On a wintry December’s night in the year 1542, shivering monks scurried from their dormitory to the side door of the church as a bitter, icy wind sliced through the arches of the cloisters. It was 2am, the hour of the Matins prayers and the monks, blue with cold, lined up two by two, waiting for the sub prior to open the door. It was not heated inside the church but at least inside, they would be protected from the bitter wind.
It was singularly unusual for there to be no direct access from the monks’ first floor dormitory to the body of the church. Most monasteries had a night stair leading to the west nave, but here, the monks came down via a staircase to the far corner of the cloisters, which, although roofed over, were open at the sides, open to the chilling icy wind and driven rain a
