are those on the porch front. May they long continue so! The doors are
largely original and are finely panelled and carved.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ST. MICHAEL'S FROM THE WEST.]



CHAPTER III

THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH

From within the door by which the church is usually entered, that near
the south-west angle, we obtain an overpowering impression of the
special characteristic of the interior, its spaciousness, for it is
here more than 100 feet wide and the east window is nearly 240 feet
distant.

The nave, which is 37 feet 6 inches wide in the clear, is wider than
that of many cathedrals, and much exceeds that of most parish
churches, the widest (Worstead) given in Brandon's "Parish Churches"
being 29 feet. Boston alone exceeds it by about 3 feet. While the
ordinary aisle width ranges from 10 to 14 feet, the north aisle here
is 23 feet, the outer north and the south being each 17 feet. The
total internal length is 265 feet, exclusive of the sacristy; Boston,
the only larger one, being 284 feet, while very few exceed 200 feet,
and most are far smaller. The greatest internal width is 120 feet;
Manchester, a double-aisled collegiate church, is about the same, and
York Minster is 106 feet. Finally, the area is about 22,800 square
feet, probably greater than that of any other English parish church,
indeed, St. Nicholas, Yarmouth, is the only one which pretends to