View of south tower from north tower
14th century timbers of south tower
Towers and bells
The Norman Towers
The 12th century Norman or Romanesque towers are the oldest part of the existing building and were originally surmounted by low pyramidal wooden spires. Built as four-walled towers the dividing wall was dismantled early in the Gothic rebuilding. The removal of the wall also necessitated the removal of a floor and the realignment of another, which is now hidden by the wooden vaults that were inserted to mimic the stone vault in the rest of the nave and quire.
The North Tower
In the north tower hangs the massive Peter bell. The only bell in the tower, it is used as the clock bell, being struck on the outside by a hammer.
The South Tower
The south tower houses the Cathedral‘s ring of 14 bells (though no more than 12 are ever rung at once). Bell ringers and visitors now gain access to the ringing chamber via the high roof. The bells are situated two floors above the ringing chamber and are not accessible to visitors.
The High Roof
Before the insertion of the fire precautionary walls in the 1980s, it was possible to stand at the west end and look right through the roof void to the circular window at the east end. The east end of this roof was started around 1300 and was completed by about 1340. Sometime during the 18th century an attempt to replace some rafters caused the whole roof to move, so there is a distinct lean on the rafters, which are now two metres (6ft 7in) out of true.
Looking down from the roof of the north tower, one can see the effect this had on the crossing, which has been dragged out of shape.
The Aisle Roofs
The vaults of the north and south quire aisles are rather plain and their roofs are unexceptional, sloping gently outwards, as one would expect. The nave aisle roofs are quite another story.
The main purpose of the Gothic rebuilding was to let more light in. They therefore wanted the biggest windows possible. At the same time, they wanted to build cloisters to the south of the nave. These would have blocked the lower portion of the windows and as the upper limit was formed by the clerestory they had the incredible idea of reversing the aisle roofs! The aisle roofs over the west end of the cathedral actually slope inwards at a relatively steep angle. This means that the rainwater collects beneath the clerestory windows and has to be taken away by lead-lined wooden troughs that run through the inside of the roof void. The water from these internal gutters reaches the outside through lead pipes that can be seen underneath the tops of the huge buttresses at the lower level.
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