The old Roman wall can be seen in several places—e.g. at 36 Westgate Street, at Messrs Lea & Co.'s furniture warehouse in Northgate Street, at Mr John Bellows' in Eastgate Street.
The Gloucester Candlestick.—One of the most interesting relics of the Abbey of Gloucester is a candlestick which is now in the museum at South Kensington. It is a remarkably fine piece of metal work, about 16 inches in height, cast by the cera perduta process in very pale bronze, richly gilt and decorated. The upright stem is divided into two compartments by bosses, ornamented with the emblems of the Evangelists, and supporting a cup at the top. A triangular base supports the stem, and the whole is enriched with forty-two monsters in various grotesque attitudes, wrestling and struggling with nine human beings.
Round the stem is a ribbon bearing the inscription—
ABBATIS PETRI GREGIS ET DEVOTIO MITIS ME DEDIT ECCLESIE SANCTI PETRI GLOUCESTRE.
Round the cup is a ribbon, on the outside of which a couplet is inscribed—
LUCIS ONUS VIRTUTIS OPUS DOCTRINA REFULGENS
PREDICAT UT VICIO NON TENEBRETUR HOMO.
Inside this same ribbon are two hexameters—
HOC CENOMANNENSIS RES ECCLESIE POCIENSIS
THOMAS DITAVIT CUM SOL ANNUM RENOVAVIT.
After its removal from Gloucester, the candlestick was given to the Cathedral of Le Mans by Thomas de Poché or de Pocé (POCIENSIS). Subsequently it belonged to the Marquis d'Espaulart of Le Mans, and was sold to Prince Soltykoff for about £800, and finally was bought from his collection for £680 for the Museum at South Kensington.
Bishop Hooper's Memorial stands in the churchyard of St. Mary de Lode, and is on the actual site of the burning. This is perhaps the chief or the only interest in the memorial, as its architectural merit is almost nil. The inscriptions to prevent defacement are glazed over, and as the glass is broken the effect is wretched. A previous monument to the Bishop was erected at the other end of the churchyard.