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I Location

II General Description

The Bishop's House was formerly the Deanery, a house built into the former Great Hall of the monastery. Residence was transferred from the Dean to the Bishop in 1941. The oldest part of the building is its 13thc. vaulted undercroft, but the Bishop's rose garden, to the NE of the house includes the 12thc. remains of the Monks' kitchen. This is thought to have been a square structure vaulted in nine bays; the central bay, supported on four piers carrying a lantern or louvre. Most of the S and W walls survive, each with a pair of heavy vault responds carrying scallop capitals, and the remains of windows surviving between the responds.

III Exterior Features

2. Windows

Only the interior faces survive.

(i) S wall, E bay

As C bay, only the W jamb of the first order and the W capital and arch springing of the second survive.

(ii) S wall, C bay

Round-headed, two orders, the first continuous and splayed with an angle roll. The second had en-delit nook-shafts, now lost, supporting plain bell capitals with roll neckings and hollow chamfered imposts. The arch is plain and square in section.

(iii) S wall, W bay

As C bay but of the second order only the E capital and arch springing survive. The window is not blocked and retains its full splay.

(iv) W wall, S bay

Presumably as (ii) above. Blocking has obliterated the entire first order, and a window has been inserted which necessitated the removal of the S part of the arch, its capital and the upper part of the jamb. What survives is the N jamb, its capital and the northern part of the second order arch.

(v) W wall, C bay

Presumably as (ii) above. Blocking is practically flush with the wall surface, so that the outline of the second order remains but neither of its capitals.

(vi) W wall, N bay

As (ii) above. The S jamb with capital and part of the arch survive in both orders.

IV Interior Features

4. Vaulting/Roof supports

d. Other

(i) W and S wall, responds

What survives are the two responds on each wall and their capitals. In form each consists of a coursed half column flanked by slender coursed slightly keeled nook shafts. Bases where they survive are attic. Each half column is topped with a capital for a flat transverse rib, and the flanking nook shafts have capitals for the diagonal ribs or groins. The half-column capitals have three scallops on the main face and two on each side face, with wedges between the scallops. Those of the S wall have a vertical groove in the central scallop of the main face. The nook shaft capitals have a single scallop on the front face and a double scallop on the side face, again with wedges between the scallops. Neckings are chamfered and imposts hollow chamfered.

VII History

Nothing is recorded about the history of the Monks' Kitchen. Ladds (1930), 25 suggests that it might be the work of Prior Tombert, who is said to have improved the buildings of the monastery (Wharton (1691), I, 683). This would place it between 1144 and 1154.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Ladds's dating seems too early, especially in view of the form of the window capitals and the keeled vault shafts. The general air of austerity probably had more to do with the utilitarian purpose of the place than with its date. Pevsner confines himself to the century, but for the present author the third quarter seem more likely than the second.

IX Bibliography