which the Gatehouse, in spite of its dismantled and modernised state,
still seems to keep guard.

Bridge Street is probably the most ancient of the streets. The houses
on the south side have gardens reaching to the Abbey walls, a position
which would add greatly to their security in early times, and the
narrowness of the roadway also goes towards proving its antiquity.
This must have been the most frequented thoroughfare, leading as it
did in old times to the ford, and afterwards to the bridge and the
Abbot's mill beside it. Here were the oldest inns; and though all the
house-fronts have been sadly modernised, either by the insertion of
huge plateglass windows or in some less defensible manner, yet the eye
still passes with pleasure from house to house, and the effect of the
irregularity, heightened by the contrast of light and shade, is
picturesque in the extreme.

Starting at the top we have on one side the old Booth Hall already
described. On this side the bay windows projecting from the level of
the first floor add much to the quaint effect. Almost opposite is "The
Alley" continuing one side of High Street into Bridge Street and the
Market Place. As seen from the High Street side this narrow passage
between the shops retains much of its old character, and the windows
with their wooden frames and mullions are worth notice. The house on
the left next to the Bank with its prominent bay windows was at one
time the town house of a family named Langstone, and it was here that
King Charles the First stayed and held his "Court" in 1644. Almost
opposite is a stately front of brick dating from the next century, of
elegant proportions and with well-designed spouts. Further down on the
right side is a much renovated gabled building of timber, possessing
a fine doorway of the fifteenth century with its massive door and