Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey

ly abbess for about thirty years before her death in 1199, the transitional work in the clerestory of the nave was carried out.

[Illustration: JUNCTION OF NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH WORK, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE NAVE]

In the next century the church was extended westward by the erection of three bays and the west front with its three tall lancets and the small cinquefoil window above the central one, all inclosed within a pointed comprising arch. This work was done during the time when Henry III was king; there are records of several gifts to the abbey of timber by him from the royal forest. This was no doubt used in constructing the roof of the westward extension of the nave and aisles. The next work was the insertion of the two large east windows and the building of the pair of Decorated chapels, one of which was dedicated to Our Lady, and the other to St. Æthelflæd, or Ethelfleda, as her name was then spelt. They were probably divided by an arcade, and stood until the dissolution of