ey church, which, in
impressive architecture and size, will compare favorably with many of
the cathedrals. In fact, it originally was a cathedral, but in an early
day the bishopric was transferred to Wells. There is no ruined fortress
or castle in Bath, with its regulation lot of legends. Possibly in an
effort to remedy the defect, there has been erected on one of the hills
that overlook the town a structure which goes by the epithet of the Sham
Castle.

On leaving Bath, we followed the fine London road as far as Chippenham,
a prosperous agricultural town celebrated for its wool market. To the
north of this is Malmesbury, with an abbey church whose history goes
back to the Ninth Century. A portion of the nave is still used for
services and is remarkable for its massive pillars and Norman doorway,
the great arch of which has perhaps a hundred rude carvings illustrating
scenes from scripture history. The strong walls of the church caused it
to be used at times as a fortress, and it underwent sieges in the
different wars that raged over the Kingdom. The verger pointed out to us
deep indentations made by Cromwell's cannon and told us that one of the
abbey's vicissitudes was its use for some years as a cloth manufacturing
establishment.

From Malmesbury we followed the road through Cirencester to Cheltenham,
one of the most modern-looking cities which we saw in England. Like
Bath, it is famous for its springs, and a large share of its population
is made up of retired officers of the army and navy. The main streets
are very wide, nearly straight, and bordered in many places with fine
trees. However, its beginning dates from only about 1700, and therefore
it has little claim on the tourist whose heart is set upon ancient and
historic things.

Of much greater interest is its neighbor, Gloucester, about twelve miles
away. The two cities are almost of the same size, each having about
fifty thousand people. Gloucester can boast of one of the most beautiful
of the cathedrals, whether considered from its imposing Gothic exterior
or its interior, rich with carvings and lighted by unusually fine
stained-glass windows, one of which is declared to be the largest in the
world. The cathedral was begun in 1088, but the main tower was not
completed until nearly five hundred years later, which gives some idea
of the time covered in the construction of many of these great churches.
Gloucester boasts of great antiquity, for it is known that