Belladonna at Belstone

Glossary

Calefactory – Every monastery or nunnery would have had a calefactory or ‘warming room’, in which a good, blazing fire would be kept going through the colder months or when the days were chill.

Chapterhouse – This was the chamber in which the nuns would meet to discuss important business. Elections for new leaders could take place here, as could discussions of any issue which might affect the smooth running of the community.

Choir (also quire) – In a religious institution, this was the name given both to the clergy involved in performing the services and to the part of the church where they did so.

Cloister – This could refer to the whole religious precinct or an enclosed area set apart from the rest of the world; in this story the cloister mainly refers to the specific area in which nuns or monks would work, read, or merely walk. At the centre (see Garth below) was often a good-sized, square lawned area, around which all the other buildings were ranged.

Dorter – This was the dormitory block in which the nuns would have slept.

Familia – In the slacker convents, groups would tend to eat together regularly. While their Rule said all should dine together in common, often nuns chose to eat at slightly different times with their own familia.

Frater (also refectory) – The name given to the hall in which the nuns would eat.

Garth (cloister-garth) – This is the name given to the small yard, usually grassed, which was situated at the middle of the cloister.

Horarium – This was the timetable by which monks and nuns regulated their day, beginning with Nocturns, the first service, usually held at aboul 2.30 a.m., and ending with Compline, the final service. For the full sequence, please see over.

Laver – The room in which nuns or monks would wash. In many convents the laver would have had fresh water piped from a spring or river, sometimes brought a great distance in lead pipes.

Rere-dorter – This was the toilet block, often, like at Castle Acre, out at the rear of the dorter itself. It would lie over the lop of alarge channel so that running water could wash it clean. Wastes were sometimes allowed to build up and the water blocked off by means of a wooden sluice so that the deposits could be collected for fertiliser. Similarly urinals were used less for convenience and more because urine was used to manufacture vellum, or to bleach linens.

Suffragan – When a bishop was forced to spend time away from his diocese he would install a suffragan to act as his deputy and to see to the cure of the souls.