230 



Lacock Abbe ij. 



sufficient for the use of the convent, or whether a new rere- dorter 

 was erected further north. 



The Infirmary. 



The infirmary, or farmery, was a complete block of buildings 

 detached from those surrounding the cloister except by a covered 

 passage or pentice. As its name implies it was for the accommo- 

 dation of the aged or infirm religious who were physically unable 

 to live the strict life of the cloister. 



At Lacock the infirmary was situated to the east of the claustral 

 buildings, and was approached therefrom through the passage 

 next the chapter-house already described. The whole block was 

 completely destroyed at the suppression, and the site has not yet 

 been excavated. In cutting a drain in 1896 sundry walls were 

 uncovered, but were not sufficient to tell of the arrangement until 

 further followed. Probably it would not be unlike that of 

 the sister house at Burnham, which consisted of a large hall placed 

 north and south with a small rere- dorter at the north end and 

 presumably a chapel and kitchen eastward. 



The care of the sick and ordering of the infirmary was under 

 the charge of an officer, in accordance with the rule: — " egrotantium 

 cura siue post egritudinem reficiendorum siue aliqua imbecillitate 

 eciam siue febribus labor an tium, uni alicui debet iniungi, ut ipse 

 de cellario petat quod cuique opus esse prospexerit," but in cases 

 of severe illness a physician had to be called in. 



The Frater. 1 



The frater, or dining-hall of the convent, occupies the whole of 

 the north side of the cloisters over a subvault. 



The basement is divided into two parts by a cross wall towards 

 its eastern end. The eastern part forms a passage vaulted into 

 two severies with plain semi-octagonal ribs resting on moulded 



1 The old English word " frater," meaning a dining-hall, is at least as old 

 as the thirteenth century. It has nothing to do with frater, a brother, but is 

 derived from the old French fraitur, which comes from the Latin rcfectorium. 

 See A New "Eiiglish Dictionary, iv., 515, Frater. 



