66 C.C. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



the Church, and the Monks were so poor that they could not pay for 

 the restoration. In their trouble and misery they besought the Pope 

 for help, and he wrote to England and commanded collections to be 

 made throughout the country, and then the buildings were restored 

 and the Abbey went on being used for religious purposes up to the 

 dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. 



During the excavations last year some beautifully carved thirteenth 

 century stone bosses were found in the Chapter House. They had 

 evidently fallen from the roof and had remained undisturbed and 

 wonderfully preserved. They were found some eight feet beneath the 

 present surface of the ground. They were all ornamented with floral 

 designs, with the exception of one which represents Christ on a lion 

 rending the animal's jaws. This representation of Christ as the 

 spiritual Samson overcoming the devil in the form of a lion is not un- 

 common in the thirteenth century. As the Abbey was a Cistercian 

 one, no figure was allowed to be carved except that of Christ. 



The Cloisters were a covered walk around a lawn or garth, in 

 which the monks had a washing trough, and a stone ledge on which 

 they could sit. 



Opening into the Cloisters were the Chapter House, where the 

 business of the Abbey was done, the Refectory, where the monks 

 ate, the Dormitories, where they slept, and other rooms, No doubt 

 the original Cloisters were roofed with a wooden roof, but afterwards, 

 in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, a stone vaulted roof was made 

 for them. 



Unfortunately, these later builders took little trouble to keep any 

 of the old work as it was, and in order to get proper support for the 

 'stone cloister roof they hacked away much of the older work and 

 spoilt it. Hailes Abbey was dissolved by Henry VHI. in 1539, and 

 at that date ceased to be used for religious purposes, though the 

 Abbot's lodgings were used as a residence till the beginning of the 

 eighteenth century. 



Only a small portion of the Abbey was excavated during last 

 Autumn, and it is intended to continue the excavations this year. 

 Already many things of interest have been brought to light, and a 

 rich harvest of discoveries will no doubt be made when the spade 

 and pickaxe get to work again in the Spring. 



