Reading Abbey

The Monks at Rest: Community

The monks were clean-shaven and had the tonsure, the top of the head shaved of hair, as well. This shaving took place communally in the Cloister every week or fortnight and, apart from its religious significance, kept down the head lice which infected so many ordinary people. Throughout the year there was no heating in any of the communal area of the monastery except the Warming Room, probably situated below the Dormitory, where the monks might gather for half an hour a day and the usual rule of silence was relaxed to allow them some chat amongst themselves.

For monks who became ill or were growing old there was the Infirmary, to the south east of the Church, under the control of one of their number skilled in matters of health and disease, for the arts of medicine were specially nurtured in monasteries. Meat was allowed in the Infirmary to build up strength. A practice amongst the monks which we would consider strange was their regular attendance at the Infirmary every few months for blood-letting or phlebotomy, after which they rested for a few days.

Thus the days and weeks of the monks went by without outside interference to break the pattern. A protective wall with gates surrounded the Abbey, and visitors, pilgrims and trades people were usually allowed only into the large Forbury area leading to the Abbey Church. The Cloister, Chapter House and buildings where the monks carried out their daily life was protected by an inner wall and gate. Relatives were occasionally allowed into this conventual area to meet and talk with a monk, and he was allowed occasional holidays with relatives. Some servants of the monastery came here too, for building maintenance, staffing the kitchen, attending to the laundry and so on. It is possible that some monks at Reading, as is known from Cluny and some other monasteries of the time in Britain, lived in more extreme isolation in individual cells as hermits.

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