The pressure of the vault has forced out the jambs of the arch (that is, the side walls), and given the arch a horse-shoe form. Dr. Wilson lays some stress on this peculiarity of form, taking it to be intentional, but it is purely the result of lateral pressure.
The east end has no window. On the north is a window 1 foot 7½ inches high and 11 inches wide at the outside, with a semicircular head, below the impost of the vault. The jambs are splayed inward to 2 feet 1 inch in width, without an external chamfer. On the south is a similar window. ([Fig. 102.]) Probably, like the nave windows, they were not originally glazed.
Over the vault of the chancel is a chamber, entered from the nave by a semicircular arch 6 feet 4 inches high and 2 feet 2 inches wide, over the chancel arch. (See [Fig. 101.])
Fig. 101.—Church on Egilsey. West and East Elevations.
It is lit by a flat-headed window in the east end, 1 foot 6 inches high. This probably served as a depository for books, muniments, &c.
It is called by the country people “Grief House,” and supposed to have been a prison, &c.
The side walls of this chamber are 2 feet 4½ inches thick, and the east wall 2 feet 7½ inches.
The ridge of the chancel roof was 20 feet 9 inches above the floor of the nave. [Figs. 103, 104 show the appearance of the building from south-east and north-west.]