see § XX. The cathedral is generally entered by the _south porch_, a part of the Perpendicular work erected by Abbot MORWENT, (1420-1437). (This abbot pulled down the towers at the west end of the cathedral, and the two west bays of the nave. The present western portion of the nave, as far as the end of the second bay, including the west front and the south porch, is his work.) The porch, which has an upper chamber, is greatly enriched with niches and canopies, and has buttresses at the angles. [_Frontispiece._] The arms in the spandrils of the doorway are those of England and France, and of the Abbey. The pinnacles and open parapet are of the same general character as those (earlier) above the gable of the great east window, and as those (later) of the central tower. The ogee arched moulding, with its finial, which rises in the centre is the feature already noticed (§ III.) as characteristic of this cathedral. It occurs throughout the Perpendicular work. Within the porch, the peculiar tracery of the side windows should be noticed. “The internal arrangement of the panelling of the side walls is continued to the exterior, and made to form the mullions of the windows.” V. The first impression, on entering the _nave_, is produced by the lofty Norman piers. [Plate I.] The whole arrangement differs much from that of the great Norman naves of the Eastern cathedrals, Norwich, Ely, and Peterborough. In them the divisions of the nave-arcade and of the triforium above it are very nearly equal in height and width, whilst the clerestory range is of little less importance[5]. At Gloucester, the massive nave piers are carried to such a height (30 feet) as to afford little space for the triforium, which is only a narrow wall passage; and the original Norman clerestory, the circular arches of which may still be traced below the Perpendicular windows, was of nearly the same dimensions. The height of the piers is thus made to seem greater than it really is. They must have been still more remarkable when the floor of the nave was at its original level, ten inches lower than at present. The bases of the piers stood on square blocks; and there still exist some remains of an encaustic floor on the lower level. These massive circular piers, which are found also at Tewkesbury, at Pershore, and at Malvern Priory, seem to be peculiar to England. They do not, at any rate, occur in any church in Normandy, where the rectangular form prevails. The good effect of carrying them to such a height as at Gloucester is perhaps questionable, since the necessary result is to deprive both triforium and clerestory of all dignity and importance.