as a mark of special favour, he erected the domains of the abbey into a barony. Shortly after the accession of David II. the abbot received the king’s penny for three years (amounting to £100, 1s. 10d.) to assist him in the repair of the buildings.
Under the Stewart kings Crosraguel still continued to receive the royal favour. In 1374 Robert II. confirmed the Crown charters of Robert I.; and in 1404 the great Crosraguel charter was granted by Robert III. confirming all the abbey lands and property to be held for ever in free regality. By this charter the abbot was raised into the position of an absolute sovereign over all the abbey possessions, which comprised nearly the whole of the southern division of Ayrshire. The abbey continued to occupy a high position during the fifteenth century. The abbot was in favour at Court, and was employed on special missions and diplomatic services.
In 1460 the Abbot Colin, a man of some eminence, was elected. He devoted much care to the church and buildings, which he found in a dilapidated condition, and is believed to have built the existing chapter house. He died in 1491.
Abbot David obtained a confirmation of the special rights of the abbey from the Archbishop of Glasgow, and, in 1515, procured a special dispensation from inspection by the Archbishop of St. Andrews, who was delegated by the Pope to visit every monastery in Scotland, and to punish the “excess and enormity of the brethren dwelling therein.”
During the forty years prior to the Reformation the abbey enjoyed the protection of the Earl of Carrick, two eminent members of the family being about that time abbots in succession to each other. At this period the right of appointment to vacant benefices was gradually passing into the hands of the Crown, and by 1550 that change was completed.
In those troublous times the Church was felt to be in danger, and Abbot William Kennedy, who had acted as guardian to the young Earl Cassilis, who was then abroad, wrote to him to return to Scotland to look after the interests of the abbey. At the same time the Archbishop of Glasgow sent all his possessions to Crosraguel, as to a place of safety. These consisted of embroidered vestments, gold and silver plate, jewels, and a library of books of great value.
Abbot William was succeeded by his nephew, Quintin Kennedy (1547-64), an ardent champion of the Church, whose contest with Knox at Maybole in 1562 is well known. It is thought that he was the first abbot to occupy the abbots’ tower, a fortified pele which stands at the south-east corner of the grounds. Gilbert M‘Brayar, one of the monks, is said to have made many “sumptuous additions” to the monastery. These were probably domestic structures in the cloister, whose ruins are still traceable.
In 1561 an Act was passed by the Privy Council suppressing “Idolatori and all monumentis thairof,” and Arran, Glencairn, and Argyle were despatched to the West to carry the Act into execution. Amongst the other demolitions executed by them was the casting down of part of Crosraguel.
Ten years before the Reformation leases of church lands were frequently granted to nobles and other powerful individuals who were able to protect them. Thus, in 1564, the whole benefice of Crosraguel was leased to the Earl of Cassillis for 700 marks (£466, 13s. 4d.) Under his protection the monks continued to occupy the monastery till 1592, probably later than any other abbey in Scotland.
In 1570 occurred the famous “roasting of the abbot.” The Earl of Cassillis had resolved to get the whole property of the abbey into his hands, and endeavoured, by torturing Allan Stewart, the abbot, to force him to surrender the titles of the lands of the abbey, and he thus succeeded, in consideration of a large sum, in becoming sole proprietor of the regality. The abbot survived, but was maimed for life. He disposed of every shred of the monastic property, and died in 1587. The annexation to the Crown took place the same year. The possessions had been gradually disposed of by Queen Mary and her son to numerous retainers. George Buchanan received a pension out of the revenues, and King James intended to restore the abbey as a residence for his son Henry.
In 1617 the whole benefice was annexed to the Bishopric of Dunblane, in order to provide a suitable support for the bishop. On the overthrow of Episcopacy, in 1689, the revenues were annexed to the Crown; and now the sole relic of the great regality of Crosraguel is the small plot of ground enclosing the ruins.
The abbey buildings (Fig. 813) have been of considerable extent, and still comprise, besides the remains of the church and cloisters, with the usual ecclesiastical buildings surrounding them, an outer court to the south-west, with a picturesque gatehouse, pigeon-house, and other domestic structures. There was also an eastern courtyard, which contained the abbot’s hall, and the adjoining tower or keep, the infirmary, &c. The whole precincts were enclosed with a high wall, which included an extensive garden. The small burn which flows along the south side is believed to have fed fish-ponds in the neighbourhood. The church (Fig. 813) is a simple oblong structure, consisting of choir and nave, without aisles and without transepts. It would appear, however, from excavations carried out by the Ayrshire and Galloway Archæological Association, that the original church of the thirteenth century contained a north and south transept, some traces of the foundations of which were disclosed. A few other relics of this earlier church are observable in the base of the western part of the nave, in traces of the jambs of the western doorway and the jambs of the north doorway of the nave; but the remainder of the church has been entirely rebuilt, chiefly on the old foundations.
