94 Plympton in the Olden Time, by James Hine, F.R.I. B. A. 
monastery gates, never again to re-enter them, — when, with their 
" occupation gone " (like the stage coachmen and guards of the 
19th century), they would be lost in the crowd of a bustling 
world, and never seen or heard of more. There was a dark side 
to the picture which England then presented; and perhaps the 
saddest sight was, when, on the morrow after the dissolution, the 
mendicant knocked at the almonry door, knowing no change, and 
least of all in charity, and for the first time found no bread or 
alms for him. 
The priory remains, though little known, are of considerable 
interest. Besides the Norman cellar, and the Early English 
refectory over, there are some scattered remains of the chapel and 
cloisters. The cellar is sixty-one feet six inches by fourteen feet 
within, stone-arched, and lighted on the south side by four small 
semi-circular-headed windows. The masonry is of great thickness ; 
and on the north side and east end, in the width of the wall, is a 
passage two feet six inches wide, which probably was nothing more 
than a dry area, though the common notion is that it is the 
commencement of a subterranean way (now blocked up) leading 
to the castle, about a quarter of a mile distant. The original 
entrance to the cellar was by a fine Norman doorway on the south 
side. It was only after diligent search that I found it, encased 
with many coats of plaster. There are engaged shafts on each 
side, and the chevron ornament is carried round the jambs as well 
as the arch, which latter is formed of alternate voussoirs of grey 
and green stone. 
Above the cellar is the almost perfect outline of the refectory, 
with its original fire-place, windows and roof, all of an Early 
English character. The kitchen, a detached building of the 
fifteenth century, situated to the east of the refectory, remains in 
a tolerably perfect state, and the position of the old priory mill is 
indicated by a modern structure erected about thirty years ago. 
Adjoining the mill is the priory orchard, said to be the oldest 
in England. 
