The Nave, the part open to the public, was used for processions; some
started from the great west door, entrance through which was a rare
privilege granted only to the highest. The Choir was the scene of the
daily services of the seven offices of the day. All around, in the
aisles and transepts, were altars in side-chapels, chantry-chapels,[8]
where throughout the early part of the day priests were saying masses
for the souls of the departed. There were thirty chantries in the
Minster.

The Minster has from its foundation been a cathedral. The Chapter of
canons with the Dean at their head has always been its Governing Body.
As a church it was served by prebendaries or canons, who had definite
periods of duty annually, and two residential bodies of priests, of
whom some, the chantry priests, lived at St. William's College. This
College was erected shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century:
on the site there had been Salton House, the prebendal residence of
the Prior of Hexham, who was canon of Salton. This picturesque
building of stone, wood, half-timber work, and tiled roofs is a little
to the east of the Minster. It consists of a series of rooms ranged
round a central courtyard. It is of much historical interest, and
since it was restored recently to be the home of the Convocation of
the Northern Province, it has returned to the service of the church.
The minor-canons, or vicars-choral, who were employed by the canons as
their deputies, also lived in community. They had their hall, chapel,
and other buildings in an enclosed part called the Bedern not far from
the Minster.

As a counterpart to the Minster, in appearance as in use, was the
great, rich Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary, of royal foundation. With a
mitred abbot who sat among the lords spiritual in Parliament, St.