It is thought by Mr. Morris, who illustrates and describes the abbey in the publication of the above Association, that part of the older building is traceable in the wall between the choir and the sacristy, where vaulting shafts exist on the sacristy side in such a position as not to be available in the present structure (Fig. 814). From this fact he forms the deduction that these shafts and the wall they are attached to are part of the original church. He is further of opinion that the part of the ancient church
which he supposes has survived at this point formed the model on which the restored building was designed. From the character of the design,
this seems very doubtful. The three shafts referred to doubtless indicate a change in the design at the date of the restoration in the fifteenth century. The choir appears to have been erected, and a chapter house contemplated (if not actually carried out) immediately to the south of it, in the position formerly occupied by the south transept. The three shafts were apparently erected at that time (say before 1450). The bases of the shafts correspond in design with the bases of the choir, and are clearly fifteenth century work. The walls of the chapter house (afterwards changed into the sacristy) were evidently erected at this time, as the usual stone seat of the chapter house still runs round two of the sides. At a later date (towards the end of the fifteenth century) a new range of buildings was erected on the east side of the cloister. These consisted of a new chapter house, while that first erected was converted into the sacristy. The new range was of less width than the chapter house originally contemplated, and, therefore, new vaulting shafts, spaced so as to suit the vaulting of the new width, were introduced; and three of the old vaulting shafts were allowed to remain, although two of them were no longer of use.
The architecture of the interior of the choir (Fig. 815) is peculiar, and clearly indicates a structure of the fifteenth century. The three-sided eastern apse is characteristic of the fifteenth century, and is among the earliest examples of that form then introduced into Scotland. Crosraguel obtained its great charter in 1404, and was, no doubt, then in a very flourishing condition; and it seems likely that the church was rebuilt soon after that period. The style of the architecture corresponds with other buildings of that date in Scotland. The windows, which have been filled with tracery (now, unfortunately, all destroyed), show, in their remaining jambs, shafts, and arch mouldings (especially in the apse), a character resembling Scottish decorated work. The triple wall shafts which divide the bays are carried down to decorated bases in the sanctuary only, the others being stopped on a corbel at the level of the central string course (see Fig. 815). The sedilia (Fig. 816) and piscina of the choir (see Fig. 815) are also beautiful specimens of the decorated style. The buttresses of the choir and apse (Fig. 817) are simple, and of an early type. The nave (Fig. 818) has windows on the north side only. Here, as already observed, a few traces of the original church are found in the early forms of the base mouldings and the shafts of the north doorway. The arch supported by these shafts, and forming the upper part of the doorway, is of very inferior design, and is evidently a very late restoration. The shafts are sloped off at top, so as to fit a straight impost. The buttresses also show relics of older work. One of the nave windows is filled with tracery; but it is of peculiar design, having been constructed in connection with the erection of a monument to Egidia Blair, Lady Row, a benefactress of the abbey, who died in 1530. The engraved recumbent stone over her grave, bearing her arms and name, still exists; but scarcely a trace of the monument survives.
The nave is divided from the choir by a wall, which has been erected in the sixteenth century (the upper part is seen in Fig. 819), probably when the monks required protection, or owing to their number having become diminished, when so large a church was unnecessary. This central wall partly blocks up one of the nave windows, thus showing that it was an afterthought. It seems, however, to have been substituted for an older wall, which may have contained an arch between the nave and
choir. The nave, thus separated from the choir, was known as St. Mary’s or the Virgin’s Aisle. The wall contained a wheel staircase, and is crowned with a good double belfry, surmounted by a well-carved cross (Fig. 820), containing hearts in the centre, and having each arm cut into the form of a cross. This may possibly be in imitation of the crossleted crosses of the Kennedy arms. The pointed doorway from the nave to the choir is of good, simple design, and has been defended with a strong sliding bar, the slot in the wall for which still exists.
