The choir is separated from the nave by the usual screen, and now by a
sail-cloth or something of that kind, drawn across, in order to keep out
the dust, while the repairs are going on. When the young woman conducted
me hither, I was at once struck by the magnificent eastern window, the
largest in England, which fills, or looks vast enough to fill, all that
end of the cathedral,--a most splendid window, full of old painted glass,
which looked as bright as sunshine, though the sun was not really shining
through it. The roof of the choir is of oak and very fine, and as much
as ninety feet high. There are chapels opening from the choir, and
within them the monuments of the eminent people who built them, and of
benefactors or prelates, or of those otherwise illustrious in their day.
My recollection of what I saw here is very dim and confused; more so than
I anticipated. I remember somewhere within the choir the tomb of Edward
II. with his effigy upon the top of it, in a long robe, with a crown on
his head, and a ball and sceptre in his hand; likewise, a statue of
Robert, son of the Conqueror, carved in Irish oak and painted. He lolls
in an easy posture on his tomb, with one leg crossed lightly over the
other, to denote that he was a Crusader. There are several monuments of
mitred abbots who formerly presided over the cathedral. A Cavalier and
his wife, with the dress of the period elaborately represented, lie side
by side in excellent preservation; and it is remarkable that though their
noses are very prominent, they have come down from the past without any
wear and tear.
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