The Interior Of A Gothic Minster.

end was the altar . On the north and south sides were relic aumbries . St . Outhbert ' s banner , a captured standard of Scotland , and similar flags , drooped over the aisles , whilst nine cressets , burning in front of the great marygold of the Nine Chapels , threw a soft fig ht over the gold ,

the jewels , and colours , and threw out the marble reredos with fine effect to the eyes of the pilgrims entering from the nave . At Westminster , Ely , and Chester , the shrines still remain perfect , and at St . Alban's and Oxford the watching lofts of oak . At Elyin 1378 the triforium was

, , cut through to throw additional light on the shrine , as the aisle windows at Carlisle were enlarged for the benefit of the high altar , and the east windows of the nave at Norwich for giving additional light to the choir . The basement of Edward the Confessor's shrine

is of Purbeck marble , enriched with Roman mosaic , having on the north and south side three niches for sick folk . Above them are panels filled in with mosaics , porphyry , and serpentine , inclosing the body of the Confessor . At the east end were two twisted pillars , and on the west a

large slab , forming the reredos of the altar , and on the sides the sockets for its bankers or curtains , to prevent the access of air to the candles , and the remains of two pillar brackets for the statues of St . Edward ancl the pilgrim . Above all was a church-like shrine-cover . At Ely tho

shrine of . St . Ethelburga consists of an open lowerstory and an upper stage of considerable height , decorated with niches , " and once containing her body . The silver shrine , before the time of Bishop Nigel , profusely jewelled and covered with statues and crystal , inclosed the actual coffin , which was of marble . The entire structure , which had an altar , was enriched with a rood , a majesty

of ivory , and silver trypfcych , studded wifch gems . The shrine of St . Werburgh , of the fourteenth century , at Chester , consists of a stone basement , having foliated arches , with canopied open lights above , and effigies in niches . Jocelyn , of Brakelone ! , has left on record a minute description of

the shrine of St . Edmund and St . Edmund ' s Bury ; and Stukely , in his " Iter Curiosum , " has done the same work for that of St . Hugh , at Lincoln , where it was pyramidal , and supported a chest plated with gold . Of those of St . William

at York , of St . Paulinus at Rochester , of St . John at Bridlington , of St . Chad at Lichfield , St . John -at Beverley , St . Ethelbert at Hereford , St . Osmund at Salisbury , or of St . Richard at Chichester , we possess no details , except as regards the lighting , as to which , by an injunction of Seffricl II .,

1227 , ten tapers quadrate were to burn round the shrine on great festivals , and on lesser feasts two round tapers at the shrine , a third at the tomb , and nine about the shrine . In some instances shrines occupied a subordinate position , as at Oxford . St . Erideswide ' s was adjoining the north choir aisle . At Lincoln ,

where little St . Hugh's was in the south choir aisle , Alderby ' s silver shrine , of beaten silver set with diamonds and rubies , stood in the transept . At Durham , Ven . Bede ' s was in the galilee ; at Hereford , that of Cantilupe occupied a transept aisle , like that of St . Amphibalus at St . Alban ' s ,

and St . Caradoc at St . David ' s . The basement is of Purbeck marble and freestone , with effigies of Knights Templar in niches . The upper stage consists of a canopy resting on open arches . At Oxford , the watching loft , of oak , which was attached to St . Prideswide ' s shrine , is composed

of two stories , the lower closed , resting on the founder's stone tomb , and the upper one open . At Rochester , St . William's shrine was in the north arm of the choir transept , which , like the corresponding one on the south , was shut off from the central baycontaining St . Pauhnus ' s shrine

, , by curtains . At St . David ' s , the saint's shrine was merely a tomb , with quatrefoiled apertures for offering's on the north side of the choir ; and at Gloucester , King Edward II . 's shrine is a

superb canopied tomb in the same position , within a chantry . There is a bracket for the reception of offerings ( the box or chest used for a similar purpose at Chichester is still preserved ) . At the entrance of the adjoining aisle is a stone lectern , at which a monk recited the story of the murdered

king to the pilgrims . The convent declared that the abbey church mig ht have been rebuilt , so great were the offerings made at the time . At Ripon , the tomb of St . Wilfrid was seen by Leland under the northernmost arch of the choir , next to the altar ( his shrine stood in the aisle ) , and a

red chest for offerings by the pilgrims was placed at its foot . Probably , the fridstool stood near it . The so-called tomb of St . Theobald was probably the shrine to contain the bones of the early archbishops of Canterbury ; and at Peterborough a Norman coped shrine is preserved . On Scrope ' s

shrine , at York , were hung rings , hands , feet , hearts , and eyes , placed by persons who believed that these parts had been cured by his prayers ; and ships and oars offered by seamen ; while silver rods served as barriers before the rich cloths on

which the ornaments were spread . Processional Path . —Spacium vel via processionvm a retro altaris ( W . Wyrc , p . 242 , latus pone cJwrum ; Mon . Anglic , 2 nd edition , p . 995 ) . The transverse aisle in square-ended churches is commonly doubled , as at Lichfield , or even tripled ,

as at Winchester and St . Mary Overye , in order to provide room for chapels , as well as a passage for processions . At Hereford , this aisle resembles a low transept , and the central bay is elongated into a lady chapel . At Romsey , it is single , and opened in a similar manner into a lady chapel

, whilst the outer compartments form apsidal chapels . The word chapel is derived from chapelle ( i . e ., " roofed" ) , a tent for divine service used by the Erench kings in their campaigns , in which they carried with them the relics , especially of