_From a Drawing by J. Taylor Scott._] certainly far better produced by more massive proportions and a greater extent of unadorned surface.”[9] [Illustration: NORMAN SHAFT WITH RE-CARVED CAPITAL, EASTERN PIER IN S. NAVE ARCADE. (See p. 27.)] But although we miss the characteristic massiveness of most Norman naves, we also enjoy the freedom--which may fairly be claimed as the structural note of this interior--from their attendant heaviness. In fact, the very large span of the arches detracts from the size of the piers, the actual bulk of which is great. [Illustration: DETAILS OF PIER ARCHES. (From J. & F. p. 58.)] [Illustration: CARVED PANELS AND ARCH ORNAMENTS IN THE TRIFORIUM. (From J. & F. p. 58.)] The details of the arcade are of an interesting character. The piers are alternately round and octagonal (irregular), with attached shafts at the cardinal points. Towards the aisles the shafts are clustered, being intended for vaulting. The plinths are more varied than is usual, but the tongue of foliage, which is a favourite method of ornamenting the space caused by the change from the square to the round or octagonal, is here conspicuous by only one example, and that a timid one on the south side. The bases are of quite an Early English type, with the usual hollow, but the capitals prove an instructive study. The most frequent type of these is the rather common “cushion,” which the Transitional carvers have vivified in the most exquisite way by, apparently, experimenting with several forms of stiff-leaved foliage, some of which approach more nearly to the classic type than is usual in this country, and least of all was it to be expected at the land’s end of Wales. On the south side towards the east is one of special beauty, where one sees how the carver has treated the Norman cushion cap as a boss on which to let his fancy play. The arches are of exceptional richness and elaborately moulded towards the nave--in fact, just as little of the Romanesque character as is consistent with the Norman arch is retained. The westernmost arches, being narrower in span than the others, are skilfully kept the same in height by being pointed, and the details differ; which prompts the suggestion that De Leiâ, finding his nave somewhat short in appearance, decided to lengthen it by another bay, and was only confined by the river Alan, which at the north-west corner even now runs quite close to the foundations. A strong horizontal line is carried east and west, close above the Norman hood-moulding, which, combined with the great width of the nave and the huge span of the arches, conduces towards the feeling of stuntedness already noticed in the exterior.