of triforium and
clerestory, with foliaged carvings, are about the only ornate
decorations to be seen.

The central tower, of great proportions, but incomplete as to the
addition of a spire, is a marvel of strength and power. Its interior,
elaborately decorated, forms a lantern at the crossing. Here, as at
Bayeux, the choir is raised a few steps above its aisles, giving a
certain impressiveness beyond what might otherwise exist.

The interior, generally, is admirable. Clustered columns, as they are
commonly called,--in reality they are clustered pillars, if word
derivations are to be considered,--separate both nave and choir from the
aisles; and, in case of the choir, a series of elongated circular
pillars are coupled, one behind the other, an unquestionably unique
arrangement.

The transepts are practically non-existent, as the widening does not
extend beyond the extent of the nave chapels. This leaves the
ground-plan, at least, a mere parallelogram with a rounded eastern end.

Notre Dame de Coutances is one of the few really great Gothic churches
not possessing an example of those French masterworks, the rose window.

Again referring to the fine tower group, it is probably true that, were
the huge central tower properly spired, the ensemble would rival Laon in
regard to its impressive situation and elaborate pinnacles.

St. Pierre, of the fifteenth century, and St. Nicolas, of the
fourteenth, complete the trinity of fine churches which Coutances
possesses. The latter contains the unusual arrangement in a Continental
church of pews in place of chairs, although formerly, it is said, this
feature was not uncommon in Normandy.

The somewhat considerable remains of a Roman acqueduct, near by, are
sufficiently remarkable to warrant passing consideration, even by the
"mere lover of churches."

[Illustration]

IX

ST. PIERRE D'AVRANCHES

There is little to recount concerning the See of Avranches. Its
bishopric and its cathedral were alike destroyed during the parlous
times of the bickerings and ravages of Royalists and Republicans of the
Revolutionary period. All that remains to-day is a trifling heap of
stones which would hardly fill a row-boat,--a fragment of a shaft on
which is a tablet reading:

"ON THIS STONE,
HERE AT THE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL OF AVRANCHES,
AFTER THE MURDER OF THOMAS A BECKET,
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,
HENRY II.,
KING