[18] It is generally considered to be that dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The other altar in this chapel may have been dedicated to St. George, though the chapel of the latter was probably one of those in the nave. [19] The dedication of this Norman chapel, like that of several others here, is not known. [20] The choir at Gloucester is 140 feet long and 33 feet wide. [21] The sun was a favourite badge of Edward IV., and is said to have been adopted in consequence of the appearance of three suns before the battle of Mortimer's Cross. It appears upon some of his coins. [22] The altar-stone at Gloucester was at one time used to pave the south porch, and is now in the crypt. [23] The safety of the old glass has been ensured by a protective external window of rolled glass let in the mullions from the outside. This was done in 1889. [24] This Gilbert de Clare is said to have had a copy of Magna Charta and the Charta de Foresta made and deposited in the Abbey. [25] The floor of the upper part was never flat, and was in all probability never intended for use. [26] Heraldically speaking. [27] Henry VII. left instructions in his will that a kneeling effigy of himself should be placed on the top of the Confessor's shrine at Westminster. [28] The western pinnacle was carved locally in 1825-8, and is a very careful piece of work. DEERHURST. [Illustration: _Photo. R.W. Dugdale._ DEERHURST PRIORY CHURCH, FROM THE SOUTH.] DEERHURST. Deerhurst, or Deorhurst--the wood or grove of wild beasts, as its etymology implies--lies close to Tewkesbury, and the visitor to the latter must on no account omit to pay a visit to the older building. It may be reached by a pleasant walk through meadows on the left bank of the Severn, by the road or by a path across the fields. The Priory church of Deerhurst is one of the oldest buildings of any importance that yet remain in use in England. Its exact date is more or less a matter of conjecture, but it seems certain from documentary evidence, which is still accessible, that in the ninth century the Abbey or Priory was in a prosperous condition--the document referred to above being a grant of lands in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire to the Abbey in 804. No earlier authentic evidence than this exists, though a _lapsus calami_ of Leland (who credits the Venerable Bede with an acquaintance with Deerhurst about the year 700) would seem to give it an earlier date. From the earliest time Deerhurst--situated where it is, so near that great highway the Severn, and occupying a position on the direct line of traffic by road between Worcester and Gloucester, must have had an important part to play. Legend has it that Edmund Ironside and Canute, intent on fighting a duel after Essendune, met at Olney in 1016, but settled matters without coming to blows, and later tradition affirms that this meeting took place in the meadow--once an island or eyot, hence its present name--called the Naight.