426 EIEFAULX ABBEY. 



communicated with the church ; such communication- 

 being necessary to accommodate the monks in repair- 

 ing from their beds to the church, for their no(t irnal 

 devotions. This building lies partly on the south 

 of the refectory, a space being left between, and 

 partly on the south of the cloister square. In the 

 west end of the dormitory, the lower part of the 

 walls is ancient ; and is perhaps coeval with the 

 original abbey. Beyond the dormitory,, on the 

 west of the choir, is another range of buildings, 

 which were probably the abbot 1 s chamber and offi- 

 ces. The great kitchen must of course have joined 

 the refectory. At a considerable distance north of 

 the church is a small detached building ; and the 

 ruins near are seen in the same direction : these are 

 probably the remains of the infirmary and the alms- 

 house. 



How beautiful is this ruin I What a speci- 

 men of the ability, spirit, and taste, of the day in 

 which the fabric was erected ! The light reeded 

 pillars possessing excellence peculiar to that de- 

 partment in architecture ; and here may be traced 

 one of the earliest transitions from the ponderous 

 and massy style of the Anglo-Norman. The tran- 

 sept pillars are adorned with a species of moulding, 

 of which probably this is the first specimen, which 

 made its appearance in the twelfth century. There 

 is also a combination of richness and delicacy truly 

 admirable, both in the tower and choir ; forming 

 Tery striking deviations from the costume of the pre- 

 ceding ages. In the former these peculiarities con- 

 fist of columnar decorations, terminating gracefully 



