--the kitchen, cellars, &c.,--form a court of themselves
outside the cloister and quite detached from the church.
The church refectory, dormitory and other buildings belonging
to the professional life of the brethren surround the great
cloister. The small cloister beyond, with its scribes' cells,
library, hall for disputations, &c., is the centre of the
literary life of the community. The requirements of sickness
and old age are carefully provided for in the infirmary
cloister and that for the aged and infirm members of the
establishment. The same group contains the quarters of the novices.
This stereotyped arrangement is further shown by the
illustration of the mother establishment of Citeaux.
Citeaux.
A cross (A), planted on the high road, directs travellers to
the gate of the monastery. reached by an avenue of trees. On
one side of the gate-house (B) is a long building (C), probably
the almonry, with a dormitory above for the lower class of
guests. On the other side is a chapel (D). As soon as the
porter heard a stranger knock at the gate, he rose, saying,
Deo gratias, the opportunity for the exercise of hospitality
being regarded as a cause for thankfulness. On opening the
door he welcomed the new arrival with a blessing --Benedicite.
He fell on his knees before him, and then went to inform the
abbot. However important the abbot's occupations might
be, he at once hastened to receive him whom heaven had
sent. He also threw himself at his guest's feet, and
conducted him to the chapel (D) purposely built close to the
gate. After a short prayer, the abbot committed the guest
to the care of the brother hospitaller, whose duty it was
to provide for his wants and conduct the beast on which he
might be riding to the stable (F), built adjacent to the inner
gatehouse (E). This inner gate conducted into the base court
(T), round which were placed the barns, stables, cow-sheds, &c.
On the eastern side stood the dormitory of the lay brothers,
fratres conversi (G), detached from the cloister, with
cellars and storehouses below. At H, also outside the monastic
buildings proper, was the abbot's house, and annexed to it the
guest-house. For these buildings there was a separate door
of entrance into the church (S). The large cloister, with its
surrounding arcades, is seen at V. On the south end projects
the refectory (K), with its kitchen at I, accessible from
the base court. The long gabled building on the east side of
the cloister contained on the ground floor the chapter-house
and calefactory, with the monks' dormitory above (M),
communicating with the south transept of the church. At L
was the staircase to the dormitory. The small cloister is at
W, where were the carols or cells of the scribes, with the
library (P) over, reached by a turret staircase. At R we see
a portion of the infirmary. The whole precinct is surrounded
by a strong buttressed wall (XXX), pierced with arches,
FIG. 8.---Bird's-eye view of
A. Cross. H. Abbot's house. R. Infirmary.
B. Gate-house. I. Kitchen. S. Door to the church
C. Almonry. K. Refectory. for the lay brothers.
D. Chapel. L. Staircase to dormitory.
E. Inner gate-house. T. Base court.
F. Stable. M. Dormitory. V. Great cloister.
G. Dormitory of lay N. Church. W. Small cloister.
brethren. P. Library. X. Boundary wall.
through which streams of water are introduced. It will
be noticed that the choir of the church is short, and has
a square end instead of the usual apse. The tower, in
accordance with the Cistercian rule, is very low. The windows
throughout accord with the studied simplicity of the order.
Kirkstall Abbey.
The English Cistercian houses, of which there are such extensive
and beautiful remains at Fountains, Rievaulx, Kirkstall,
Tintern, Netley, &c., were mainly arranged after the same
plan, with slight local variations. As an example, we give
the groundplan of Kirkstall Abbey. which is one of the best
preserved. The church here is of the Cistercian type, with
a short chancel of two squares, and transepts with three
eastward chapels to each, divided by solid walls (2 2 2).
The whole is of the most studied plainness. The windows
are unornamented, and the nave has no triforium. The
cloister to the south (4) occupies the whole length of the
nave. On the east side stands the two-aisled chapter-house
(5), between which and the south transept is a small
sacristy (3), and on the other side two small apartments,
one of which was probably the parlour (6). Beyond this
stretches southward the calefactory or day-room of the monks
(14). Above this whole range of building runs the monks'
dormitory, opening by stairs into the south transept of the
church. At the other end were the necessaries. On thc south
side of the cloister we have the remains of the old refectory
(11), running, as in Benedictine houses, from east to west,
and the new refectory (12), which, with the increase of the
inmates of the house, superseded it, stretching, as is usual
in Cistercian houses, from north to south. Adjacent to this
apartment are the remains of the kitchen, pantry and buttery.
The arches of the lavatory are to be seen near the refectory
entrance. The western side of the cloister is, as usual,
occupied by vaulted cellars, supporting on the upper story
the dormitory of the lay brothers (8). Extending from the
FIG. 9 Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire
1. Church. 10. Common room.
2. Chapels. 11. Old refectory.
3. Sacristy. 12. New refectory.
4. Cloister. 13. Kitchen court.
5. Chapter-house. 14. Calefactory or day-room.
6. Parlour. 15. Kitchen and offices.
7. Punishment cell (?). 16-19. Uncertain; perhaps offices
8. Cellars, with dormitories for connected with the infirmary.
conversi over.
