Edmund Venables

“ It is evidently planned in compliance with the Benedictine rule, which enjoined that, if possible, the monastery should contain within itself every necessary of life, as well as the buildings more intimately connected with the religious and social life of its inmates. It should comprise a mill, a bakehouse, stables and cow-houses, together with accommodation for carrying on all necessary mechanical arts within the walls, so as to obviate the necessity of the monks going outside its limits. ”

“ We have no existing examples of the earlier monasteries of the Benedictine order. They have all yielded to the ravages of time and the violence of man. But we have fortunately preserved to us an elaborate plan of the great Swiss monastery of St Gall, erected about A.D. 820, which puts us in possession of the whole arrangements of a monastery of the first class towards the early part of the 9th century. ”

“ The most important group of buildings is naturally that devoted to monastic life. This includes two cloisters, the great cloister surrounded by the buildings essentially con nected with the daily life of the monks, the church to the south, the refectory or frater-house here as always on the side opposite to the church, and furthest removed from it, that no sound or smell of eating might penetrate its sacred precincts, to the east the dormitory, raised on a vaulted undercroft, and the chapter-house adjacent, and the lodg ings of the cellarer to the west. ”

“ ABBEY, a monastery, or conventual establishment, under the government of an abbot or an abbess. A priory only differed from an abbey in that the superior bore the name of prior instead of abbot. This was the case in all the English conventual cathedrals, e.g., Canter bury, Ely, Norwich, &c., where the archbishop or bishop occupied the abbot s place, the superior of the monastery being termed prior. ”

“ The church is a modest building, long, narrow, and aisleless. Within the wall of enclosure are two courts. The smaller of the two, the south, presents the usual arrangement of church, refectory, &c., opening out of a cloister. The buildings are plain and solid. The northern court contains the cells, 14 in number. It is surrounded by a double stone wall, the two walls being about 30 feet or 40 feet apart. Between these, each in its own garden, stand the cells ”

“ These are they who, enlarging day by day their sumptuous edifices, encircling them with lofty walls, lay up in them their incalculable treasures, impru dently transgressing the bounds of poverty, and violating the very fundamental rules of their profession. ”

“ In the earliest age of Christian monasticism the ascetics were accustomed to live singly, independent of one another, at no great distance from some village, supporting them selves by the labour of their own hands, and distributing the surplus after the supply of their own scanty wants to the poor. Increasing religious fervour, aided by persecu tion, drove them further and further away from the abodes of men into mountain solitudes or lonely deserts. The deserts of Egypt swarmed with the cells or huts of these anchorites. ”

“ The immense refectory, of the same cruciform shape as that of St Laura, will accommodate 500 guests at its 24 marble tables.
The annexed plan of a Coptic monastery, from Lenoir shows us a church of three aisles, with cellular apses, and two ranges of cells on either side of an oblong gallery.
Monasticism in the West owes its extension and development to Benedict of Nursia (born A.D. 480) . ”

“ Of this only a few fragments of the domestic buildings exist. The best preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre, Norfolk, and Wenlock, in Shropshire. Ground-plans of both are given in Britton's Architectural Antiquities. They show several departures from the Benedictine arrangement. In each the prior s house is remarkably perfect. All Cluniac houses in England were French colonies, governed by priors of that nation. They did not secure their independence nor become "abbeys"; till the reign of Henry VI. The Cluniac revival, with all its brilliancy, was but short lived. ”

“ To the north a large open court divides the monastic from the menial buildings, in tentionally placed as remote as possible from the conven tual buildings proper, the stables, granaries, barn, bake house, brewhouse, laundries, &c., inhabited by the lay ser vants of the establishment. At the greatest possible distance from the church, beyond the precinct of the convent, is the eleemosynary department. The almonry for the relief of the poor, with a great hall annexed, forms the pauper s hospitium. ”

“ Each separate community had its own oeconomus, or steward, who was subject to a chief oeconomus stationed at the head establishment. All the produce of the monks labour was committed to him, and by him shipped to Alexandria. ”

“ This apartment is chiefly used as a hall of meeting, the Oriental monks usually taking their meals in their separate cells. St Laura is exceeded in magnitude by the Convent of Vatopede, also on Mount Athos. This enormous establishment covers at least 4 acres of ground, and contains so many separate buildings within its massive walls that it resembles a fortified town. It lodges above 300 monks, and the establishment of the Hegumenos is described as resembling the court of a petty sovereign prince. ”

“ They always stand on the border of a stream; not rarely, as at Fountains, the buildings extend over it. These valleys, now so rich and productive, wore a very different aspect when the brethren first chose them as the place of their retirement. ”

“ Large piles of building were erected, with strong outside walls, capable of resisting the assaults of an enemy, within which all the necessary edifices were ranged round one or more open courts, usually surrounded with cloisters. ”

“ M. Dormitory. N. Church. P. Library. R. Infirmary. S. Door to the Church. for the Lay Brothers T. Base Court. V. Great Cloister. W. Small Cloister. X. Boundary Wall.
This stereotyped arrangement is further illustrated by Citeaux the accompanying bird's eye view of the mother establishment of Citeaxix. A cross (A) , planted on the high road eaux. 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) . ”

“ H. Dovecot. I. Cells. K. Chapel of Pontgibaud. L. Sacristy. M. Chapel. N. Stables. O. Gateway. P. Guest-Chambers. Q. Barns and Granaries. R. Watch Towers. S. Little Cloister. T. Bakehouse. V. Kitchen. X. Refectory. Y. Cemetery. Z. Prison. a. Cell of Sub-prior. b. Garden of do.
The peculiarity of the arrangements of a Carthusian monastery, or charter-house, as it was called in England, from a corruption of the French chartreux, is exhibited in the plan of that of Clermont, from Viollet le Duc. The whole establishment is surrounded with a wall, furnished at intervals with watch towers (R) . ”

“ L. Workshops and work men's Lodgings. M. Slaughter-house. N. Barns and Stables. 0. Public Presse P. Gateway R. Remains of Ola Monastery. S. Oratory. V. Tile-works. X. Tile-kiln. Y. Water-courses.
Clairvaux, No. 2 (Cistercian) , Monastic Buildings.
A. Church. li. Cloister. C. Chapter-House. I) . Monks Parlour E. Calefactory. F. Kitchen and Court. G. Refectory. H. Cemetery. I. Little Cloister. K. Infirmary. L. Lodgings of Novices. M. Old Guest-House. N. Old Abbot's Lodgings. 0. Cloister of Supernu merary Monks. P. Abbot's Hall. Q. Cell of St Bernard. | R. Stables. S. Cellars and Store houses. ”