“Below, however, and above are arranged in order chapels (domicilia), which are to be consecrated through their altars in commemoration of apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins.
“This multiplicity of a work so vast was, however, begun at such a distance from the east of the ancient temple, that even some part of the nave which was to lie between them, intervened with ample space, lest the brothers occupying it should be interrupted from the service of Christ.”
Another contemporary writer describes the church as “upheld by diverse columns, and vaulted everywhere with multiplicity of arches.”
From these accounts we may gather:—
1st. That the church was apsidal.
2d. That the aisles were of two storeys, and each of them vaulted.
3d. That there was a lofty central tower under which the choir sat, and that this had winding staircases, and was covered with a timber roof and leaded.
4th. We further learn that the church contained numerous chapels and altars placed both below and above, and that in the eyes of one who had, perhaps, lived to see several of the new Norman churches commenced, it appeared a work of vast size and great multiplicity.
Lastly, we find that it was placed so far to the east of the ancient church, that not only were the services in that church never discontinued, but that a portion of the nave of the new church might be erected. The latter proves, of course, that the entire nave was not completed by the Confessor himself, as he died within a few days after the consecration.
A writer of the thirteenth century, in a poetical Life of the Confessor, thus describes his works at Westminster:—