[Illustration: VAULTING UNDER SOUTH-WEST TOWER.] But the towers were not built. The Ely monks over the way were building a nave with no less than twelve bays, and with a western transept as well. The Peterborough monks would not like to be outdone by Ely; so they determined also to have a long nave and a western transept as well. They built only ten bays to the twelve of Ely; on the other hand, their nave, excluding western transept, was 211 feet long, while that of Ely was only 208 feet. About the same time, or probably a little earlier, the clerestory of the nave—in which pointed arches occur—was built. All this work may be assigned to Abbot Benedict (1175-1193), who is said by Swapham and John to have built the whole nave as far as—but not including—the present west front. The statements of Swapham, however, must be wrong here. He was still living _c._ 1240; so that he was only a boy when the nave was finished. He may possibly in his boyhood have seen the clerestory of the nave built, and, in writing half a century after, have thought that Benedict who built the clerestory, had built the triforium and ground-story also. But the documentary evidence at Peterborough must be received with the utmost scepticism. All that we know for certain is that the choir and the eastern portions of the central transepts were built between 1118 and 1140; and that the central transept, central tower, nave and western transept were built between 1140 and 1190. III. LANCET (1190-1245).—The east end of the church consisted of three parallel apses. The apses of the aisles were now replaced by narrow oblong bays: those next to the New Building. [Illustration: WEST FRONT.]