Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/244

216 fixes the date of this charter in 1133, because among the names of the witnesses occur those of Nigel, bishop elect of Ely, and Geoffrey, elect of Durham, who, according to Matthew of Westminster, and other chroniclers, were appointed to those sees in that year. This was the year in which Henry took his departure from England, never to return alive. It is remarkable also as being the year in which the bishopric of Carlisle was founded, and Athelwulph, prior of St. Oswald's, consecrated the first bishop.

It is important to be able to fix thus accurately the date of the foundation of the priory, because it enables us to settle with a greater degree of precision the date of the building of the very interesting Norman church, which still exists within the castle of Portchester, and retains much of its original character. The plan was originally cruciform, with the tower at the intersection, but the south arm of the cross has been destroyed. The west front is remarkably good, and affords a very interesting and valuable example, as very few Norman fronts have been preserved entire and unaltered. In the interior, along the walls on both sides of the chancel, and on the remaining transept, is a stone bench-table, and over it a range of rude canopies, or an arcade, evidently unfinished.