Note 31 — PART I THE LOST CHAPEL
Reading edition
The length of the mediæval "pace" was unknown to us, and would have been inferred to be the natural length of a walking "step" (in F.B.B.'s case 22 inches).
But to reduce paces to feet, or vice versa, is not easy by mental arithmetic, and the calculation was not made. Hence this CCCXI conveyed nothing definite.
But publication necessitated scrutiny of this statement, and, to assess the true length, reference was made to William Wyrcestre's Itinerary, wherein, speaking of Glastonbury Abbey (p. 292), he says:
"Longitudo navis ecclesiae monasterii continet 54 virgas vel 100 gressus"—making 54 yards = 100 steps.
If 100 steps= 54 yards, one step = 1·62 feet. So we have our material for calculation, as follows:
I. Length of church 311 × 1·62 = 503·82 feet "et capella nova" (i.e., and the new chapel) (add) 90·00 " ——— 593·82 " —an amazing result! Elizabeth's commissioner, quoted on p. 12, says:
"The great Church in the Aby was ... 594 feet." And our own plan (Fig. 12), based on careful measurement, yields the total 592 feet! (The 580 feet measure discussed on p. 62 is an internal measure.)