VOL. XIX. (3) 
i:XCURSION— GLOUCESTER 
201 
GLOUCESTER MEETING. 
September iith, lyiy. 
llic last meeting of tlu' .summer took place at Gloucester, and the pro- 
gramme was arranged to give an opportunity of studying the Monastic life 
of the community in the Middle Ages. Numerous visitors pass in and out 
of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter’s, but proljably not many arc aide to 
trace the precincts of the great .Vbbey which was once here, and therefore 
the guidance of IMr F. W. Waller, .\rchitect to the Dean and Chapter, for 
this purpose, was much appreciated. The Members who assembled in College 
Green or who joined the party later were ; — 
The President, H. W. Bruton, C. A. Crane, Dr. R. M. Cole, F. J. Cullis, 
J. M. Collett, A. E. Hurry, T. S. Ellis, G. Embrey, J. W. Gray, J. N. Hobbs, 
J. H. Jones, J. M. Dixon, E. Lawrence, Rev. H. Moxon, J. F. Muir, F. J. 
Mylins, Dr. Prevost, F. W. Duart-Smith, A. E. Smith, C. Upton, F. W. Waller, 
W. ^^'ashbourne, Roland Austin, Colonel Duke, Ernest Hartland, F. H. 
Bretherton, Rev. J. J. D. Cooke, and they were accompanied by several 
visitors. 
Before commencing their perambulation, Mr Waller invited Members 
into his office, where he had arranged a series of drawings and photographs, 
by means of which he explained the position of the original walls which 
bounded and enclosed the precincts of St. Peter’s Abbey. Of the four gate- 
ways that formerly gave access to the grounds only two remained ; King 
Edward’s gateway at the entrance to College Court, and St. Mary’s Gateway 
leading to St. Mary’s-squarc. The latter was a 13th centui'y structure, and 
possessed great interest, and was one which they were now endeavouring to 
preserve. ' i\Ir Waller emphasised the importance of a good water supply to 
such an institution, and how the site of an Abbey was determined by the 
proximity of such water. In the case of St. Peter’s the stream coming by 
Northgate westward was diverted into four ducts. In College-street, the 
course of King Edward’s I.ane was still marked by the entrance to the back 
of the Palladium on one side of the street to Messrs. Healey’s Garage on the 
other. Proceeding to the Cathedral Gardens, Mr Waller said that just inside 
the gates was the division between the two cemeteries, that of the monks 
and that of the citizens. The Cathedral Green was full of graves, one being 
found only three feet beneath the surface, and in another place bodies were 
found three deep, buried in woollen, there being no trace of decayed wood- 
work, iron, or brass. Remains had also been found under many of the houses 
surrounding the Green. The passage under the Lady Chapel was made to 
connect the two sides of the building, as the boundary wall stood at the tnd 
of the Chapel before the ground further east was acquired. 
By the Infirmary arches, the President, (who attributed the Gateway 
and its adjoining line of houses now under repair, to the Guest-accom- 
modation of the Abbey), gave a detailed account of this set of buildings, 
as they once stood, saying they were built in Henry III.’s reign, and 
accommodated the old and invalid monks of the convent. Outside patients 
