562 Stanley Ahhey. 



The cloister at Stanley was not quite square, lieing 105 feet 

 from east to west, by about 100 feet from north to south. It had 

 originally pentise covered walks on all the four sides, supported 

 towards the court by a series of arches on coupled columns with 

 moulded caps and bases, of blue lias, which rested on dwarf 

 walls. Fragments of the capitals and bases were found in various 

 parts of the abbey, but chiefly near the ptdpitxim, in which they 

 had been used up for old material. This shows that the cloister 

 was rebuilt in the fourteenth century. The inner walls were 

 about 2 feet thick, and found on all but the south side. They had 

 no buttresses, so the roof must still have been of wood, though 

 what was the character of the walls it is impossible to say, as 

 only a few fragments of fourteenth century mouldings were found. 

 The alleys varied in width from 12 feet on the east to 9 feet on 

 tlie west, and were all floored with tiles. The flooring of the west 

 alley was found in a' Very perfect state for over 40 feet, and has 

 been covered by,..a.'ii^#Manent shed in order to preserve it in 

 position. 



The Vestry. 



On the east side of the cloister, adjoining the church, was usually 

 a chamber divided into two parts by a solid cross wall. The eastern 

 part was the vestry entered direct from the transept of the church, 

 and the western part was the book cupboard gained from the 

 cloister. 



At Stanley this chamber was 14 feet wide, but its extent east- 

 ward is uncertain. In its north wall was a doorway, inserted late 

 in the fifteenth century, of a single member consisting of two 

 ogees. The east jamb alone remained, together with part of tlie 

 stone sill. This unusual position for a doorway has not been met 

 with elsewhere, and its use is puzzling.^ 



' At Fountains and Jervaulx are remains of openings in the same position, 

 but they were merely barrow holes and built up as soon as the building works 

 were done. At Netley are remains of an original doorway from the chapter- 

 house to the parlour, but in no other case is any opening known in the side 

 walls of the chapter-house. 



