A rich and elaborate =Rood Screen= separates the choir from the crossing. It dates from 1475-1505 and is composed of a central doorway and fifteen canopied niches containing statues of English kings from William the Conqueror to Henry VI. The latter is the only modern one. Above these are angels by Bernasconi. The central arch is surmounted with an ogee moulding decorated with foliage and a niche, on either side of which is an angel with a censer. The capitals of the shafts are carved; and rosettes and rows of foliage appear between the shafts. The canopies are very ornate. It is interesting to compare this screen with the one at Exeter. The =Choir=, including the retro-choir, consists of nine bays--the largest and loftiest choir in England and one of the most beautiful. It was begun in 1361 at the east end and completed in 1405. It has been described as an “interesting example of a Perpendicular building carried out on the lines of an earlier Decorated design.” “The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid blaze of the altar. “The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their best. “To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian architecture.”--(A. C.-B.) The magnificent Perpendicular stalls perished in the fire of 1829, so did the Perpendicular altar-screen. The present stalls and screen are reproductions of these. The reredos of terra-cotta and wood is modern. The vault of the choir is of wood, an imitation of the vault destroyed by fire in 1829. The windows of the clerestory are Perpendicular and contain five lights.