marks the limits of the old Benedictine monastery. The
houses within the close are of widely different dates, from the Early
English period to recent years. They comprise the official residences of
the dean and the canons, together with some private houses. The changes
made from time to time in the distribution of the ground have involved
the disappearance of the old priory buildings, and it is not possible to
trace with certainty their original form. The laying out of the close
has concealed the ground plan of the cloisters which once adjoined the
cathedral. What is now called by the name is the passage between the
south transept and the former chapter-house, which was pulled down in
1570 by the destructive Bishop Horne, in order, it is said, that the
lead in the roof might be sold. Five extremely fine Early Norman arches
which were once part of the chapter-house still remain, and may be seen
in a line with the end of the slype, beyond the south transept. Some
traces of small arches on what is now the extreme outer wall of the
transept mark where arcading once ran along the inner wall of the
chapter-house. No vestige of the roof remains. The "slype" is a passage
which was cut through the southern buttress by Bishop Curle, to put a
stop to the constant use of the nave and south aisle as a thoroughfare
by the townspeople. The anagrams on the walls commemorate the purpose of
the passage; the first, on the western arch, reading:--

ILL\ PREC\
\ \
>AC >ATOR
/ /
H/ AMBULA VI/

and that over the eastern arch:--

/ACR\ S\ ILL\ CH\
/ \ \ \ \
S< >A >IT >A >ORO[1]
\ / / / /
\ERV/ S/ IST/ F/

In the angle of an old extension of the chapter-house south wall are
traces of the dormitory and infirmary which formerly stood there. The
Early English doorway with Purbeck marble shafts seems to have led to
this dormitory. To the south of this is the deanery or prior's hall, the
acute external arches, which date from the reign of Henry III., forming
a vestibule with a southern aspect, while above are some narrow
lancet-windows. Although the original portion of this hall dates from
the fifteenth century, it was considerably altered in the seventeenth,
during the second Charles's reign. This king himself someti