Such, for instance, is the great
west window--not mullioned, but divided by long massive stone shafts
into seven arched compartments; such, too, is the low-browed doorway
beneath, with its heavy semicircular arch. The upper tier of
windows--here called _storm_ windows, perhaps as a corruption of
_dormer_--are the plain, unmoulded arch, such as one sometimes sees it
in unadorned buildings of the earlier Norman period. Indeed, though the
building dates from the second age of the Pointed style, it associates
itself in some of its features, very closely with the relics of the
Norman age, especially in the short, massive round pillars which support
the clerestory. The roof, with its carving, gilding, and bright heraldic
colors, is in thorough contrast with the rest of the architecture, and
the eye gratefully relieves itself from the gloom below, by wandering
over its quaint devices and gaudy hues. It is divided into three
longitudinal departments, panelled with richly-carved oak; and at each
intersection of the divisions of the compartments with the cross-beams,
there is emblazoned a shield armorial, with an inscription.
"It is an uncommon thing to find, as in this instance we do, the nave
only of a church remaining, for the chancel was generally the part first
erected, and sometimes the only part. The remains of the central and
eastern portions of St.
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