The Changing Monastic Cloister: Excavations in the South Range of Bordesley Abbey

Abstract

Excavations in the south range of the cloister of Bordesley Abbey have produced an unusual sequence. The construction scheme of the buildings to the south of the cloister arcade—centring on the refectory and kitchen—was piecemeal and took over two hundred years, from the later twelfth to early sixteenth centuries. At an early stage the range included timber (which may have been part of the original temporary structures) and stone buildings. In the fifteenth century there was a major change of use: the refectory became a workshop and dumping area while the kitchen was used for non-ferrous metalworking: these activities probably continued to the Dissolution. The implications of the excavations are considered in the context of the development of the cloister and then the precinct. The important evidence for adaptation and innovation is discussed in the light of work elsewhere in order to argue that the results have a relevance for other Cistercian houses and monasteries in general.