English MonasteriesThompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
History
English Monasteries
Thompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
Monasteries -- England
priory of Barnwell: he had complete supervision of the guest-house and
its furniture, and was in close communication with the cellarer and
kitchener, from whom he obtained supplies for his guests. In Cistercian
abbeys the usual division between classes of guests appears to have
been observed: thus at Fountains and Kirkstall there are remains of two
guest-houses in the outer court. A special infirmary for lay-folk was
a feature of Cistercian monasteries, and at Fountains there seems also
to have been an infirmary for the poor. A Benedictine infirmary for
lay-folk existed at Durham, where it stood outside the monastery gates.
§ 77. In addition to the guest-houses, the outer court generally
contained the brew-house, the bake-house and granary of the monastery.
In Cistercian houses, where the statutes required that all the
offices should be within the precinct, there was generally another
court outside the main gatehouse. In the great monastery of Clairvaux
this additional court was of large extent and included workshops and
smithies with numerous other offices. It may be seen on a smaller
scale at Beaulieu, where the mill of the monastery adjoins the outer
gatehouse, and at Furness. There was frequently, near the outer gateway
and, as at Furness and Fountains, just within it, a chapel (_capella
extra portas_), provided for the use of persons not allowed within the
great gateway. Such chapels, at Merevale in Warwickshire and Tiltey
in Essex, were enlarged in the later middle ages to serve as parish
churches. At Kirkstead in Lincolnshire the chapel is perfect, though
now disused, and chapels at Coggeshall and Rievaulx have been repaired
and are used for service. At Beaulieu and Whalley there was a chapel
upon the first floor of the main gatehouse, and one was begun at Meaux
to supersede an older _capella extra portas_[17]. Such chapels are to
be distinguished from the parish churches which are often found, as
at Bury St Edmunds or Coventry and in the small example at Barnwell
priory, close to the precinct of a religious house.
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