Of the crypts beneath English Norman cathedrals, that under the choir of Canterbury (q.v.) is by far the largest and most elaborate in its arrangements. It is, in fact, a subterranean church of vast size and considerable altitude. The whole crypt was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and contained two chapels especially dedicated to her,--the central one beneath the high altar, enclosed with rich Gothic screen-work, and one under the south transept. This latter chapel was appropriated by Queen Elizabeth to the use of the French Huguenot refugees who had settled at Canterbury in the time of Edward VI. There were also in this crypt a large number of altars and chapels of other saints, some of whose hallowed bodies were buried here. At the extreme east end, beneath the Trinity chapel, the body of St Thomas (Becket) was buried the day after his martyrdom, and lay there till his translation, July 7, 1220.
The cathedrals of Winchester, Worcester and Gloucester have crypts of slightly earlier date (they may all be placed between 1080 and 1100), but of similar character, though less elaborate. They all contain piscinas and other evidences of the existence of altars in considerable numbers. They are all apsidal. The most picturesque is that of Worcester, the work of Bishop Wulfstan (1084), which is remarkable for the multiplicity of small pillars supporting its radiating vaults. Instead of having the air of a sepulchral vault like those of Winchester and Gloucester, this crypt is, in Professor Willis's words, "a complex and beautiful temple." Archbishop Roger's crypt at York, belonging to the next century (1154-1181), was filled up with earth when the present choir was built at the end of the 14th century, and its existence forgotten till its disinterment after the fire of 1829. The choir and presbytery at Rochester are supported by an extensive crypt, of which the western portion is Gundulf's work (1076-1107), but the eastern part, which displays slender cylindrical and octagonal shafts, with light vaulting springing from them, is of the same period as the superstructure, the first years of the 13th century. This crypt, and that beneath the Early English Lady chapel at Hereford, are the latest English existing cathedral crypts. That at Hereford was rendered necessary by the fall of the ground, and is an exceptional case. Later than any of these crypts was that of St Paul's, London. This was a really large and magnificent church of Decorated date, with a vaulted roof of rich and intricate character resting on a forest of clustered columns. Part of it served as the parish church of St Faith. A still more exquisite work of the Decorated period is the crypt of St Stephen's chapel at Westminster, than which it is difficult to conceive anything more perfect in design or more elaborate in ornamentation. Having happily escaped the conflagration of the Houses of Parliament in 1834--before which it was degraded to the purpose of the speaker's state dining-room--it has been restored to its former sumptuousness of decoration, and is now one of the most beautiful architectural gems in England.