"[5]
Beneath this window stands a double doorway, surmounted by a small
quatrefoil window of like colours, enclosed within a pointed arch. The
exterior view of this portal is very fine, and Messrs. Brayley and
Britton place it next to the east end, (which is hardly of later date
than 1135,) in gradation of style, and refer to it as "an elegant
specimen of the time of King John, or the early part of the reign of
Henry the Third."[6] Dr. Milner describes this portal as "one of the
first specimens of a canopy over a pointed arch, which afterwards
became so important a member in this style of architecture:" he also
refers to the window above it as "one of the earliest specimens of a
great west window, before transoms, and ramified mullions, were
introduced; and therefore the western end of the church must have been
altered to receive this and the door beneath it, about the beginning
of the thirteenth century, the eastern extremity of the church being
left, as it still continues, in its original state. There is a plain
canopy, without any appearance of a pediment over the arch of this
window, like that over the portal."[7]
[5] We should imagine _The Crypt_ Correspondent to be no
enthusiastic admirer of ancient painted glass, unless of
the first order of execution.
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