Norwich Cathedral is justly celebrated for the beauty of its interior. Entering from the upper close by the north aisle door, and then taking a position immediately under the great west window, facing east, there is before one the long perspective of the Norman nave, the choir and presbytery, while overhead comes the later vault, telling richly by contrast with the severe plainness of the earlier work below. The extreme length of the cathedral is about 407 feet. The nave, always long in Norman churches, is here over 200 feet from the west door to the choir screen. Although some critics object to the position of the organ on this same screen, there can be no doubt that, not only is it a most admirable position for the instrument acoustically, but also that its presence here does not detract from the general effect of the interior. From the west end of the nave, as a dark silhouette against the eastern apsidal windows, or as an object in the middle distance, it helps the spectator to realise the length of the cathedral. A certain sense of mystery and something undiscerned adds to the charm of an interior, and the organ here helps, with the screen, to enshrine the eastern arm and most sacred portion of the building, and interrupts the vista for the sake of which disastrous sacrifices have been made in many of our cathedral churches.
The Nave consists of seven double bays; in all, fourteen compartments from the west end to the tower crossing.
It will be noticed that, in the [plan] (page 113), a square of the nave, occupying longitudinally the space of two bays of the aisles, is indicated by the dotted lines; also a main pier is marked as Y and a subsidiary pier as z.
The main piers, as at Y, are large rectangular masses, having on the nave side a flat buttress-like piece added, with shafts in the angles, and bearing on the face the two vaulting shafts. On the aisle side are two shafts to each transverse arch; and on the two lateral faces are triple shafts to the arcade arches, with four angle shafts at each corner of the main pier, taking the outer rings to same. The plan is the same at the triforium level. The smaller or subsidiary piers (as at X) have single vaulting shafts on the nave face, double ones to the aisle, and under the arcade arches convex faces, with four angle shafts, as in main piers. The plan of these piers determines the elevation. The nave arcade arches, ornamented with the billet, and triforium with a chevron or zig-zag, are almost equal in size, and over these lower stages comes the typical triple Norman clerestory with walk; the whole covered in by the fine lierne vault.
The vault has thirteen complete bays and two semi-bays, one at either end. The junctions between this later vault and the Norman work can be seen. The main piers had the original double shafts cut off at the level of the top of the triforium arches, the later single shaft being brought down and joined by a peculiar branch-like connection. The original shafts to the subsidiary piers, which it is probable took only a minor part in carrying the flat Norman wooden roof, were finished by a cap at the impost level of the triforium, and the later shaft was brought down and finished by the rebus of Bishop Lyhart, the constructor of the vault. This rebus should be noticed; it is a pun in stone, with its hart lying in water. It will also be noticed that the outer arches of the triforium are not concentric with the sub-arches.
The bases of the shafts have been Perpendicularised, probably when the vault was added, and the Norman character of the lateral shafts spoilt by scraping.