IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF SAINT ALBAN 27 



Mediaeval times are all represented in and around St Albans, 

 and one's pulse is quickened at every turn when treading 

 in Alban's footprints, which even the hand of Time has not 

 altogether effaced. 



We halt at the only other monastic building remaining, the 

 Great Gateway, dating from 1365. An earlier building was 

 blown down about 1361. It was here that the storming of the 

 Gateway took place during the Peasants' Kevolt in 1381. Wat 

 Tyler had come hot afoot from London town to lead the city's 





FIG. 10. ST ALBANS GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 



inhabitants in fierce revolt against the tyranny of the Abbot 

 and his satellites. Richard III. appeared with his army in person, 

 won the day, and held a Court in the courtyard, which was situ- 

 ated near the broken ground now transformed into a verdant 

 meadow, where placid sheep are quietly grazing. This historic 

 monastic building now serves as a Grammar School, and I 

 remember how, as a schoolboy there, I was keen upon climbing 

 the dizzy heights of the ivy-covered walls on the south side, 

 shown in the accompanying sketch, for the purpose of discover- 

 ing the nests of Sparrow and Starling. Previously, my old school 

 was housed in what is now the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral. 

 It was removed to its present position in 1870, and was, in all 

 probability, founded during the Saxon period in the reign of 



