Cistercian Cloisters in England and Wales Part I: Essay

Abstract

This paper and its companion on Cistercian cloister arcades brings together a number of reconstruction studies produced over many years of research. Each cloister is worthy of a paper in its own right, but lack of space here permits only a summary presentation in the form of a series of reconstruction drawings. A brief commentary is given on the form and detail of each reconstruction. Mention is also made of other surviving cloister fragments, but the paper is not exhaustive and some examples have doubtless escaped notice. The form of presentation adopted below does at least have the advantage of bringing together for the first time a selection of reconstructions that make clear the diversity of design and decoration of 12th- and 13th-century cloister arcades throughout England, Wales and Scotland.