i x> TAtfNTON AND DtfNSTER. 



deeply, it was gratifying that, thanks to Mr. Luttrell, the domestic buildings had 

 been preserved almost intact. He pointed out, on the east side of the garth, the 

 sacristy, or vestry, next to it the entrance to the library, the beautiful entrance to 

 the chapter house, and then the stone stairs leading up to the dormitory, which 

 extended beyond the refectory right along over the chapter house, chequer, and 

 sacristy. On the south side of the garth was the refectory of the late loth or 

 early 16th century. Usually the refectory was at right angles to the cloisters, 

 and a few years ago the site of the old refectory was discovered at right angles 

 to the new one, with a magnificent floor of encaustic tiles. He pointed out on 

 the south side of the cloister garth the lavatory where the monks used to wash 

 their hands before meals. 



Under Mr. Weaver's guidance the party then went over the buildings, 

 examining first the foundations of the church, and then passing on to the 

 sacristy, with a fine round 13th century window of a diameter of no less than 

 seven feet and a-half, and to the chapter -house, its roof with a quadripartite 

 vaulting in two spans. In the surviving portion of the dormitory Mr. Weaver 

 said he supposed that it was the largest and finest monastic dormitory remaining 

 in the British Isles. It used to extend right over the day room or calefactory, so 

 called because it was warmed in the winter time, when it was used as a 

 laboratory, study, and workshop. When Mr. Luttrell bought the property it 

 was in a deplorable state, occupied by cows and pigs. After showing the slype 

 or narrow way leading to the monks' cemetery, he led the party to inspect the 

 beautiful heraldic tiles forming the floor of the old refectory, and thence they 

 proceeded to mount the stone stairs of the fine new refectory (" new " being, of 

 course, used comparative^ ; certainly not absolutely.) It is a Perpendicular 

 hall built over an Early English substructure. On the east side the transoms 

 of the Perpendicular windows are enriched with bands pierced with quatrefoils. 

 Attention was called to a recess, which may mark the site of the pulpit, from 

 which the lector read to the brethren during meal-time. Close by it is a large 

 Tudor fireplace, probably inserted when, after the Dissolution, the premises were 

 put to other uses. The roof, of Spanish chestnut, as far as one could judge, is a 

 beautiful feature, richly panelled, and the hammer-beams carved to represent 

 angels and other figures. Mr. Weaver observed that that beautiful refectory 

 had been attributed to Abbot Dovel or Dowell ; but that Abbot did not begin to 

 reign until 1510, and he himself assumed that the room was begun about the 

 year 1470, when the wool trade in Somerset was very flourishing and money 

 plentiful. At the east end of the hall can still be discerned traces of a painted 

 Rood in distemper. Mr. Weaver took the opportunity of here saying something 

 about that appendage to Cleeve, the Chapel of St. Mary by the Sea, a famous 

 place of pilgrimage. 



On leaving Cleeve, the visitors inspected the gatehouse, the 

 latest portion of the buildings, and its date determined, 

 approximately at any rate, not only by the architecture, but also 



