So enthusiastically did he work, that in the
short space of eleven years (1077-88) the church was rebuilt. The
rapidity of the building was no doubt chiefly due to the fact that there
was no need of hewing and squaring stone, for the Roman bricks from the
ruins of the old city of Verulam were ready at hand, and the timber
collected by Paul's five predecessors was well seasoned. It is said that
the new church was not dedicated until the year 1115, but it is hard to
believe that so long a space of time as twenty-seven years would be
allowed to elapse between the completion of the building and the
dedication. It is possible there may be some error in this date.
We can form a good idea of this Norman church. It was like several of
the other cathedral and abbey churches built at the same time, of vast
size, far grander than their prototype in Normandy, St. Stephen's at
Caen. The following table gives approximately the dimensions of some of
these churches:
Length of Number of Bays. Total
Nave. Nave. Presbytery. Apse. Length.
St. Stephen's, Caen 193 9 2 ... 290
Canterbury 185 9 10 5 290
Winchester 318 14 3 5 .
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