King Edwards Gate

Now only the west turret and spiral staircase survive, and are worth close inspection for evidence of the former decoration. The 'gothic' tracery of the door arch is an additional attraction. In 1327 this gateway witnessed the end of a journey perhaps unique in the life of the monastery, for the Abbot had sent an escort to bring back to the Cathedral the body of Edward II, so foully murdered in Berkeley Castle.

Abbot Thoky was undeniably brave when other monasteries had, for fear of Queen Isabella, refused a burial for the royal corpse. But perhaps his motive was tempered by opportunism: for the tomb rapidly became a shrine for so many pilgrims that the offerings they brought enabled Thoky to remodel the cathedral's choir and south transept in a new style known as the Perpendicular.

Interestingly it was an earlier Queen Isabella who sought refuge in this close in 1216 on the death of King John, her husband; and here was crowned her ten-year-old son Henry III, whose son, Edward I, built the gateway through which in the course of time his son's body was to be carried.