The sacristy adjoined the south transept of
the church and was connected by a door. Liturgical vessels, vestments
and books used in the Mass and Canonical
Offices were stored for
safekeeping in the sacristy, under the watchful eye of the sacrist.
An inventory taken at the time of the Dissolution indicates that
Fountains at this time owned a number of rich vestments. The list
refers to gold, silk and velvet cloths, including, six gold copes,
twenty-six white damask copes and four of white velvet, six red
silk copes, with images of stars and flowers, a black silk cope,
nine of red damask and two of red silk. Various altar cloths are
mentioned and other miscellaneous items, such as a velvet cloth
for the crucifix and two cushions for the mitre.(32)
The sacristy was
also used by ordained members of the community to robe in vestments
for services, and it was thus necessary that
this room was close to the church.
An extraordinary discovery was
made at Fountains in the mid-nineteenth century when the walls
to the south of the southern transept, which
blocked off the sacristy, were removed. Four hundred skeletons
were exposed and it has been suggested that these represent ‘the
dead of a local Civil War action.’ (33)