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The western
range
(2/2)
Artist's impression of the lay-brothers' dormitory © Cistercians
in Yorkshire
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The lay-brothers
dormitory occupied the upper level of the western range and could
have accommodated about seventy-five men. In the abbeys heyday
there would have been about 150 lay-brothers at Kirkstall, half
of whom would have worked and resided on the granges. Like the monks
the lay-brothers each had a mat, pillow and a light covering, but
instead of a woollen blanket they had animal skins.(1)
During the day the lay-brothers entered their dormitory via a stone
staircase in the second and third bays of the cloister, but at night-time
they used a covered passage that ran above the western doorway and
provided sheltered access to the church for Vigils. The lay-brothers
had their own latrine-block which they entered from the southern
end of the dormitory. This ran over the drain so that waste would
be flushed away by running water. The privies here were arranged
in a line, separated by wooden screens, just as they were in the
monks latrines. Light entered through windows. The latrine
block was rebuilt and re-roofed in the last century when it was
used as a café and exhibition centre. There are now plans
to reopen the reredorter block with a café and improved toilet
facilities for visitors in one part, and a reconstruction of part
of the medieval sewers and privies on the other, complete with authentic
sights, sounds and smells!
With the demise of the lay-brothers in the fourteenth
century the western range at Kirkstall was probably used as cellarage.
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