Worley was able to examine the monument more closely than visitors can now. The monk is reading Isiaih c.51 verse 3: 'Consolabitur ergo Dominus Sion, et consolabitur omnes ruinas ejus; et ponat desertum ejus quasi delicias, et solitudinem ejus quasi hortum Domini.' Or from the Revised Standard Version: 'For the Lord will comfort zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord...' According to Webb's history, this verse was probably chosen to refer to the construction of the church itself. Prior to Rahere's construction, this bit of land in Smithfield was the location of a gallows -- the Book of the Foundation says,