The best views may be obtained from the city wall to the north, also from West Street and East Street, and a fine distant prospect is observed from the Goodwood Downs. We will begin our inspection as usual with the _West Front_, which consists of a gable with windows and porch, flanked by two towers. The upper part of the north-west tower is a recent construction, made in imitation of the south-west tower, and built on the ruins of the former tower. The south tower is of Norman workmanship, the upper part being Early English, and also the plain and heavy buttresses at the south-west corner. The basement and next storey are part of the original work of Bishop Ralph, and the rest of Bishop Seffrid II. The west porch is plain and deep, with double buttresses at the corners. The doorway consists of a wide arch, under which are two smaller ones divided by a single clustered column. These have been restored in imitation of the ancient design. The interior of the porch is very beautiful Early English work, the arcading of quatrefoils being very effective. The monuments have evidently been placed there in later times. Above the porch are three Early English windows, and above these a large modern window, and in the gable are two small Early English windows. The cross above is modern.
The _Bell Tower_, the only instance in England of a detached belfry, though not unusual abroad, is a massive and plain building, 120 feet high. The upper storey is octagonal and low, and resembles the great west tower of Ely, but is much inferior. Both these towers were built about the same time, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and are in the Perpendicular style. The north side of the nave exhibits in the clerestory the round-headed windows of the original Norman church. The parapet is fourteenth-century work. Flying buttresses connect the clerestory with the outer wall. The windows of the chapels are Early Decorated, and were erected during the reign of Edward III. One of them is modern. The _North Porch_ is Early English work, and the dog-tooth ornament is observable in the arches. It has a parvise. The _North Transept_ on the west side has some of the original Norman wall and Norman windows, and on the north end there are thirteenth-century buttresses with octagonal turrets, a large window and a rose window over it. On the east side there are some Early English windows. Proceeding eastward we pass the Chapels of St. Edmund and St. John Baptist, of Early English design, with some Perpendicular windows, the same style prevailing in the presbytery. Flying buttresses support the main walls. The old Norman church ended in an apse, and traces of the curve can still be observed, and other remains of twelfth-century work can be seen. Two of the windows are Perpendicular in style, but have been much restored. The low Lady Chapel projects at the east end. Two western bays are twelfth-century work, the two eastern bays being added by Bishop Gilbert de St. Leofard at the end of the thirteenth century, and are Late Decorated. Much restoration has been found necessary here. Early English work prevails in the chapel on the south side. The south wall of the choir aisle has several points of interest and several styles of architecture are shown here. A consecration cross can be seen in one of the bays. The south transept is very similar to the north, and on the west of it is the sacristy. Norman walls are on the north and east, and Early English on south and west. On the south side of the Cathedral are the _Cloisters_, which are curiously shaped. The Paradise is not square, the east walk being longer than the west. These cloisters are fifteenth-century work, having Perpendicular windows and flat roof. The south side of the nave is interesting, and resembles somewhat the north side. The arches of the windows in the aisles are Early Decorated, the tracery is modern. In the fourteenth century the buttresses were strengthened and enlarged, the parapet added. The Norman wall and windows remain in the clerestory, though later tracery has been inserted in two of these. The south porch leading to the west cloister has been much restored. The doorway in the south-west tower is Norman, and is adorned with chevron moulding, and beautifully designed. The window over it is also of the same date.