The west end of the nave was entirely altered by Bishop WAKEFIELD, (1375-1395). He closed the western entrance; but the pointed arch, with a circular arch on either side, which, until the late restoration, were seen on the wall below the window, dated only from the last century. Traces of Norman doors, however, were discovered by Mr. Perkins at the ends of the aisles and in the central wall; proving that Bishop Wakefield retained the original wall, and shewing us the extent of the Norman nave. The space above the arches was entirely filled by a large debased window, the glass in which was inserted in 1792. This window has been happily replaced (1865) by an Early Decorated window of eight lights, of the same architectural character as the Decorated work on the north side of the nave, and equally enriched. (It is the gift of the Hon. and Rev. John Fortescue, Canon of Worcester.) The Norman portal beneath this window, the jambs of which were quite perfect, has been opened.
Beyond the two western bays the nave is Decorated on the north side, and early Perpendicular on the south, and the main arches rise much higher. The two sides differ in the capitals and bases of their piers, in the capitals of the vaulting-shafts, in the clerestory arches, and in the ornamentation of the triforium. The north side, which is the earlier, is also the richer.
Leland asserts that Bishop COBHAM (1317-1327) vaulted the north aisle of the nave. This fixes the date of the Decorated work on the north side. The bases of the piers differ from those opposite, and the capitals of the shafts are enriched with excellent leafage, much undercut. This “runs continuously round the pier, being inflected around the shafts, so as to distinguish the groups without separating them, and with the richest effect.” At the angles of the exterior hood-mouldings are small heads of kings and bishops. The triforium has two pointed arches in each bay, each arch enclosing two smaller ones. The shafts which support these arches have capitals of leafage, and the tympana in the heads of the larger arches are filled with sculptured figures. These, before the late restoration, were so greatly decayed as to be quite undecipherable. They have been re-worked as carefully as possible, but in most instances the original subject was completely uncertain. The clerestory consists of three pointed arches, with leafage on the capitals of the shafts, and at the angles of the outer mouldings. The windows at the back are Perpendicular insertions. Professor Willis has been the first to point out that the triforium and clerestory of the two bays adjoining the transition Norman work on this side of the nave, differ from the rest, and are in fact Perpendicular, of the same character as the entire south side. “We may conclude, therefore, that the north side of the Norman nave was taken down first, and that when the portion in the Decorated style had been completed, a pause in the work or a change of architects happened, and the triforium and clerestory of these bays were then completed in a different style[67].”