9. Guest-house. 20. Infirmary or abbot's house.
south-east angle of the main group of buildings are the
walls and foundations of a secondary group of considerable
extent. These have been identified either with the hospitium
or with the abbot's house, but they occupy the position in
which the infirmary is more usually found. The hall was
a very spacious apartment, measuring 83 ft. in length by
48 ft. 9 in. in breadth, and was divided by two rows of
columns. The fish-ponds lay between the monastery and
the river to the south. The abbey mill was situated
about 80 yards to the north-west. The millpool may be
distinctly traced, together with the gowt or mill stream.
Fountains Abbey.
Fountains Abbey, first founded A.D. 1132, is one of the
largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England.
But the earlier buildings received considerable additions
and alterations in the later period of the order, causing
deviations from the strict Cistercian type. The church
stands a short distance to the north of the river Skell, the
buildings of the abbey stretching down to and even across the
stream. We have the cloister (H) to the south, with the
three-aisled chapter-house (I) and calefactory (L) opening from
its eastern walk, and the refectory (S), with the kitchen (Q)
and buttery (T) attached, at right angles to its southern walk.
FIG. 10.--Ground-plan of Fountains Abbey,
A. Nave of the church. N. Cellar. Z. Gate-house.
B. Transept. O. Brewhouse. ABBOT'S HOUSE.
C. Chapels. P. Prisons. 1. Passage
D. Tower. Q. Kitchen. 2. Great hall.
E. Sacristy. R. Offices. 3. Refectory.
F. Choir. S. Refectory. 4. Refectory.
G. Chapel of nine alters. T. Buttery. 5. Storehouse.
H. Cloister. U. Cellars and storehouses. 6. Chapel.
I. Chapter-house. V. Necessary. 7. Kitchen.
K. Base court. W. Infirmary (?). 8. Ashpit.
L. Calefactory. X. Guest-houses. 9. Yard.
M. Water-course. Y. Mill bridge. 10. Kitchen tank.
Parallel with the western walk is an immense vaulted substructure
(U), incorrectly styled the cloisters, serving as cellars and
store-rooms, and supporting the dormitory of the conversi
above. This building extended across the river. At its S.W.
corner were the necessaries (V), also built, as usual, above
the swiftly flowing stream. The monks' dormitory was in its
usual position above the chapter-house, to the south of the
transept. As peculiarities of arrangement may be noticed
the position of the kitchen (Q), between the refectory and
calefactory, and of the infirmary (W) (unless there is some
error in its designation) above the river to the west, adjoining
the guest-houses (XX). We may also call attention to the
greatly lengthened choir, commenced by Abbot John of York,
1203-1211, and carried on by his successor, terminating, like
Durham Cathedral, in an eastern transept, the work of Abbot
John of Kent, 1220-1247, and to the tower (D), added not long
before the dissolution by Abbot Huby, 1494-1526, in a very
unusual position at the northern end of the north transept.
The abbot's house, the largest and most remarkable example of
this class of buildings in the kingdom, stands south to the
east of the church and cloister, from which it is divided by
the kitchen court (R), surrounded by the ordinary domestic
offices. A considerable portion of this house was erected on
arches over the Skell. The size and character of this house,
probably, at the time of its erection, the most spacious
house of a subject in the kingdom, not a castle, bespeaks
the wide departure of the Cistercian order from the stern
simplicity of the original foundation. The hall (2) was one
of the most spacious and magnificent apartments in medieval
times, measuring 170 ft. by 70 ft. Like the hall in the
castle at Winchester, and Westminster Hall, as originally
built, it was divided by 18 pillars and arches, with 3
aisles. Among other apartments, for the designation of which
we must refer to the ground-plan, was a domestic oratory or
chapel, 46 1/2 ft. by 23 ft. and a kitchen (7), 50 ft. by 38
ft. The whole arrangements and character of the building
bespeak the rich and powerful feudal lord, not the humble
father of a body of hard-working brethren, bound by vows to a
life of poverty and self-denying toil. In the words of Dean
Milman, ``the superior, once a man bowed to the earth with
humility, care-worn, pale, emaciated, with a coarse habit
bound with a cord, with naked feet, had become an abbot
on his curvetting palfrey, in rich attire, with his silver
cross before him, travelling to take his place amid the
lordliest of the realm.'' --(Lat. Christ. vol. iii. p. 330.)
Austin Canons.
The buildings of the Austin canons or Black canons (so
called from the colour of their habit) present few distinctive
peculiarities. This order had its first seat in England at
Colchester, where a house for Austin canons was founded about
A.D. 1105, and it very soon spread widely. As an order
of regular clergy, holding a middle position between monks
and secular canons, almost resembling a community of parish
priests living under rule, they adopted naves of great length
to accommodate large congregations. The choir is usually
