The influence of this remarkable building was very considerable. It served as a model to architects of the neighbouring provinces. The type was improved upon in the tower of the Abbey Church of Brantôme by the avoidance of the false bearings which mar the structure of St. Front, while at St. Léonard, near Limoges, a very original feature was superadded in the octagonal form of the crown or roof. The Auvergnat architects further perfected the construction by introducing internal piers for the support of the recessed walls of the upper stories, as at Puy.[30] [30] _Ibid._ 1888. It is worthy of note that, in spite of the importance given to these buildings, the space allotted to the bells themselves was comparatively limited, which seems to indicate that the towers were destined for other purposes than the reception of bells. In the eleventh century the tower bore the same relation to the cathedral or abbey as did the donjon to the feudal castle. It was, in fact, the symbol of power. As abbots and bishops enjoyed the same rights as the nobles, it will be readily understood that the costliness of such emblems would be governed solely by the resources of their authors. The number of towers built at about the same period in connection with cathedrals and abbeys, and the importance of such as were attached even to simple parish churches may be explained if we consider them mainly as denoting the status of an enfranchised commune. The rivalries in connection with neighbouring towers undoubtedly had their origin in conditions such as these. [Illustration: 85. BAYEUX CATHEDRAL. TOWERS OF THE WEST FRONT] [Illustration: 86. SENLIS CATHEDRAL. SOUTH TOWER OF WEST FRONT] Towards the close of the eleventh century and throughout the twelfth many towers were built at an angle with the door, or in front of it, so as to form a porch, as at St. Benoît-sur-Loire and Poissy; or above it, as in the Churches of Ainay and of Moissac. Later on immense towers with spires were built at each angle of the western façade, the gable of the nave rising between them. At the Abbey Church of Jumiéges a large projecting porch filled the central bay of the ground story between the bases of the towers, but more frequently the towers were in one plane with the chief porch, and were themselves pierced with lateral porches, the three doors, with their richly sculptured voussoirs, forming one vast decorative whole. The architects of the so-called Romanesque period built their towers at the intersection of the transepts; but avoiding the constructive audacities of the tower of St. Front, which was one of the most generally accepted models of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they ensured the solidity of their central tower by placing the more or less conical cupola which crowned the structure upon a square base, carefully loaded and abutted at each angle.