250 THE GROUND-PLAN OF BURTON ABBEY. 
In the corner was a stair, the doorway of which was met 
with in the excavations (plate II, fig. 3). This agrees with 
the plan given in Shaw, for he shows a space with here a 
stair. The measurements given came very near, Shaw 
gives the cloister as 100 feet square, the actual measure- 
ment being g1 feet from the church wall to this door. 
Shaw gives more space than is required for a stair, and, I 
think, if the line of this door had been carefully followed, 
we should have come upon another door or opening, as at 
Westminster, where it is called the dark cloister; this 
would give access to the communicatiou that must have 
existed between the Infirmary and the Necessaria. From 
this opening to the frater house door we should expect to 
find a ‘‘a faire long Bench of Stone almost to the Frater 
house dour,’ as described in the Rites of Durham; this 
was provided for use at the monks’ Maundy. 
Close to the doorway would stand the towel closet, the 
Rites say ‘‘at the end of the said bench, betwixt it and the 
Frater house dour, ther was a faire Almerie joyned in the 
wall, and an other of the other syd of the said dour, and 
all the forepart of the Almeries was thorowgh carved worke 
and iij dors in the forpart of either almerie and a locke 
on every doure, and every Monncke had a key for the said 
almeryes, wherin did hinge in every almeryes, cleane towels 
for the Monncks to drie there hands on, when they washed 
and went to dynner.” Now we arrive at the door to the 
FRATER HOUSE. 
Had proper search been made the whole plan of the sub- 
vault of this building would have been found, and we 
should have been able to trace the connection with the 
kitchen, and determine where the misericorde, or apartment 
where flesh meat was allowed to be eaten by any of the 
monks not in the infirmary who had that indulgence granted 
to them, was situated. 
We can only draw our conclusions from Shaw’s plan and 
on 
a 
voy een 
