ARCHITECTURE - Karatunov.net

CHAPTER XXVIIIENGLANDNORMAN PERIODHampeyChrist-OF the two great conventual churches whichshire boasts in addition to her cathedral, ROMSEY isremarkable among Norman churches for itssquare eastend, which has the further anomaly of containing twowindows, so that a pier comes in the middle instead of alight.The same peculiarity exists in the church of theHospital of S. Cross near Winchester.The other Hampshire church, the Priory of TWYNHAMor CHRISTCHURCH, which is on the scale of a cathedral,was probably begun by Ralph Flambard in the time ofWilliam Rufus. The nave and transepts (Plate CLII) ofthe original buildingstill remain, but the eastern arm andthe chapels beyondit were re-built with splendour in the14th and i$th centuries. There was perhaps a Normancentral tower which has disappeared, and a fine I5thcentury tower has been added at the west end. Theaisles are vaulted, and the nave is roofed with wood.The Norman roof was replaced in the I4th century by ahandsome one of timber, now much decayed, and hiddenby sham vaulting of lath and plaster. The nave piersare very simple, rectangular masses of masonry withattached colonnettes ;and the triforiurn is divided by acentral column into two sub-arches under an includingone. The lofty proportion of the triforium here is likethat at Winchester, Peterborough, and Ely.