The Abbot: Luxury and Leisure
All these responsibilities could only be carried out, of course, by delegation. Inside the monastery was a team of monks with special duties, termed Obedientiaries. The Prior acted for the Abbot when he was away, the Sacrist was in charge of the fabric of the Church, visitors and pilgrims were looked after by the Hospitaller, money matters were dealt with by the Treasurer, the Larderer made sure that there were sufficient supplies of food for the monks and their guests, the Cellarer was responsible for their drink and so on. The Abbot's bailiffs collected taxes in the town and estate managers reported to the Abbot for the outlying properties.
As befitted his status and the guests he had to entertain, the Abbot had his own House beside the Inner Gateway and within the conventual area where the monks lived. Here there were sumptuous guest rooms for important people, including the king and queen when they visited, and we can imagine the arrival of the royal court doubling the number of people in the Abbey although most would stay in the town. The Abbot also had a country house at Bere Court near Pangbourne and a deer park at Whitley.
His travels and his many visitors meant that a great number of horses had to be looked after. The Stables of the Abbey stood by the South Gate alongside the Holy Brook and measured over 50 metres in length and 8 metres wide. Its walls were built in flint with high-set windows and the entrance at the west end by the Gate. We can estimate that over 50 horses could be accommodated there.
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Voussoir from Abbey cloisters, showing bearded head. As
with much of the fine limestone used for decoration at
Reading this stone had been brought all the way from Caen, in
Normandy, when the Abbey was built in the twelfth century.
(1992.23.1)
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