VOL. XVI. (3) EXCURSION—GLOUCESTER 221 
and the tower was battered down by the Gloucester guns. On 
the gateway, 1496-1500, are the arms of de Bohun. When the 
Berkeley Canal was made the workmen dug through the presbytery 
of the conventual church: several stone coffins were found, and the 
dust of the illustrious dead which occupied them was scattered to the 
winds. 
From Llanthony Priory the Members were entertained to tea at 
Mr H. W. Bruton’s residence, Bewick House, after which they pro- 
ceeded to study under his guidance all that remains of the Leper 
Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, Wotton Hill. There were four 
hospitals in Gloucester: St. Bartholomew’s, St. Kyneburgh’s, St. 
Mary Magdalene’s, and St. Margaret’s. Concerning the third, Mr 
Bruton observed: ‘‘ The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, on which I 
propose to give you a few notes, was probably erected about the 
middle of the twelfth century, and belonged to the Priory of Llan- 
thony. The Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, to which this Church 
was attached, stood nearly opposite—on the site of Mr Poole’s house, 
and it was also called ‘‘ The Upper House of Dudestone.” Of the 
Chapel the Chancel alone remains, for in the year 1861 an unpardon- 
able act of vandalism was committed by the Charity Trustees—the 
Nave was pulled down, the beautiful door which formerly stood in 
the south wall of the Nave was built up inside the Chancel arch, and 
the western door of the Nave was erected against the inner side of the 
south wall of the Chancel. The entire length of the Church was 
45 ft. 5 ins.—the Chancel—all that now remains—is 16 ft. 2ins., and 
its breadth roft. roins. The deeply-splayed windows on the north 
side retain their original features, those on the south in the perpen- 
dicular style and the three-light East window replaced the early 
Norman windows. Before giving any description of the interior, let 
me call your attention to the interesting incised mark in the stones 
on the left side of the Chancel arch. These stones were originally 
on the north side of the Nave, and in constructing the buttresses 
when the Nave was removed, some of the stones were placed upside 
down. Among the marks are the emblems of All Saints’ Day—the 
Feast of the Holy Cross—the Star of Epiphany—the interlacing Knot 
of the Feast of St. Valentine—and the Fleur-de-lis of the Virgin Mary. 
It is suggested by the late G. T. Robinson, who wrote an account of 
the church and the hospital in 1848, that these marks are probably 
mementoes of pious pilgrims to our city, who, having received 
succour at the hospital, left behind them a notice of their visit by 
carving on the wall the sign of the festival on which they came. On 
entering, I call your attention in the first place to the most beautiful 
doorway, which was removed from the south wall of the Nave, and is 
now just inside the Chancel arch. It is composed of two tiers of 
chevron or zig-zag ornament, and surrounded by a plain label or 
hood-moulding. The capitals and shafts on either side are of ex- 
ea design and workmanship. The doorway on the south wall— 
ormerly the western entrance—is similar, but not of so elaborate a 
design. On the splay of the window on the north wall near the 
