232 Recent Excavations at Holy Island Priory. 



meals, and opposite to this, a large block of masonry, for what 

 purpose built it is not easy to conjecture, probably it was in 

 connection with the lavatory arrangements. 



In the centre of the room, about 12 feet from the eastern end, 

 is an open hearth of stone, on which no doubt was placed the 

 iron chimney or grate, referred to in many of the early docu- 

 ments. In 1379, it is stated that 1 2s. lOd. — a large sum in 

 those days — was paid for one, and in 1416 there was in the 

 " Hall," 1 iron chimney, " I porr and 1 pare of Tanggs." 



At the eastern end of the south wall of the Refectory is a wide 

 opening with traces of a gateway, this could not have been used 

 as an entrance before the dissolution, and must have been made 

 afterwards for the convenience of carting grain and other stores 

 to the storehouses and granaries in the church. The original 

 entrance is further to the west, and a passage from it to the 

 Cloister Garth, runs at the end of the Refectory, from which it 

 was cut off by a screen, the base of which may have fitted into 

 the holes existing in the walls on either side of the room. 



On the other side of this passage are three openings into the 

 domestic offices, the first into a room 17 feet by 17 feet 6 iuches, 

 formerly arched over, the springing of the arches being clearly 

 visible, probably tlie "Kitchen" with fireplace at the western 

 end : the second into a passage leading to the Brewhouse and a 

 Sink, the former being recognized by the foundations for the 

 large circular mash vat ; the Sink, to which a descent was made 

 of two steps, was carefully closed off by a door, of which part of 

 the jambs remain, and from it a stone drain 12 inches square 

 was carried down to the outer court, and thence through the 

 Mustard Close into the sea opposite St. Cuthbert's Island : when 

 opened it was full of rich black soil, and the islanders until 

 lately used to fill their flower pots from the spot where it now 

 terminates, on the left side of the road running past the vicarage 

 to the sea. The third passage leads to the Buttery or Larder on 

 the right, and then to the Bakehouse. In the latter altei-ations 

 were made in 1362 and 14U1, and as the now existing oven has 

 been built altogether inside the old wall of the Priory, further 

 additions were most probably made during the civil occupation 

 to provide for military commissariat requirements. It may have 

 been used for other cooking purposes as well. There was a huge 

 open hearth, and the floor was paved, with a slope towards the 

 drain from the sink. 



