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Fountains Abbey: History
Fountains Abbey: Buildings
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(1/1) The monks’ toilet block (the reredorters)
was connected to the southern end of their dormitory. It ran over
the River Skell, so that waste could be carried away by running
water. The drain can still be seen. There would have been a line
of privies set against the wall, over the drain, and the monks
would have sat on removable wooden seats. Individual closets may
have been inserted in the fourteenth century, to provide the monks
with greater privacy. The brethren were allowed to use the toilets
whenever necessary but were expected to exercise modesty at all
times: they were to cover their faces with their hoods, fold their
hands in front of them and ensure that their cowls reached the
floor.
An exciting find was made when the latrine drains were cleared out in the mid-nineteenth century and a hoard of silver pennies was uncovered. Over 350 coins dating from Mary Tudor to Charles I had been stashed here, but whoever had hidden them had clearly never managed to return.(61) A less glamorous discovery was that of the mid-twelfth century latrine drain, which was constructed during Henry Murdac’s abbacy. Unfortunately the stench was so bad that the excavators simply threw quicklime over the drain and never managed to investigate it for any clues there might have been regarding monastic life at Fountains in the Middle Ages.(62) |
