The crypts so generally found beneath our cathedrals and abbeys, and so frequently under our churches, rarely extend beyond the choir or chancel and its aisles, and are sometimes of very small dimensions. They are often coeval with the upper parts of the building, and although not so elaborate in ornamentation as the fabric they support, they are almost without exception well constructed and well finished pieces of building. In some cases the crypt is of much older date than any portion of the superstructure, as is the case at York, Worcester and Rochester cathedrals. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the roofs were often richly groined, and upheld by cylindrical columns or clustered piers, and furnished with handsome bases and decorated capitals. There is abundant evidence that crypts were at one time furnished with altars, piscinas, and the various fittings requisite for the celebration of the mass, and they were used as sepulchres, wherein the shrines of relics and martyrs were carefully preserved. Some authorities claim a purely Saxon origin for the crypts at Ripon Cathedral, Hexham Abbey, and Repton Church, Derbyshire. The Ripon example is a plain barrel-vaulted chamber, about 11 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, with no pillars or ornament of any kind. It is popularly known as S. Wilfrid's Needle, but the exact origin of the name is lost in obscurity. The Hexham crypt is very similar in character, but is somewhat longer, being more than 13 ft. long and 8 ft. wide. As at Ripon, there are hollows or shallow niches in the walls in which lamps may possibly have been placed. The third reputed Saxon crypt is that at Repton, but it has little in common with the other two, its superficial area being nearly twice as great and the roof is supported on four columns, with plain square capitals rudely carved, and bearing much similarity to early Norman work. The position of the crypt varies. At Beverley Minster it is on the south side of the south-west tower; in Hereford Cathedral it is under a side chapel, while at Lastingham, in Yorkshire, the crypt extends under the whole of the church, including the apse. At Wells the crypt is beneath the chapter-house, and Durham Cathedral has three crypts, one under what was the dormitory, another beneath the refectory, and the third under the prior's chapel. Of crypts of Norman date we have many examples, of which, perhaps, our best are those at Gloucester, Worcester, Canterbury and Winchester Cathedrals, while Canterbury is probably the largest of them all. Good crypts are also found at Wimborne Minster, Christchurch Priory, and in our smaller churches at Repton and S. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford.