"This was that very church (asking patience for a digression) which had been built by Romans, as Bede bears witness in his history, and which was duly arranged in some parts in imitation of the church of the blessed Prince of the Apostles, Peter; in which his holy relics are exalted by the veneration of the whole world." p. 10. from Edmer, and quoted by Gervase.
Of this Saxon church we are then furnished with a full description, accompanied by a ground plan, and for the sake of comparison a plan also of the ancient basilica of St. Peter at Rome, from which the design had been copied; but of this church it is clearly established that not a vestige now remains, and it is important to bear this in mind when comparing the history of other buildings with the severe test of Canterbury.
"Now, after this lamentable fire, the bodies of the pontiffs (namely, Cuthbert, Bregwin, and their successors) rested undisturbed in their coffins for three years, until that most energetic and honourable man, Lanfranc, abbot of Caen, was made archbishop of Canterbury. And when he came to Canterbury, (A.D. 1070,) and found that the church of the Saviour, which he had undertaken to rule, was reduced to almost nothing by fire and ruin, he was filled with consternation. But although the magnitude of the damage had well nigh reduced him to despair, he took courage, and neglecting his own accommodation, he completed, in all haste, the houses essential to the monks. For those which had been used for many years were found too small for the increased numbers of the convent. He therefore pulled down to the ground all that he found of the burnt monastery, whether of buildings or the wasted remains of buildings, and, having dug out their foundations from under the earth, he constructed in their stead others, which excelled them greatly both in beauty and magnitude. He built cloisters, cellerers' offices, refectories, dormitories, with all other necessary offices, and all the buildings within the enclosure of the curia, as well as the walls thereof. As for the church, which the aforesaid fire, combined with its age, had rendered completely unserviceable, he set about to destroy it utterly, and erect a more noble one. And in the space of seven years, he raised this new church from the very foundations, and rendered it nearly perfect." p. 14. from Edmer.
"After the death of Lanfranc, he (Ernulf) was made prior, then (in 1107) abbot of Burgh, (Peterborough,) and finally, (A.D. 1114,) bishop of Rochester. While at Canterbury, having taken down the eastern part of the church which Lanfranc had built, he erected it so much more magnificently, that nothing like it could be seen in England, either for the brilliancy of its glass windows, the beauty of its marble pavement, or the many coloured pictures which led the wondering eyes to the very summit of the ceiling." p. 17. from Will. Malms.
"This chancel, however, which Ernulf left unfinished, was superbly completed by his successor Conrad, who decorated it with excellent paintings, and furnished it with precious ornaments." p. 17.
The oldest portions of the cathedral now standing are therefore of the time of Lanfranc, and of this period little more than a few fragments remain;
