enry the Third himself
probably supervised the plans, and we know that the King had already seen
and admired Salisbury Cathedral, then quite a new building, before {25}
he arranged to rebuild Westminster in the same style. As a fact, no less
than two and a half centuries passed from the year 1245, when Henry gave
orders for the demolition of the whole of the eastern end--the same part
which the Confessor had watched grow up and had caused to be consecrated
before his death,--till the reign of his collateral descendant, the first
Tudor king, when the last bay was quite finished. Only an observant eye
can detect the slight differences, chiefly in the vaultings of the roof,
which mark the different stages of the western part, and it is difficult
to realise that the old Norman nave, divided by a wall from the new
Gothic church, existed long after Henry's death, and was taken down bit
by bit as the building slowly proceeded. Edward the First's period is
marked by metal rings round the columns, and only extended one bay west
of the present screen, where formerly the Jesus altars and rood loft
stood, with a stone wall behind, which is now concealed by the wooden
casing of the modern screen. Services for the ordinary worshippers, the
parishioners so to speak, were held by the monks at these altars, above
and below the rood screen, but the lesson, which was read from above, was
the only part of the High Mass celebrated in the choir intended for {26}
the congregation in the nave. With the early fourteenth century the
beautiful diaper work which decorated the triforium arcades ceased, and
this helps us to fix the date of the later part. During the century
which followed, the building practically stood still for a long time.
Edward II. gave the monks no help, and Edward III. was too poor and too
busy with his numerous wars to occupy himself with pious donations. But
at the end of his reign Archbishop Langham, formerly the Abbot here, left
a large bequest, primarily intended for the completion of the nave, which
was diverted by his successor Litlington to more pressing needs, such as
the rebuilding of the monastery, enlarging the cloisters, and, with the
help of gifts from Richard II., the addition of a rich porch outside the
north front. Henry IV. died in the precincts, but we have no record of
any generosity on his part; his son Henry V., however, gave an annual sum
to the work on the nave, which during his short reign progre