Belladonna at Belstone

A Winter Horarium

Programme of offices to be held during winter months taken from Archbishop Lanfranc’s schedule for the Benedictines of Canterbury. The times given are estimates only, for a small convent like St Mary’s would have had no accurate clocks.

At about 2.30 a.m. the nuns would all be roused from sleep and called to attend the choir of the church. Here they would sing psalms and offer prayers until the first of the services, the Nocturns, after which the nuns would continue with Matins, which would be followed by Prime at dawn.

Once Prime was over the nuns would go out and sit in the cloister, reading until about 8.00 a.m. when they would all return to their dorter, or bedchamber. Here they would change their shoes, then go to the laver, where they would wash in preparation for the next service.

Terce was followed by Morrow Mass, after which the nuns would all go to their chapterhouse for their daily meeting. At this any admissions of failings or accusations of lapses could be brought up. and apologies or penances offered or imposed.

Once the daily chapter had concluded, the nuns would spend their time either working or reading until noon. Then they would all go back to the church.

Sext, High Mass and None were all celebrated, and at last the nuns could go to the frater for their only full meal of the day. This was followed by more work or studying until about 5 p.m., at which they would return for Vespers in the church.

Vespers was the last ceremony of the active day, and afterwards the choir would change into their night slippers and go to the frater to drink. In the medieval age people depended upon a diet which included much ale or wine, because the solid diet did not provide enough essential vitamins or protein.

Finally the nuns would troop back to church to listen to a reading, and then would hear the last service: Compline.

After this, at between 6.30 and 7 p.m., the nuns should have gone to the dorter to sleep.

From the records, it seems clear that many did not.