committed naturalist throughout his life. His collections of Lepidoptera remain largely intact, held by the Museum of St Albans.) Prior remained connected to Harrow School and was later to design two buildings for the school. Cambridge University In 1869 Prior won the Sayer Scholarship "for the promotion of classical learning and taste" to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge to read the Classical Tripos. He augmented the Sayer Scholarship by also gaining a college scholarship. In the same year B. F. Westcott was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity. Prior continued to gain from his instruction in architectural drawing at Cambridge. Other influences were Matthew Digby Wyatt and Sidney Colvin, the first and second Slade Professors of Fine Art. Wyatt's lecture programme for 1871 included engraving, woodcutting, stained glass and mosaic. Prior's interest in the applied arts was probably strongly encouraged by Wyatt. Colvin, a friend of Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was elected Slade Professor in January 1873. At Cambridge, Prior was also exposed to the work of William Morris. For example, G. F. Bodley employed Morris & Co. to decorate All Saints Church in 1864–1866 and to design the glass for others of his Cambridge buildings. Prior was a noted athlete at Cambridge. He was a blue in long jump and high jump and won the British Amateur High Jump in 1872. Norman Shaw's pupil In the autumn of 1874 Prior was articled to Norman Shaw at 30 Argyll Street. Shaw seems to have been his first choice as mentor. Shaw had been George Edmund Street's chief clerk and had set up in partnership with William Eden Nesfield in 1866. The partnership only lasted until 1869, though Nesfield continued to share the premises until 1876. Shaw had made his name through country houses such as Cragside, Northumberland. At the time Shaw's architecture was regarded as original and entirely on its own by the younger generation of architects. His practice was already attracting brilliant young architects. Shaw's pupils were articled for three years, learning to measure buildings and to draw plans and elevations for contracts. At the time Prior joined Shaw the practice was still small, with only three rooms shared with Nesfield. Shaw had a limited number of assistants and pupils, including Ernest Newton (1856–1922), who had joined Shaw in 1873 but who left to set up on his own in 1879, Richard Creed (1846–1914) and William West Neve