The upper story was the library.[2] In England
we hear of bookrooms oftenest in the fifteenth century,
They were a usual feature in later Cistercian houses. The
plan just given shows the position of this room between
the church and the chapter-house, and not far from the
common claustral aumbry. At Whalley Abbey, also a
Cistercian house, there was evidently a separate library
room, because an inventory of the house's goods taken
in 1537 refers to the "litle Revestry next unto the
lebrary."[3] Kirkstall and Furness also had bookrooms.
On each side of the massive arch of the Chapter House
at Furness Abbey is a similar arch leading to a small
square room, most likely used for books. The illustrations
facing this show the position of these rooms on either
side of the Chapter House doorway. An extant
catalogue of another Cistercian house, that of Meaux
in Yorkshire, clearly indicates the whereabouts of the
conventual books. Some church books were before
the great altar, others were in the choir, a few in the
infirmary chapel, and in the common press and other
presses of the church. The bulk of them was in the
common aumbry, not apparently in the open cloister, but
in a room off the cloister.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158