It is when the nave is entered that the full beauty and vast proportions
of the Norman church are revealed, for this is in essence a Norman
building encased with Perpendicular details and additions. As Wykeham's
alterations were merely added to the original piers, the stateliness of
the whole remains. Full credit, of course, must be given to Wykeham for
the wonderful skill he showed in this work of transformation, and in
removing the heavy triforium, although the grandeur of the nave as a
whole is due to the combined work of Walkelin and Wykeham. This
alteration of styles in the nave was begun by Edington, continued by
Wykeham, and completed by his successors in the see--Cardinal Beaufort
and Bishop Waynflete--who built the stone vaulting of the roof. The
tower at the intersection of the transepts is the second of its kind,
the first, built by Walkelin, having fallen in 1107, owing, says
tradition, to the wicked Red King having been buried beneath it. Of its
rebuilding there are no records.

So many detailed architectural histories of the building have appeared
that its principal features must be familiar to every lover of our
national architecture. There are, however, one or two features about
this cathedral that should be noted. Apart from its great length, which
is greater than any church in the world, with the exception of St.
Peter's at Rome, it is remarkable for its parclose screens, with the
mortuary chests upon them; and for the beauty and number of its
chantries, in which it is richer than any other English cathedral. They
are said to have been saved from destruction during the Civil War by the
Parliamentary colonel, Fiennes, an old Wykehamist; and certain
historians describe the dramatic incident of the colonel standing with
drawn sword to protect the chantry of the founder of his Alma Mater from
the iconoclastic tendencies of his troopers. The chantries number seven,