Reading Abbey

The Monks at Rest: Simplicity

The day of the monks ended as light faded after the final service. They went up the stairs in the south-east corner of the Cloister to the Dormitory or Dorter, which stretched south from the Chapter House, the west windows looking towards the setting sun over Tilehurst. It was a long communal sleeping room with beds stretching down each side. No doubt each monk had a wooden chest where he kept his spare clothing and the items issued to him for his personal use, a pen, knife and needle. He undressed down to his 'long-johns' and lay down to sleep until the bell roused him for the first service of the new day.

The south wall of the Refectory still stands to perhaps half its original height, fronting a terrace cut into the hillside by the monks. It is interesting that here we can see the original outer face of the wall, built in courses of flint with occasional lines of building stone, as here there was no outer limestone skin over the rubble core as can be seen in the south transept. The position of the Infirmary is now lost below the prison. The west wall of the Dormitory stretches down to the much-altered remains of the toilet block. Chestnut Walk between this and the Kennet was built up in Victorian times. Now the public wander where once was strictly private for the monks. But to be a monk or nun was not so uncommon, about one person in 250 lived this restricted life in mediaeval times and it had many advantages: -reliable meals, excellent health care, books, learning and music, and the fellowship and love of one's community.

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