The windows in the transepts have seen many changes, and are now mostly in the Perpendicular manner, the exceptions being in the west wall of the south transept, and the north window just referred to. Until 1892 this was a large Perpendicular window--which, though early, and prior to the Civil War, was a manifest intrusion on the space originally occupied by an Early English window. The old design, which is not unlike that of the famous window at York, has again taken its place. Canon Lonsdale says that this change is "in every sense a restoration: for, on taking out the Perpendicular window, and removing such of the stone work as was defective on either side, the headings of the five Early English lights, which had unquestionably composed the original window, were discovered, hidden away by the later workmen. The cusps, or headings, of the lights, as they are now seen from the inside, are, with the exception of six stones, the very identical material which the Early English builders carved, and placed in that spot. Of these six missing stones, three have since been discovered during the work going on in the south transept."
There can be no doubt that some of the Perpendicular work in the cathedral is due to the general repair at the Restoration; but Professor Willis declares that many of the changes are earlier, and that they were perhaps effected in the time between Bishops Heyworth and Blythe, 1420 to 1503. The engravings of Hollar, already referred to, were published before 1660, and show Perpendicular windows in the gable of the south transept and in the clerestory; and though from these pictures nothing can be gleaned about the north transept, the character of the Perpendicular work was such that it also, as has just been stated, must have been prior to the Rebellion. It is possible, on the outside western face of the north transept, to trace the old lancet windows, which must have been arranged in groups of three, while the lower windows on the west side of the south transept are still in their old form, though on this side there are only two lancets to each bay. It may be mentioned here that underneath these last windows, on the outside, there is an arcading with simple pointed arches which does not appear on the other transept. Inside the arcading differs in the two transepts; in the south and older one the pointed arches are plain, while on the north they are cusped. This arcading is almost entirely new; what there was of it until recently was principally of plaster.