account for the difficult means of access.

Between the porch and the west end there are traces of some earlier
building, abutting on to the north wall of the church.

The iron gates at the main entrance to the churchyard near the "Bell
Hotel" were formerly mounted in the external doorway of the porch.
They were given to the church by Lord Gage in 1750.

=The Tower.=--This is generally considered to be one of the finest and
most perfect Norman towers in existence. Its massive size (each side
measuring 46 feet) takes off from its actual height. It stands well,
and is impressive from its proportions and the simplicity of its
ornament. It is 132 feet high from the ground to the battlements
inclusive, and 148 to the top of the pinnacles. The pinnacles and
battlements were added in 1660, as the inscription on the north-west
pinnacle testifies. They were restored in 1825.

[Illustration: _Photo. D. Gwynne._
THE ABBEY, FROM THE SOUTH.]

As to what was there before 1660 one can only conjecture, but it had
been undoubtedly damaged by the fall of the wooden spire covered with
lead, which event occurred on Easter Day, 1559.

From whichever point of the compass it be studied, there is ever a
different charm displayed, and the charm varies according to the light
that plays upon the time-honoured handiwork of the Norman builders.
The tower looks equally well from the north-west end of the
churchyard, seen through the trees, from the extreme west, and from
the open ground to the south-east, where the eye can also take in the
graceful battlementing of the choir. Perhaps the best view of the
tower and the building generally is that obtainable from the
Gloucester road, just as one turns the last corner coming into
Tewkesbury.

The tower is supported by four piers, which, as will be seen from an
inspection of the plan, are very massive. The two easternmost piers
are in plan very similar to the two corresponding piers in Gloucester
Cathedral.

There are two windows in each side of the lower storey or base,
immediately over the roofs of the nave and transepts, and between the
windows is the stone ridge or wall-plate which indicates the pitch of
the earlier roof. On three sides of the tower the dripstone is almost
perfect.

The next stage or storey has an arcade with two lights in each side of
the tower. The third stage has a narrower intersecting arcade of great
beauty and delicacy, with a curious effect produced by the w