234 Recent Excavations at Holy Island Priory. 



The cesspits, which extend but for a short distance under- 

 ground, were found empty, but no drain from them could be 

 traced. The adjoining vault would appear to have been used in 

 their place after the dissolution, for when opened out it was full 

 of a solidified mass of soil, rags and rubbish, which on being 

 exposed to the air, after being covered up for at least two 

 hundred years, emitted a most offensive odour. 



No well has as yet been found in this portion of the priory, 

 except one in the church itself between the third and fourth 

 bays (from the transept) of the north aisle, which was filled up 

 some years ago. Another was found about six years ago in the 

 detached room of the Manor House overlooking the present 

 churchyard about 40 yards north of the church ; but it is 

 doubtful if these were used for general purposes. The remams 

 of a stone drain in the cloister- garth would seem to show that 

 some water supply had been available there ; but the source of 

 this is not yet known. 



The last of the buildings on the upper level to be mentioned is 

 the fortified old entrance Gateway, the existence of which had 

 long been forgotten, and it is perhaps the most interesting of all 

 that remains of the Priory. In 1385 the monks of Holy Island 

 (see Eaine, p. Ill) in a memorial to Richard II., admitting that 

 their church was in some respects a castle, having its kernels 

 (crenelles) and fortifications, petitioned the king for license to 

 destroy the fortified parts of it, on the plea that they could not 

 provide the men and armour necessary for their defence. No 

 answer to this petition is recorded ; it is presumed that it was 

 not granted, as armour appears in the inventories of following 

 years. 



This entrance gateway, with the " Yet House Tower " above 

 it was part of the fortifications referred to ; the holes for the in- 

 sertion of a large interior bar can still be seen ; and inside the 

 outside gate the grooves down which a portcullis dropped. The 

 old paving still exists in the passage, and stone seats on each 

 side: fortunately one springer of the covering arch remains, 6 

 feet 6 inches from the floor. The outer portion of this entrance 

 seems to have been an addition of a later date, and the arrange- 

 ment of the cobble paving shows that it was not covered 

 over. 



The Yet Tower, Whitfield Tower, and the circular projection 

 or guerite, at the south-east corner of the prior's chamber, 



