The interior of the Chapel measures 41 feet 7 inches in length, 23 feet in breadth, and 23 feet in height. It is approached by a steep ascent of nine long narrow stone steps, which are situated near the south-west buttress. The ancient doorway is beautifully decorated with ball flowers. The floor stands at an elevation of nearly five feet above the floor of the chancel, an arrangement which appears to be peculiar to Waltham. It was apparently built at this high level to add to the loftiness of the crypt below, which was a capacious chamber of much importance in olden times, and consists of two wide bays of quadripartite vaulting. There is no way of access from the interior of the Church, but "the chapel is connected with the south aisle by a single arch of poor and ordinary architecture, a sad contrast to the glorious Romanesque work of the nave."[15] At the west end there is a large and beautiful six-light, square-headed window, with a rich and peculiar arrangement of a double plane of tracery, the inner plane consisting of three arches. This window, and the four elegant windows of three lights on the south side, are supposed to have been filled with stained glass, like that of the Chapter House at York Minster, and other buildings of the same period. At the extreme south-east of the building the remains of the ancient sedilia and piscina may still be seen. The walls were adorned with distemper paintings, chocolate coloured vine-leaves on a yellow ground running round the spandrels and windows. This decoration probably included a series of paintings, representing scenes in the life of the Mother of our Lord, and concluding with her assumption and coronation as the Queen of Heaven. There was also a representation of the Last Judgment in which "Our Lady" occupied the place of honour near her Divine Son and Lord, interceding for the faithful as they appeared before their Judge. On the removal of the plaster from the east wall during the restoration in 1875, the remains of a fresco of "the Doom" were discovered, and here are depicted the Judge of all mankind in the scarlet robes of majesty, the Virgin as intercessor, S. Michael the Archangel, presiding over the balances in which souls are weighed, the Apostles as assessors, bishops and abbots with the keys of S. Peter, admitting the faithful into the Holy Catholic Church, human forms emerging from the grave, the path of life, the chains of everlasting darkness, demons clothed in flames, and the jaws of hell. The space under this fresco was probably occupied by beautiful statuary, the image of the blessed Virgin standing in the centre, immediately above the altar of "Our Ladye." At the dissolution of the monastery "a table of imagery of the xii. apostles," belonging to this Chapel, was valued at ten shillings. A few fragments of statuary, supposed to have formed part of this decoration, were discovered during the restoration of the Abbey Church in 1860, and have been inserted in