III.—Wall Paintings in the Infirmary Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral

Extract

Professor Willis's plan in his Architectural History of the Monastery of Christ Church lays down very clearly the form of the Capella Infirmorum and its relation t o the Domus Infirmorum and surrounding buildings. The chapel was of late Norman construction, and consisted of a short nave and aisles of four bays, with a square-ended chancel. The nave has a characteristic Norman clearstory, and was separated from the chancel by a chancel arch, but the main features of the nave exist in situ for any one to examine, and need not detain us. The chancel was lighted by two Norman windows on each side, which were shafted, had late Norman, almost Transitional, carved capitals and a rich zigzagged archivolt. In the east wall were three windows of similar detail. The normal thickness of the chancel walls is ft. 2 in. They were unbuttressed, and the whole was ceiled with a plain barrel vault, covering a span of 26 ft, somewhat wide for so small a building.