constructed a crypt under the choir of his new building, and the steps
one ascends to-day are there as the direct outcome of the structural
methods of rude Saxon times."

Lanfranc completed his new cathedral in 1077, and in his lifetime he
also founded the great Benedictine priory of Christ Church, whose
considerable remains add so much medievalism to the surroundings of
the vast cathedral. Anselm succeeded Lanfranc after an interval of a
few years, during which Rufus found it exceedingly desirable to keep
the see vacant while the revenues were diverted into the royal
coffers, and scarcely twenty years after his predecessor's church was
finished, Prior Ernulph pulled down the east end and constructed in
its place the magnificent Norman choir, with its transepts and chapels
standing with various alterations to-day. This great work was finished
by Prior Conrad, who succeeded Ernulph, and the noble work, which
became known as Conrad's Choir, was consecrated in 1130 by Archbishop
de Corbeuil. To make this bald statement and omit to mention the
ceremony attending it would be misleading; for not only were Henry I.
and David of Scotland present, but Canterbury saw such a gathering of
dignitaries of Church and State with their splendid retinues that the
historian found nothing to compare with it but Solomon's dedication of
the Temple!

This splendid church, representing the finest achievement of Norman
master-builders and workmen, rising high above the domestic quarters
of the monastery and standing forth conspicuously from every part of
the little walled city, then consisting, to a considerable extent, of
low wooden houses, had now reached the stage in its development when
it was to be the scene of the murder which was to make Canterbury the
most famous resort of pilgrims in Europe. This occurred forty years