The Nave

The nave was first built in the 1100s, but at that time it would have looked very different. A change was made to the look of the nave about 250 years later: the large windows were inserted, mainly because tastes in religious architecture had changed and dim religious light was no longer considered fashionable.

Everything changed dramatically when the west end and its tower collapsed on Easter Monday 1786. The distinguished architect James Wyatt was employed to carry out the repairs. He designed a new west front and shortened the nave by one bay.

Wyatt’s ideas and tastes were quite enlightened for his time and the lightness of the nave is a fine memorial to his skills. However the rather plain west front was never popular and was replaced in 1908.