ed midway by the
vestibule to the Chapter House now destroyed. The upper story above
the cloister and the range of rooms was, we may assume, the friars'
Dormitory. A huge fireplace and a bay window are part of John Hales'
reconstruction. The gateway to the south-west corner of the cloister
remains, and the outer gate of the precincts may still be seen in Much
Park Street.

[Illustration: ST. MARY HALL.]

ST. MARY HALL

The Gilds were so important a part of the religious and social life of
the city that it is imperative that some notice of their hall, which
stands in suggestive proximity to the churches, should be given. St.
Mary Hall, opposite the south side of St. Michael's is one of the most
complete and beautiful examples of a fifteenth-century town dwelling
now remaining in England. It originally belonged to the Gilds of Holy
Trinity and Our Lady to which were united at a later time those of St.
Katharine and St. John Baptist, the oldest to be founded. By the fine
groined gateway we enter the courtyard, on the south side of which is
the kitchen, probably the hall of an older structure of the first half
of the fourteenth century, the present hall and its undercroft on the
west side having been built between 1394 and 1414. On the east side is
the entrance to the staircase leading to a gallery from which the hall
is entered. At this end is the Minstrels' Gallery and beneath it are
three doorways, the centre one leading to the kitchens below, that on
the right to the old Council Chamber, that on the left to a smaller
room known as the Princes' Chamber. From the Council Chamber is
reached the stone-groined Treasury, now used for the safe keeping of
muniments and records. It forms the first floor of a low tower.

The hall, 70 feet by 30 feet, is of five bays, with the usual dais and
oriel window at the far end from the entrance.

[Illustration: ST. MARY HALL.]

The nine-light window over the dais has its original glass, made, it
is believed, by the John Thornton of Coventry who is known as the
maker of the east window of York Minster. The upper part has numerous
coats of arms of kings, cities, and princes, while the nine lights are
filled with "portraitures of several kings in their surcotes," William
I, Richard I, Henry III, IV, V, VI, King Arthur, the Emperor
Constantine, and another unnamed. The windows on either side of the
hall have suffered grievously. Those on the west (left) were deprived
of thei