The most important, as it is not the least striking and beautiful, object in the choir is the large and lofty throne, built by Bishop Thomas de Hatfield (1345-81) during his lifetime, for his tomb beneath and the throne above. It is a structure worthy of the Palatine See of Durham and of the mighty Prince-Bishop who erected it. The alabaster figure of the Bishop still remains, comparatively perfect, clothed in richly decorated pontifical vestments, lying on an altar-tomb under a canopy whose groining is finely ornamented with bosses of boldly sculptured foliage. Upon the wall at each end of the arch, and opposite to the head and feet of the Bishop, are two angels painted in fresco. Those at the feet hold a blank shield, but at the other end the painting is too much damaged to allow the object they hold to be made out. The whole throne has once been richly gilded and coloured, and contains many shields with the Bishop’s and other arms upon them. In the construction of the upper portion of the throne it is not well fitted into the space it occupies between the pillars, and some of its parts do not quite correspond with each other. The impression given by these incongruities is that Hatfield used some pieces of stonework already carved before he planned the throne, and that it possibly was, like the Galilee, not intended from the first to occupy the position in which it was ultimately placed. Another beautiful piece of work of about the same period as the throne is the screen behind the high-altar, commenced to be built in 1372 and finished before 1380, when the altar was dedicated. It is commonly called the Neville Screen, on account of a great part of the expense of erecting it having been defrayed by John, Lord Neville, of Raby, though Prior Fossor (1341-74), Prior Berrington (1374-91), and others, bore some part of the cost. It was brought from London to Newcastle by sea, and has always been spoken of as made of Caen stone, "French peere" as it is called in the rites of Durham, being really Dorsetshire clunch.