The sacristy entered from the south side of the choir by a door having a semi-elliptic arch, and mouldings and bases corresponding with those of the choir (see Fig. 815). This doorway also led to a wheel stair, which conducted to the scriptorium and library on the upper floor, and, through them, to the dormitory. The ancient south transept was wider than the present sacristy which occupies its site, as was disclosed by the excavations above mentioned. The sacristy and the chapter house adjoining are the best preserved parts of the edifice. They are both elegantly vaulted, and lighted with windows, the tracery of which is partly preserved (Fig. 821). The corbels (Fig. 822) which carry the ribs of the sacristy vaults are carved in a quaint and rather debased style, and point to a late date. The vaulting of the sacristy (see Fig. 814) is peculiar, the ribs being arranged in the sexpartite form. The apartment is considerably longer than it is wide; and the usual method of vaulting such an apartment would be to divide it into two bays, each bay having the usual cross ribs; but here the whole is vaulted in one bay, having six ribs. This arrangement makes the axes of the side vaults oblique, and produces the effect of twisting in the four side spaces of the vaults towards the centre. The vaulting here, being wider than that of the chapter house, rises higher, and thus rendered the floor of the scriptorium above it higher than that of the library over the chapter house, and necessitated some steps in the passages from the dormitory to the church. The opening to the sacristy from the choir is recent, this position having formerly been occupied by an altar platform, believed to have been erected in honour of Robert III. in 1404. The position of the high altar is still distinctly marked, being placed against a detached wall carried across the apse, and provided with a small door for access to the space behind. The three steps leading up to the east end are also discoverable, and each step is beaded on the edge (see Fig. 815). A plain doorway, with a drop arch, leads from the south-west angle of the choir to the east walk of the cloister (see Fig. 819). Only the foundations of the outer wall of the cloister walks are now traceable. This, no doubt, carried pillars and arches (or wooden posts), on which the wooden roof of the cloister walks rested. There may have been stone piers
at the angles and at intervals; the springing of a diagonal arch survives in the north-west angle. A well exists in the centre of the cloister garth, with stone steps leading down to it. The chapter house enters by a doorway only, without side windows, from the east alley (see Fig. 819). The jambs and pointed arch are moulded, but there are no caps. The chapter house is square, and has a central pillar, which carries fine vaulting (Fig. 823). The vaulting is divided into four square bays, each with cross ribs, resting on the central pillar and on responds against the walls, which have bases set on the stone bench. The bosses have been carved with coats of arms, now obliterated. One of them has a mitre; another shows indications of an apsidal building. The abbot’s seat occupies the centre of the east side, between the two windows; and a stone bench is carried round the walls.
The upper floor, which still survives, above the chapter house and sacristy (see Figs. 819 and 820) contained the scriptorium and library, the latter having had a good mullioned window, overlooking the cloister, now nearly destroyed. Following the ruins which continue the east side of the cloister southwards, we come first to a vaulted chamber, which may have been a parlour; then to the slype leading to the eastern garth, which has a stone bench on each side, and is covered with a segmental barrel vault. Beyond this are vaulted ruins of an indeterminate character. On the south side of the cloister garth are the refectory and part of the buttery, with a hatch which led from the one to the other. Between these apartments a wide scale staircase formed the day access to the dormitories above. This range of buildings is evidently of late date, and may have been the work of Abbot Gilbert M‘Brayar, above referred to. The refectory has been covered with a barrel vault, and had a fireplace in the north wall. The windows in the south wall are low, horizontal openings. The west side of the cloister is believed to have contained a large common room, but it is now much ruined; the pointed doorway at the north end, however, still remains.
The eastern courtyard is triangular in form. The ruin on the east side is probably a fragment of the infirmary. On the south side is a range of ruined vaults, over which was probably the abbot’s hall. At the south-east angle stand the ruins of what was the abbot’s keep, or place of strength, erected apparently in the sixteenth century. It is of the ordinary form of the lay keeps of the period, having thick walls, with chambers formed in their thickness and a corbelled parapet for defence. It no doubt communicated with the abbot’s hall adjoining. It is built over the stream which bounds the convent on the south, and passes under the lower story, where it had an archway, grated at each end. The principal floor contains a good fireplace, with ambry adjoining, and a small stair leading to the water below. The upper floors contained the usual bedrooms, one of which still shows the remains of a carved fireplace. The
north and east walls are demolished. The south and west walls are quite plain. Some of the corbels of the parapet, however, still survive.
The south-west courtyard is of considerable extent, and contained a number of domestic offices, such as bakehouse, brewhouse, &c. A picturesque gatehouse gives entrance to the monastery through this courtyard, and strangers’ apartments are provided in the upper floors.[155] The pigeon house is also a well preserved example of that common class of structure.
The ruins seem for a long period to have formed a convenient quarry for the district, but they were put in good order about fifty years ago by the Kilkerran family, and are now well preserved and cared for.
