CITY OF DURHAM 



15 ft. 6 in. wide by 33 ft. 6 in. long internally. 

 Its east wall was some 20 ft. west of the east 

 wall of the presbytery, and its south wall lay 

 partly under the south wall of the presbytery 

 and quire. The north wall, which at its east 

 end contains the base of an aumbry showing 

 12th-century tooling, is well within the pres- 

 bytery and quire, while the west wall was 

 apparently destroyed when the new quire stalls 

 were set up here, but the core of the foundations 

 remains. From its position it would appear 

 that the chapel was left standing until the 

 eastern part of the new church round it was 

 completed. St. Godric was carried to this chapel 



who supervised the work of clearing the ruins, 

 states that they exhibit ' the plan of a normal 

 domestic house of the better class with a 

 hall (about 40 ft. by 25 ft.), having at its north 

 end a two-story building which on the analogy 

 of other houses of this type has consisted of a 

 solar over a cellar. The hall shows remains 

 of its hearth and stone bases on either side 

 on which stood wooden posts carrying the 

 superstructure ; part of the west door into the 

 screens remains at the lower end of the hall, 

 but the rest, including the domestic offices 

 which normally occupy such a position, was 

 destroyed at the building of the north-east 



FiNCHALE Priory : ExrtRioR 



when he was dying, and in it he w.is buried. 

 A grave has been found in the position described 

 by Reginald of Durham, which there can be little 

 doubt was that in which the body of the Saint 

 lay. The sides of the grave were lined with 

 rough masonry, and within it was a stone coffin 

 rounded at the head and square at the foot, 

 shaped within for the body of a man 5 ft. 2 in. 

 in height and 16 in. in width at the shoulders, 

 tapering to 7 in. at the foot ; proportions which 

 would fit the descriptions of the Saint, who was 

 of small stature. The lid of the coffin has gone, 

 but the places for the iron cramps securing 

 it remain. The coflnn, when found, contained 

 only rubbish and a piece of highly polished 

 Frosterley marble, which probably formed a part 

 of the slab covering the ' tumba.' The relics 

 of the Saint, it would seem, disappeared at the 

 suppression of the monastery.*" 



When Finchale was converted from a her- 

 mitage into a monastery, about 1196, accom- 

 modation had to be found for the monks who 

 were sent there from Durham, and this, it is 

 suggested by Mr. Peers, was provided by some 

 buildings recently cleared to the east of the 

 church. 



These buildings, in which three slightly 

 different dates can be discerned, were probably 

 pulled down in monastic times. Mr. Peers, 



*" Anh. Jdiana, loc. cit. 



wing of the prior's quarters. To this simple 

 rectangular building has been added a large 

 room to the north (46 ft. by 20 ft.), with 

 a fireplace in its east wall, and along its 

 south side a corridor lighted from the south 

 by small splayed windows, leading to a large 

 garde-robe pit at the east. Against the south 

 side of the garde-robe building there is built a 

 rectangular room entered from the north-west, 

 showing remains of similar windows, and having 

 along its west side a covered walk, which may 

 be of later date. Both the garde-robe and the 

 room south of it have been enlarged eastwards, 

 and though no evidence of a stair remains, it 

 seems probable that these buildings had an 

 upper story. Southward from here there exists 

 a short length of foundation which seems to be 

 of the same period, and suggests the former 

 existence of another room.' 



This group of buildings seems to have been 

 built as a temporary expedient to give enough 

 accommodation for the monks until more ample 

 buildings were ready. It may be supposed, 

 Mr. Peers suggests, that the upper story 

 of the eastern block next to the garde-robe 

 supplied the place of the dorter, the hall served 

 for meals, and the large north room for the 

 daily labor et lectio. The ground floor of the 

 eastern block probably served as the chapter 

 house, and the chapel of St. John Baptist as 

 the monastic church. 



H9 



