It has been done in the same spirit as actuated the early work of
the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It is said that the carvers had sprays
of leaves and clusters of fruit and flowers before them as they carved,
and imitated them as closely as the material on which they worked
allowed them to do. Work done in this manner, provided the carver has
skill and taste, is sure to show character and life, and to differ
entirely from the mechanical conventionalisms we generally see in modern
stone-carving.
[Illustration: LADY CHAPEL.]
The chapel dates from the latter part of the thirteenth and early part
of the fourteenth centuries. The work was probably begun in the time of
Abbot Roger Norton, whose body was buried before the high altar in the
presbytery, but whose heart was laid in a small box, which was
discovered during the restoration, before the altar of St. Mary of the
Four Tapers. Possibly his successor, John of Berkhampstead, carried on
the work; but at Abbot Hugh's accession in 1308 the walls of the Lady
Chapel had only been carried up as high as the string-course below the
windows. The work of building was not continuous, as change in style
shows; moreover we read in the Chronicles that Abbot Hugh of Eversden
"brought to a praiseworthy completion the Chapel of the Virgin in the
eastern part of the church which had been begun many-years before.
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