Winchester: Nave, west
Winchester: Font
Fifteenth Centuries, yet it is from the ground to the roof the original Norman building begun by Walkelyn. The extreme western part was rebuilt by Edington, who began the transformation of the Nave from the Norman to the Perpendicular, and continued by his successor William of Wykeham (1366-1404).
At Wykeham’s death in 1404 the south side of the Nave was finished and the north begun. The work was continued and finished by his successors, Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Waynflete (1404-1486). The arms on the bosses of the vault of the nave are those of Wykeham, Cardinal Beaufort and John of Gaunt (the latter’s father); the chained white hart is the device of Richard II. and the lily that of Bishop Waynflete.
Students may compare the Nave of Winchester with the Choir of Gloucester, which is also Norman in plan, “overlaid with a veneer of masonry in the Pointed Style.” The Gloucester Choir is, however, of later date, and instead of showing an amalgamation of the two styles, as at Winchester, the Pointed is added to the Round-arched style.
The curious black basaltic stone Font was probably the gift of Bishop Henry de Blois (1129-71), and some antiquarians think that it was brought from Constantinople during the Second Crusade. The carvings represent St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of children, and much honoured by the Normans.