By Harold Brahspear, F.S.A. 



56J 



The Chapter-House. 



The first building to be visited by the Sunday procession after 

 leaving the church was the chapter-house (capitulumj, so called 

 from a chapter of the Eule being read therein before the whole 

 convent daily after prime. 



The chapter-house at Stanley was all of the thirteenth century 

 rebuilding, and was 60 feet in length by 30 feet in width. It was 

 of six bays and divided into three aisles, of which the middle 

 was wider than the others, by two rows of columns, and 

 vaulted with cross and diagonal moulded ribs without bosses. Tlie 



Cha pter-House. 



Vault ribs. 



Fig. 9. — Details of Chapter-House. 



columns were each in one stone 8J inches in diameter and 

 6 feet 2 inches in height ; they had moulded capitals and bases 

 and were all formed of a hard blue lias stone. Each joint was 

 bedded in sheet lead. The moulded base had a freestone block 

 beneath upon which it was bedded on three flat pieces of iron and 

 set in a hard cement, but so that the base might not press unevenly 

 on the iron before the cement was set, wooden wedges were in- 

 serted on three sides [see Fig. 8]. These were doubtless removed 



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