. The English Dominicans. ging and crowded homes of theseearlier sons of St. Dominic. The outward appearance of such a priory would have beenlargely hidden from a visitor by a considerable precinct, en-closed by a high stone wall, pierced by gates. This largerenclosure circled the whole site, and marked oflf completelythe actual boundary of the religious establishment. Sometimesit appears to have been so large in extent as to have includedwithin it the cemetery; but ordinarily this would have beenoutside the precinct. Within this wider limit would be asmaller and stricter enclosure, which cons
. The English Dominicans. ging and crowded homes of theseearlier sons of St. Dominic. The outward appearance of such a priory would have beenlargely hidden from a visitor by a considerable precinct, en-closed by a high stone wall, pierced by gates. This largerenclosure circled the whole site, and marked oflf completelythe actual boundary of the religious establishment. Sometimesit appears to have been so large in extent as to have includedwithin it the cemetery; but ordinarily this would have beenoutside the precinct. Within this wider limit would be asmaller and stricter enclosure, which consisted simply of themonastic buildings pure and simple, even to the exclusion ofthe guest house, where in the more important priories evenwomen were sometimes lodged. This narrower enclosure had,by canonical decree, but one entrance and exit, so that eachwho came and went would have to pass the scrutiny of thebrother porter. His dwelling was a cell by the south-westcorner of the church, so constructed that he could from 2+. m&k [To face p. 24 Zbc priory 25 his place of daily work attend to such callers as rang atthe bell and yet witness the various functions and ceremoniesin the church, for though not destined to say the DivineOffice in choir, being what is called a lay-brother, he had tobe present at Mass, Compline, and the greater liturgicaloffices, as part of the effective expression of the Dominicanspirit. Afterthedissolution part of the Ludgate Blackfriarswasgranted to Lord Cobham, and in the deed mention is made of a certain window called the Closet-window looking* out intothe Church there. ^ This was evidently the look-out from theporters cell. In Ludgate, too, a long corridor ran down fromhis cell to the gate, which gave on to the road, so that he hada corridor of about fifty feet along which to pass to answerthe bell.^ At Ipswich, in 1746, there still remained a consider-able passage across an open space between the precinct walland what had been the porters lodge, for
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectdominicans, bookyear1
