vault:
this, the "crypt," or undercroft, was probably used as a storage-room;
it is now the dining-room. To the north of this hall is a square
chamber with a pillar in the centre; and to the east of the chamber a
small room projects beyond the ground plan of the building, with a
space at one end (probably a closet) now walled up.

On the first floor the great chamber (68 by 28 feet) stood over the
undercroft, while on its north was the bishop's private room, both
open to the roof, and to the east of this, his private chapel. The
gallery above the entrance hall was formerly divided into three
chambers, the two larger of which Mr Buckle thinks were used as a
lobby and a wardrobe. The windows in the gallery were restored by Mr
Ferrey in 1846, but nothing is new except the marble shafts and bases.
The two windows at the north end of the great chamber are evidently
later additions, as they have fully developed bar-tracery, while the
other windows in the chamber consist of pairs of trefoil-headed
windows with a quatrefoil in plate tracery above them.

The GREAT HALL, which is now but a beautiful ruin, was built by Bishop
Burnell, who died 1292. It was a magnificent chamber, 115 feet by 591/2,
with high traceried windows. It was divided into nave and aisles
by rows of pillars to carry the roof and the passage at the west end
led between buttery and pantry to the kitchen; over these rooms was a
large solar, and on the north side a porch with staircase at the side
leading to the solar. Both hall and palace are well and fully
described by Mr Buckle in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1888. Bishop
Barlow had the hall dismantled, employing Sir John Gates for the
purpose; the walls, however, were left standing until Bishop Law's
time, when they were partly demolished in order to make the ruin more
"picturesque."

The chapel is very similar in style to the hall, and was built very
shortly afterwards; it is at present defaced by bad decoration and
fittings. The carving is very fine and varied; some of the capitals
retain the old stiff-leaf foliage, while in some the leaves grow
freely round the bell in the Decorated manner. The vaulted ceiling is
also an excellent example of the transitional work of the period. The
west window is of later date, and has been twice restored--once by
Bishop Montague (1608-16), and again in the present century. On the
north side, at some height from the ground, are the indications of
what may have been