once a representation of the
Holy Dove. The niches again have crocketed ogee hoods, and in the lower
tier contain pedestals bearing shields charged with the arms of the
Pigotts and other benefactors, while the sill of the last at either end
of this tier is considerably raised, and the space below panelled. The
niches contain ribbed vaults, and are cinquefoil, with feathered
cusping, and their hoods are prolonged so as to divide the members of
the upper tier into pairs; while from the sides of these hoods, from the
buttresses, and from the curve of the doorway, thin strips of stone,
adorned with knobs that distinctly add to the effect, are carried up to
the cornice, along which runs a row of shields bearing traces of colour.
In the lower part of the screen the spaces between the strips and under
the hoods are filled with tracery. The screen is 12 feet thick, and in
the passage through it are two doors, that on the right opening into a
winding staircase to the loft above, and that on the left into a deep
pit, which once communicated, it is thought, with the north passage of
the Saxon crypt.

[Illustration: THE ROOD SCREEN.]

=The Choir.=--The choir extends 92 feet eastward from the screen. Its
width is 33 feet between the columns, or 68 feet if the aisles be
included. A notable peculiarity in it is, that after the lowering of the
aisle-roofs externally, the triforium was glazed, so that there are two
tiers of windows above the main arches.[92] Many styles meet here. The
first three bays on the north side are Archbishop Roger's work, while
the three opposite are Perpendicular, and lastly, the three easternmost
bays on either side are chiefly Decorated.

To begin with the north side. The arch in the first bay has been built
up, probably to strengthen the tower, and by the twelfth-century
builders themselves, for the abacus-moulding of the capital is continued
across the blocking wall. In the latter the fifteenth-century builders
have made a small pointed doorway, which is now blocked but apparently
once gave access from the top of the screen to a staircase in the north
aisle. This and the two next bays bear in all three stages a general
resemblance to the east side of the north transept. The columns,
however, are clusters of eight cylindrical shafts, and stand upon
circular plinths, the base proper following, of course, the form of the
pillar. The capitals, as usual, are compound and composed of plain
inverted bells, a