Bubwith. The latter differs from its companion only in the possession
of two canopied niches let into the buttresses. To study the church
historically the visitor should enter the N. porch, the oldest part of
the present building. It is E.E., but was executed before the style had
divested itself of its Norm. traditions (observe the zig-zag ornament).
This exceedingly beautiful porch is considered by some to be the gem of
the cathedral. Note (1) foliaged weather-moulding, (2) the square
_bas-reliefs_ on either side of entrance, (3) deeply-recessed double
arcading, (4) sculptured capitals, (5) parvise. If on entering the
church the visitor will at once take his stand beneath the central
tower, and looking N. and S. down the transepts, E. as far as the
throne, and W. to the porch by which he entered, can picture the E. end
closed by an apse and the church lighted by narrow lancets, and can
further imagine the absence of the organ-screen and the unsightly
inverted arches, he will have a very fair idea of what the church
looked like when it left the hands of its first builder, Bishop Robert,
in 1166. The nave was carried westwards to its present limits in
1174-91 by his successor, Bishop Reginald, and to this Bishop Joceline
added the W. front, built the E. cloister, and consecrated the whole
edifice in October 1239. The architecture of the nave has been aptly
described as "improved Norman." Its peculiarities are assigned to the
idiosyncrasies of local builders. The general effect is a certain
monotonous severity, and the absence of vaulting shafts gives the
building a tunnel-like appearance. The inverted arches are disguised
struts inserted in 1338 to prevent the collapse of the central tower.
They give, it is true, character to the interior, but their effect is
ungainly. Bishop Robert's work can be distinguished from his
successor's by the larger stones employed, the transverse tooling (as
if done by an adze), and the existence of grotesques in the tympanum of
the arches of the triforium. Note in nave (1) humorous figures on