Amphibalus, which at that time stood in the nave, had been celebrating
at the altar--he had finished even to the washing of the sacred
vessels--when he saw the columns fall; he withdrew a little from the
altar and received no harm. Some of the wreckage fell on the shrine of
St. Amphibalus, and though the marble pillars supporting the canopy were
broken, yet the chest which contained his relics suffered no harm. This
wonderful preservation of life and limb and shrine was naturally
attributed to the intervention of the blessed martyr St. Amphibalus.
Abbot Hugh of Eversden began to rebuild this ruined part of the church,
and this accounts for the five bays of the nave arcading westward of the
rood-screen being in fourteenth-century style. He did not live to finish
all this work, but it was carried on by his successor, Richard of
Wallingford (1326-1335), and finished by the next Abbot, Michael of
Mentmore, about 1345. The present rood-screen, which probably took the
place of a previously existing one of Norman date, was built in 1360 by
Thomas de la Mare. No further change of importance was made until the
time of John of Wheathampstead, who was Abbot from 1420 to 1440, and
again from 1451 to 1464.
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