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 the Britons had a fortified town here which they defended against the Roman attacks; and after having become possessed of it, the Romans greatly strengthened it as a defense against incursions from the Welsh tribes.  Before the Norman Conquest, it was of such importance that Edward the Confessor held his court in the town for some time.  Being in the west country, it naturally was a storm-center in the parliamentary struggle, during which time a great deal of the city was destroyed.  But there are many of the old portions still remaining and it has numbers of beautiful half-timbered buildings.  One of these was the home of Robert Raikes, known to the world as the founder of the Sunday School.  Gloucester is worthy of a longer stay than we were able to make, and in arranging an itinerary one should not fail to provide for a full day in the town.

[Illustration:  In Gloucestershire.

From Water Color by A. Waters.]