Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/179

 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTKLLIGENCE. 161 monastery; — here the outer walls and principal entrances; — here the chapter-house, cloisters, refectory, dormitory, necessarinm, kitchen, brew- house, bake-house, granary and infirmary; — here the prior's house, the apartments of the guests, the hall or refectory for guests, the cemetery and the castellum aquae, — by far the most curious part of the whole drawing, because it informs us of the ingenious and admirable contrivances of the monks for the thorough supply of the whole monastery with water. The Norman gateway, the principal entrance to the monastery — represented in the drawing of the monk — still remains : and he did not know a more beautiful example, though somewhat altered in the upper story and dis- figured by minor additions. The outer gate of the cemetery no longer exists. The cloisters in the drawing are Norman, though now Perpendicular, and with some traces of their Norman origin. The dormitory running from the cloisters was 145 feet by 80; and the Norman piers and vaults of the sub- structions, w-ith some of the Norman windows above, still remain. In a private garden belonging to one of the canons is a Norman cloister, very little known, but a beautifully simple piece of architecture, more like an Italian church or one of Wren's or Inigo Jones's constructions, — and a curious example of the slight separation between the Romanesque and the style from which it w^as immediately derived. The necessarium (now the site of the houses of the minor canons) was 130 feet long, with fifty or more stone seats on each side, and a drain under each of the aisles. The place was most ingeniously drained and ventilated; for the monks were in advance of the rest of the world not only in learning, but in the conveniences and com- forts of domestic life. Of the refectory, only two sides are at present stand- ing ; but traces exist of a fine octagon kitchen, of a brewhouse, bakehouse, granary and infirmary. The infirmary was a building complete in itself; having its own chapel, hall, refectory and necessarium. This was generally the case ; and he would remark also in passing, that the whole establishment of the sick at Ely has been called the early church of the cathedral, — when, in truth, it was nothing more than the infirmary of the sick. Of the prior's house at Canterbury nearly every portion has been swept away except a cloister under the prior's chapel. This house was most ingeniously con- trived to give the prior ready access and supervision over the principal parts of the monastery. Of the chambers of the guests various remains are found in difi'erent parts, as a Norman staircase and great hall near the entrance gateway, the cloister or locutory in another part, and a great hall near the east end of the church, for the more noble guests, which is now entire and converted into a residence for one of the canons. He would now examine the distribution of the water ; and .would first direct attention to the number of straggling lines running about the drawing of the monk ; some green, some red, and some yellow. These were water-courses ; for the drawing would appear to have been made to shew not so much the elevations of the monastery, as the machinery used for the distribution of the water. The canons of the cathedral are still supplied by wooden pipes from the reser- voir in use when the drawing was made. This reservoir was about a mile vor. IV. Y