Daily life on the granges

Those at the granges are to observe silence in the dormitory, in the refectory
and in the warming-house, within the bounds designated for this…No woman is to
enter the grange court except at the command of the abbot or prior.
[Usus Conversorum, twelfth-century lay-brothers' customs] (32)

Turbulent times: discord on the granges
Inevitably, life on the granges was not always peaceful. Discipline was not always observed by the lay-brothers, the granges were sometimes targeted by disgruntled locals, as well as marauders and thieves. Indeed, the fear of bandits and wild beasts caused the shepherds at Rievaulx abbey's remote grange of Esklet, in Westerdale, to carry horns and set traps for wolves.

The Cistercian grange was in many ways an extension of the abbey, and those living and working here were expected to observe the Cistercian way of life. They were subject to regulations similar to those imposed at the monastery. Thus, conversation was restricted and silence was to be observed in the dormitory, refectory and warming-house. The grangemaster, however, was permitted to speak with all staff and guests when necessary, and masters were allowed to speak with juniors at work about work. Although shepherds and herdsmen were not to talk when they were travelling, they might briefly return a greeting, give directions or answer enquiries about a stray animal. They might speak softly in pairs once at the pastures, but they were not to gossip.(33) Women were forbidden to enter the grange enclosure unless this had been sanctioned by the abbot or prior, and no lay-brother at the grange was to speak alone with any female. (34)