On the contrary,
nothing is more common in the monastic annals than the notices of how
this and that tower fell down, and how this and that choir was
falling into ruins, and how this or that abbot got into debt by his
mania for building. There was an everlasting tinkering going on at
the church; and the surest token that a monastery was in a bad way
was that its church was in a shabby condition.
The church was, almost invariably, built in the form of a cross,
facing east and west, the long limb of the cross being called the
nave, the cross limbs being called the transepts, and the shorter
limb, or head of the cross, being called the choir. The choir, as a
rule, was occupied exclusively by the monks or nuns of the monastery.
The servants, workpeople, and casual visitors who came to worship
were not admitted into the choir; _they_ were supposed to be
present only on sufferance. The church was built for the use of the
monks; it was _their_ private place of worship.
Almost as essential to the idea of a monastery as the church was the
cloister or great quadrangle, inclosed on all sides by the high walls
of the monastic buildings. Its usual position was on the south of the
church, to gain as much of the sun's rays as possible, and to insure
protection from the northerly and easterly winds in the bitter
season.
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