Winchester Cathedral

The development of further building was greatly interrupted by the plague, which severely limited the numbers of skilled masons. It was also limited by the near monopoly of building work on royal undertakings at Windsor and Westminster. However, at Winchester, a new bishop, William of Wykeham, who had been surveyor of the King's works at Windsor Castle, set about the rebuilding of the Norman Cathedral. The arches of the nave arcades were taken out to minimize the amount of disturbance to the structure, leaving the containing arches of the triforium stage to span the gap. Within these spaces, new bays were constructed with high arcading , absorbing the triforium stage altogether. Although the piers are twelve feet thick with Norman columns at their center, the whole effect is one of great lightness and grace.