Attention is again called to the sketch plan for the tombs hereabouts, and in the south choir aisle, where especial notice should be taken of the canopied tomb of Bishop Giles de Bridport.  The muniment room, reached from the south-east transept, contains a contemporary copy of Magna Carta, besides many other interesting manuscripts and treasures.  The Cathedral Library is above the cloisters.  Its collection of manuscripts is magnificent, some dating as far back as the ninth century.  The windows in the cloisters are of very fine design, and some fragments of old glass in the upper portions show that they were once glazed.  The original shafts of Purbeck marble had so decayed by the middle of the last century that it was decided to replace them with a more durable stone.  Very beautiful is the octagonal chapter house, entered from the east walk.  The bas-reliefs below the windows and above the seats for the clergy are of great interest.  The sculptures in the arch of the doorway should also be particularly noticed.  From a door in the cloisters there is a charming view of the Bishop’s Palace and the beautiful gardens that surround it.

An enjoyable stroll can be taken southwards to the Harnham Gate and the banks of the Avon, and a return made by the old Hospital of St. Nicholas, founded in 1227 by a Countess of Salisbury, and then by Exeter Street to St. Ann’s Gate at the east side of the close.  Fielding, whose grandfather was a canon of the Cathedral, is said to have lived in a house on the south side of the gate.  Dickens was acquainted with Salisbury, but not until after he had made it the scene of Tom Pinch’s remarkable characterization—­“a very desperate sort of place; an exceedingly wild and dissipated city.”  It must not be forgotten that Salisbury is the “Melchester” of the Wessex Novels and that Trollope made the city the original of “Barchester.”

[Illustration:  THE POULTRY CROSS, SALISBURY.]

Continuing northwards, a wide turning on the left is termed The “Canal.”  This takes us back to that time when the citizens’ chief concern was probably that of drainage, not of the domestic sort—­that did not worry them—­but the draining of the water-meadows upon which they had built their homes.  About thirty years ago an elaborate scheme for the relief of the city from this natural dampness was successfully carried out.  In this wide and usually bustling street the first house on the right is the Council Chamber, and on the other side of the way is the fine hall of John Halle, now a business house.  The interior should be seen for the sake of the carved oak screen at the farther end of the banqueting room and the great stone fireplace.  The beautiful ceiling is also much admired.  This was the home of a rich wool merchant of the town, who built it about 1470.  Although it has passed through many hands and has seen many vicissitudes it has always been known by his name.  A turn to the right at the end of this street will