What to See in England
By Gordon Home

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Public Domain Books

Gloucester and Its Cathedral

=How to get there.=–Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly. =Nearest Station.=–Gloucester. =Distance from London.=–114 miles. =Average Time.=–Varies between 2-3/4 to 3-1/2 hours.

                     1st       2nd      3rd
=Fares.=–Single  19s. 0d.  12s. 0d.  9s. 6d.
          Return  33s. 3d.  21s. 0d.    ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Bell Hotel,” “New Inn Hotel," “The Wellington Hotel,” and others. =Alternative Route.=–None.

Gloucester is one of the most thriving cities in the south of England. It has been a town of some description from quite early times, for the British had a fortress on the site which the Romans are believed to have occupied as a strong position on the road into Wales. The Danes repeatedly made incursions into this part of the country, and Gloucester suffered very much from their ravages; but probably through the fact that the kings of Mercia instituted a palace and priory there, the city seems to have had sufficient strength to recover after each disaster. Gloucester was even of sufficient importance for Edward the Confessor to have kept his courts there for a considerable time. Being in the west country, it naturally suffered severely during the parliamentary struggle, and a great portion of the city was destroyed. But although the town lost many of its old buildings at this time, it has still a good deal of antiquity to boast, and for this reason alone is attractive to the stranger. Its main streets are modelled on the Roman plan of a cross, the four arms bearing the names North, South, East and West-gate Streets.

The cathedral is not many minutes’ walk from the railway station, and is remarkable for its influence upon the English architecture which succeeded it, for it directed the course of the curvilinear movement in the direction of the Perpendicular style of Gothic. After remaining uncopied for a few years, the new style spread over the length and breadth of England. The east window is remarkable as being one of the largest in the world. Portions of the cathedral may possibly date from pre-Norman days, but according to the records, the earliest date is 1088. The tower was completed in 1518, and is with the cloisters almost without equal in this country for beauty and perfection. The cathedral contains the tomb of Osric, King of Northumbria, which was recently opened and found to contain the bones within a wooden coffin.

[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd. GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.

Showing the east window, which is one of the largest in the world.]

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Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

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What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
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