arble slabs of three
colours--black, red, and white. During the time the chapel was used for
a schoolroom the floor had been a common wooden one. Practically, then,
it will be seen that this Lady Chapel, with the exception of its walls
and the windows with the statuettes on them, is a modern church,
surpassing, indeed, most nineteenth-century work in beauty, and much the
same may be said of the retro-choir or chapter-house.

#The Saint's Chapel.#--We must now return westward, through the south
aisle of the ambulatory, past the back of Duke Humphrey's grave, and
enter the Chapel of the Martyr by the door which opens into it from the
aisle. The centre of the chapel is occupied by the reconstructed
pedestal of the martyr's shrine. The ugly wooden railing that surrounds
it is a great blot on the appearance of the chapel; no doubt it is
necessary that the pedestal should be protected by some kind of barrier,
but a light and elegant railing of brass would answer every purpose
without marring the general effect, as the present cumbersome erection
shown in all the accompanying illustrations of objects in this chapel
does. It is to be hoped that either out of the general fabric fund, or
by the generosity of some individual donor, this one blot on this fine
chapel may be removed.

[Illustration: PEDESTAL OF ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.]

The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief treasure of
the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in the kingdom,
since they were the bones of the first Christian martyr in the island.
It was meet and fitting, then, that the most splendid resting-place
should be chosen for them. The bones themselves were inclosed in an
outer and an inner case; the inner was the work of the sixteenth Abbot,
Geoffrey of Gorham (1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot,
Symeon (1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with
rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it
required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two poles,
each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer. It is said
to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon; but the
pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was erected during
the early part of the fourteenth century, in the time of the
twenty-sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This was built of
Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 ft. 6 in. high, 8 ft. 6 in.
long, and 3 ft.