The piers of the choir, like those of the nave, were originally painted. So was the ceiling. Wall-paintings were likewise discovered between the clerestory windows in 1875. The choir-stalls and Bishop’s Throne are modern. In the south-choir-aisle the tomb of =Roger and Sigar=, two local hermits, was once a place of pious pilgrimage. The arches of the =Tower= are fifty-five feet high. The four inside faces of the lantern contain windows above the arcade, and the ceiling of the lantern (102 feet from the floor) is painted with the red and white roses of Lancaster and York, and various coats-of-arms. The effect of the tower is impressive. The peal consists of eight bells, cast in London in 1699. Some of the bells have been recast. Beneath the =Presbytery= notable abbots, monks and laymen were given burial. The presbytery is divided from the aisles by solid walls, broken by the Ramryge and Wheathampstead chantries, and two doorways: it is closed in on the east side by a magnificent screen, constructed during William of Wallingford’s rule (1476-1484), and generally known as the =Wallingford Screen=. It is hard to realize that the lace-like canopies, of which it is composed, are made of stone. The material is clunch, a hard stone from the lower chalk formation. This great reredos has been restored of late years and filled with statues. There are no records to describe or even name the original figures; but those now occupying the niches, by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter, are, beginning on the left and reading downwards: (1) St. Titus, St. Timothy, St. Barnabas, Angel Gabriel; (2) King Edmund, St. Cuthbert, St. Augustine; (3) St. Oswyn, St. Giles, St. Cecilia, St. Boniface, St. Katherine, St. David; (4) King Offa, St. Helen, oak door; (5) St. Ethelbert, St. Leonard, St. Agnes, St. Nicholas, St. Frideswide, St. Chad; (6) Edward the Confessor, St. Benedict, St. Alban; (7) Angel, Angel, Angel; (8) Angel, Blessed Virgin Mary; (9) Crucifix; (10) Angel, St. John; (11) Angel, Angel, Angel; (12) St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Patrick, St. Amphibalus; (13) Edward King of West Saxons, St. Lawrence, St. Lucy, St. Wolfstan, St. Osyth, St. Alphege; (14) Pope Adrian IV., St. Etheldreda, oak door; (15) St. George, St. Benedict, Biscop, St. Ethelberga, St. Richard; (17) The Venerable Bede, St. Germain, St. Erkenwald, St. Margaret, St. Ælfric; (18) St. Paul, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Mary the Virgin. Below the Crucifix stands a row of smaller statues representing Christ and the Twelve Apostles. On Christ’s right: St. James Minor, St. Philip, St. John, St. James Major, St. Andrew, St. Peter; and on his left: St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias and St. Jude.