All this part of the church had to be rebuilt; and, of course, the south arcade differs from the northern one.
A massive pier, either the original Norman or one rebuilt in the Norman style, divides the five Early English bays on the west from the Decorated ones on the east. West we find the characteristic tooth ornament; and east, the characteristic ball-flower.
When the pestilence was raging in London (only twenty miles away) in 1543, 1589, and 1593, courts of justice were held in this nave. On the north side a pier bears an inscription to the memory of Sir John Mandeville, the famous traveller, who was born at St. Albans in the Fourteenth Century and educated in the monastery school.
The massive piers were coated with plaster and then painted. Each has traces of the same picture of the Crucifixion, with a second subject below it. This subject differs on every column. The soffits of the arches were also bright with colour, so that the severity and plainness that we now feel were originally missing.
“Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early English work is very plain, yet the triforium is ornate. The arcading consists of two pointed arches in each bay, each comprising two sub-arches; the supporting columns are slender and enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, with which also the string-course below the triforium is decorated. The shafts, which probably were intended to support a stone vault over the nave, should be noticed.
“The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large, wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and glazing introduced in the Fifteenth Century, when the aisle roof was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches, namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. Between each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is continued in the form of the flat pilaster buttress up to the roof.”—(T. P.)
The piers of the choir, like those of the nave, were originally painted. So was the ceiling. Wall-paintings were likewise discovered between the clerestory windows in 1875. The choir-stalls and Bishop’s Throne are modern. In the south-choir-aisle the tomb of Roger and Sigar, two local hermits, was once a place of pious pilgrimage.
The arches of the Tower are fifty-five feet high. The four inside faces of the lantern contain windows above the arcade, and the ceiling of the lantern (102 feet from the floor) is painted with the red and white roses of Lancaster and York, and various coats-of-arms. The effect of the tower is impressive. The peal consists of eight bells, cast in London in 1699. Some of the bells have been recast.
Beneath the Presbytery notable abbots, monks and laymen were given burial. The presbytery is divided from the aisles by solid walls, broken by the Ramryge and Wheathampstead chantries, and two doorways: it is closed in on the east side by a magnificent screen, constructed during William of Wallingford’s rule (1476-1484), and generally known as the Wallingford Screen. It is hard to realize that the lace-like canopies, of which it is composed, are made of stone. The material is clunch, a hard stone from the lower chalk formation. This great reredos has been restored of late years and filled with statues. There are no records to describe or even name the original figures; but those now occupying the niches, by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter, are, beginning on the left and reading downwards: (1) St. Titus, St. Timothy, St. Barnabas, Angel Gabriel; (2) King Edmund, St. Cuthbert, St. Augustine; (3) St. Oswyn, St. Giles, St. Cecilia, St. Boniface, St. Katherine, St. David; (4) King Offa, St. Helen, oak door; (5) St. Ethelbert, St. Leonard, St. Agnes, St. Nicholas, St. Frideswide, St. Chad; (6) Edward the Confessor, St. Benedict, St. Alban; (7) Angel, Angel, Angel; (8) Angel, Blessed Virgin Mary; (9) Crucifix; (10) Angel, St. John; (11) Angel, Angel, Angel; (12) St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Patrick, St. Amphibalus; (13) Edward King of West Saxons, St. Lawrence, St. Lucy, St. Wolfstan, St. Osyth, St. Alphege; (14) Pope Adrian IV., St. Etheldreda, oak door; (15) St. George, St. Benedict, Biscop, St. Ethelberga, St. Richard; (17) The Venerable Bede, St. Germain, St. Erkenwald, St. Margaret, St. Ælfric; (18) St. Paul, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Mary the Virgin. Below the Crucifix stands a row of smaller statues representing Christ and the Twelve Apostles. On Christ’s right: St. James Minor, St. Philip, St. John, St. James Major, St. Andrew, St. Peter; and on his left: St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias and St. Jude.
On the right and left of the altar are chantries. The south one is that of John of Wheathampstead, who was twice Abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464). His effigy is robed in full vestments, carries a pastoral staff and wears a mitre. His rebus—three ears of wheat—and his motto—Valles habundabunt—appear in various places.