e singers was
extended westward into the body of the church.... In the next place,
beyond the middle of the length of the body there were two towers which
projected beyond the aisles of the church. The south tower had an altar in
the midst of it, which was dedicated in honour of the blessed Pope
Gregory.... Opposite to this tower and on the north, the other tower was
built in honour of the blessed Martin, and had about it cloisters for the
use of the monks.... The extremity of the church was adorned by the
oratory of Mary.... At its eastern part, there was an altar consecrated to
the worship of that Lady.... When the priest performed the Divine
mysteries at this altar he had his face turned to the east.... Behind him,
to the west, was the pontifical chair constructed with handsome
workmanship, and of large stones and cement, and far removed from the
Lord's table, being contiguous to the wall of the church which embraced
the entire area of the building.

Lanfranc, the first Norman archbishop, was granted the see in 1070. He
quickly set about the task of building himself a cathedral. Making no
attempt to restore the old fabric, he even destroyed what was left of
the monastic building, and built up an entirely new church and monastery.
Seven years sufficed to complete his cathedral, which stood on the same
ground as the earlier fane. His work, however, was not long left
undisturbed. It had not stood for twenty years before the east end of the
church was pulled down during the Archiepiscopate of Anselm, and rebuilt
in a much more splendid style by Ernulph, the prior of the monastery.
Conrad, who succeeded Ernulph as prior, finished the choir, decorating it
with great magnificence, and, in the course of his reconstruction, nearly
doubling the area of the building. Thus completed anew, the cathedral was
dedicated by Archbishop William in A.D. 1130. At this notable ceremony the
kings of England and Scotland both assisted, as well as all the English
bishops. Forty years later this church was the scene of Thomas a Becket's
murder (A.D. 1170), and it was in Conrad's choir that the monks watched
over his body during the night after his death.

Eadmer also gives some description of the church raised by Lanfranc. The
new archbishop, "filled with consternation" when he found that "the church
of the Saviour which he undertakes to rule was reduced to almost nothing
by fire and ruin," proceeded to "set about to destroy it utterly, and