ways. The monks met in chapter daily, and the abbot sat against the east wall 

 Confessions were heard there, and there the abbots were usually buried. The 

 room, which was probably used as the parlour, comes next. It was not a room in 

 which to sit and receive company, but simply for speech, and that under very 

 strict supervision. There is next a passage which leads from the cloister to 

 the eastern precinct ; the Infirmary would be somewhere in that direction. 



The last room in the range was the Fratry or Day-room of the monks. It 

 was without any fire-place, and some of its windows or arches at the north end 

 were usually open to the weather. The sewer that ran under the buUdings may be 

 seen here. 



Over the fratry, the dormitory of the monks extended ; the staircase adjoined 

 the fratry. The space over some of the other rooms would be the library, with a 

 passage from the dormitory, for access to the church by night. The next room 

 was handsomely vaulted and plastered — as, indeed, were the church and all the 

 more important parts of the monastery — there was a fireplace in the centre, round 

 which the monks could stand. It was probably the calefactory, the only place 

 where they were allowed to warm themselves. In the later times the monks 

 altered this portion, and built over it what is called the prior's lodging, and 

 probably is so. The abbot, if he did not lodge here, would have a house in the 

 precinct, but out of the cloister; he had a lodge at Tintern Parva, of which there 

 are still some remains. We can trace here the staircase to the upper rooms, and 

 also a fine large arched entrance opening upon the cloister walk. 



The refectory comes next — a long apartment, which had handsome windows. 

 It runs north and south, which was the Cistercian rule ; in all other monasteries 

 the refectory lay east and west. The monks sat on the sides of it, and dined at 

 narrow tables, whilst one read from the pulpit, the entrance to which is on the 

 western side. A narrow room on the east was used for the service of meals ; on 

 the west side is the hatch, by which the portions of food were passed from the 

 kitchen, and near to it a curious shallow recess where a wooden ledge could be let 

 down to hold dishes. 



On either side of the entrance to the refectory was a handsome recess that 

 formed the lavatory, where the monks washed before meals. It is much broken, 

 and is miscalled the almonry ; but the monks' alms were given out near to the 

 monastery gate, and were of a more substantial character than anything that 

 would be left from their own frugal meals. I confess I do not know what the 

 broken victuals of the vegetarian cuisine may be like. 



The kitchen comes next. There are remains of one or more fire-places ; but 

 it has been much defaced. The whole range of building adjoining the west side of 

 the cloister was, in Cistercian houses, usually devoted to the "conversi," or lay 

 brothers. It is possible that at Tintern the northern part of this may have been 

 the guest-house, as the guests might not have been so numerous as to require a 

 separate lodging. The relations of the monks with their lay brothers are worth 

 consideration in reference to the business of a Cistercian monastery. Mr. 



