Retracing our steps, we enter the Cathedral by the north porch and view the new _Nave_ from the west end. The slender piers and fine vaulting are striking, and the work is in many ways very beautiful. The surface of the walls in the aisles is broken by canopied recesses for tombs, one only being occupied by a marble figure of Dean Elliot. The baptistry is in the south-west or Colston Tower, and is decorated in memory of Bishop Monk. Already there are many memorial windows of good modern glass.
The _North Transept_ has some original Norman work in the core of the buttresses and in the wall below the north window. Some alterations were made during the Decorated period, probably by Abbot Snow (1332-1341), and the arch leading to north choir aisle is Perpendicular work constructed by Abbot Newland (1481-1515), called "the good abbot." Either he or his successor, Elliot, constructed the groined roof, which has on the bosses sculptured representations of the instruments of the Passion. The north window is modern, in memory of Colston. The well-known writer, "Hugh Conway" (F. Fargus), has a memorial here, and also Jane Porter of literary fame, Sterne's "Maria" (Mrs. Draper), and the parents of Macready, the actor.
[Illustration Bristol The Central Tower from S E]
The _South Transept_ has much Norman work in the lower part of the walls. Part was rebuilt in Early English times. Abbot Snow (1332-1341) continued the work and constructed the arch leading to the south choir aisle. The vault is Perpendicular work by Abbot Elliot (1515-1526). On the south is a staircase now leading to the consistory court, but which formerly echoed with the tread of the monks as they came here to their midnight services from the dormitory. In this transept there are monuments to Lady Hesketh (1807), the friend of Cowper; William Phillips, the sub-sacrist or verger who prevented the rioters from profaning the Cathedral in 1831; Chantrey's monument of Mrs. Crawford; and most famous of all, _Bishop Butler_ (1752), one of the most honoured of English divines, the author of _The Analogy of Religion_. The inscription was written by Southey.
It is deplorable that a beautiful stone screen of Tudor architecture, which separated the choir from the transept, was ruthlessly destroyed in 1860, and another one erected. This also has been removed, and the view of the east end, with its Decorated piers and arches and the rich glass of the windows, is extremely fine. All the work before us was constructed by Abbot Knowle (1306-1332) and is Decorated. The Norman choir had two bays with a third for a processional path. Knowle added two bays to the choir and built the Lady Chapel. The clustered piers have triple shafts which support the vaulting. The capitals on these shafts have very graceful foliage. The piers have no capitals, but the mouldings run round the arches continuously, as is not unusual in Decorated work. The vaulting is what is known as lierne. Iron screen work divides the aisles from the choir. The reredos is modern, erected in 1899, and has some fine carving. The _Stalls_ were originally Decorated, but "restoration" has destroyed much, and little of the old work remains. There are some curious _Misereres_: a fox preaching to geese, a tilting with brooms between a man and a woman, one mounted on a pig, the other on a turkey-cock, the story of Reynard the Fox. The pavement is new, and not altogether successful. The organ is a noble instrument placed on the west side, and has been often reconstructed. The _Throne_ is modern and has some fine carving. Passing into the north aisle we notice the peculiar vaulting. It will be seen that the roof of the choir and aisles is the same height, and in order to support the weight of the choir-vault transoms are thrown across the aisles supported on arches, and above a vaulting shaft springs from the centre of the transom. This ingenious plan produces the same effect as a flying buttress and is most ingeniously arranged. The windows have beautiful Decorated tracery and the ball-flower is extensively used in the string-course beneath them. The east window has seventeenth-century glass, said to have been given by Nell Gwynne, more probably by Dean Glemham (1661-1667). It treats of the Resurrection, with Jonah and Abraham's sacrifice as types of the same, the Ascension with Elijah as a type. There are monuments here of Robert Codrington (1618); Harriet Middleton (1826); Paul Bush (1558), the first bishop; Robert Southey, the poet; Bishop Westfield (1644); Bishop Howell (1649); and Mary Mason, wife of the poet, with some touching lines (1767).