The Church of St. Giles occupies the site of the original parish church of Edinburgh. It stands in a conspicuous situation in the centre of the Old Town, on a comparatively level piece of ground (probably an ancient sea margin), which occurs in the general slope extending from the Castle to Holyrood. In the ninth century, when Lothian formed part of Northumbria, the Church of Edinburgh is mentioned as belonging to the diocese of Lindisfarne.
About 1120 a new church was erected by Alexander I., of which some fragments remained till the end of last century. This church is frequently referred to in subsequent reigns. Notice of it occurs under Alexander II., in the early part of the thirteenth century; in 1319, it is mentioned in an Act of Robert I.; and in 1359, under David II., a gift of lands is confirmed to it.
The earliest of these notices doubtless referred to the Norman church of the twelfth century, of which not a fragment now remains in situ; but some detached Norman carved stones, such as caps, have been found in excavations in the interior. The edifice appears to have been rebuilt about the time of David II.
In the constant wars with England Edinburgh naturally suffered much. It was damaged by Edward II. in 1322, when Holyrood Abbey was also spoiled. Under Edward III. the country was laid waste in 1335, when the capital was again injured. This raid, having occurred in February, was afterwards known as the “burnt Candlemas,” from the conflagrations raised during its continuance. A reconstruction of the edifice was probably required after these destructive harryings, and this appears to have been carried out during the fourteenth century. But shortly afterwards a most complete devastation of the town and all its buildings was occasioned by Richard II. during his invasion in 1385. He then occupied Edinburgh for five days, and, on his departure, laid the town and the parish church in ashes.
A great effort was made by the citizens on this occasion, along with assistance from the Crown, to repair the disaster to their church. From this period the history of the structure as it now exists may be said to date.
We have no account of the condition of the edifice immediately before its destruction in 1385, but it must (as above mentioned) have been to a large extent rebuilt before that time.
It is said that during the restoration which took place in 1870-80,[157] traces of fire were observed on the pillars of the choir, and it is inferred that these pillars must have existed before the burning caused by Richard II. This view is confirmed by the fact that, after 1387, when, doubtless, the town authorities were doing all they could to complete the restoration of St. Giles’, they entered into a contract with certain masons to erect five chapels along the south side of the nave, having pillars and vaulted roofs, covered with dressed stone slabs[158] These chapels still exist, and the wall rib of the vaulting is yet visible on the south side of the arcade, next the south aisle; but the vault and stone roof have been removed, and a plaster ceiling of imitation vaulting substituted. The above contract indicates that the walls of the nave then existed.
We must, therefore, assume that the church had been rebuilt previous to the destruction of 1385, and that the above contract was an addition to the building connected with its restoration two years after the fire. Although, doubtless, much injured by the conflagration, the walls and pillars of the church seem to have escaped total destruction. The style of the architecture would lead to the same view; the octagonal pillars of the choir, with their moulded caps, being most probably of the fourteenth century.
The church, as restored and added to after 1387, would then consist (Fig. 824)[159] of a choir of four bays, with side aisles; a nave of five bays, also with side aisles; a central crossing, north and south transepts, and the five chapels just added south of the nave. A large open porch, to the south of the central one of those chapels, was also erected along with them. It had a finely groined vault in the roof, and over it was a small chamber,
lighted by a picturesque oriel window, supported on a corbel, carved with an angel, displaying the city arms (Fig. 825).[160] The upper story, which is supposed to have been the revestry, was reached by a bold turret stair on the west side of the south porch.
The whole of the main divisions of the structure were vaulted; but the vault of the central aisles was low, being little higher than that of the side aisles. The massive octagonal piers of the crossing appear to have been raised about this period. The traces of the caps, which were cut off, are visible at a lower level (Fig. 826), and the few courses of ashlar work above them, with the new caps at the heightened level, may be traced as additions (Fig. 827). The vaulting of the crossing, with its central opening, was, doubtless, executed during the restoration of about 1400.
The ancient Norman porch, which formed the north entrance to the nave, was the only part of the twelfth century structure then preserved, and a small chamber was erected above it, with a narrow turnpike stair leading to it. The restoration seems to have been in progress for a considerable length of time. Donations from the Crown towards it continued to be given till 1413. It was probably completed about 1416.
Shortly after the erection of the five chapels on the south side of the nave, another chapel was built on the north side of the nave, to the
west of the old Norman doorway. This chapel, called the Albany aisle (Fig. 828), is 32 feet long by 12 feet in width. It opens from the nave