Page 21 - Illustrated Reditch History

A Beautiful Abbey For The Monks And Lay Brothers

The monks changed the landscape. They diverted the river and set about draining the
land. Where Sainsbury’s island now stands on the road to Birmingham, they excavated
a huge 15 acre lake. This was about the size of eight-and-a-half football pitches!

At first the monks and Lay Brothers lived in wooden buildings but it only took them
100 years to rebuild every building in stone. An enormous bank was thrown up all
round the edge of the abbey site and within this bank were the following buildings:
The Abbey. This was the most important of the buildings. Only the monks and Lay
Brothers were allowed to use it. After 200 years the abbey had been developed into a
magnificent stone building.
The Chapter House. All the monks met here every morning to hear readings from the
Bible or other religious books. There’s a beautiful Chapter House at Worcester Cathedral.

The Cloisters. Usually set round a quadrangle, they opened on to a courtyard. Only
the monks were allowed in the cloisters. This is where they read or wrote books. Again,
the cloisters at Worcester Cathedral are still there.

The Refectory. he Refectory was where the monks gathered to eat their meals. The
Lodging Houses where they lived, perhaps both the Lay Brothers and the monks, but
they would have been in separate parts of the house.

The Almonry. The Almoner looked after the sick and had a range of herbs to treat them.
He might have nursed the sick here or he could have lived here himself.

The fish ponds are still there, if you follow the path eastwards along the river Arrow
you will see long narrow strips full of water. These are the old fishponds.
A dovecote. The monks relied on doves for food especially in winter.
A Granary. This was where the wheat and other cereals would have been stored. This
building would have been high up on stilts so that rats could not to reach the grain.
Other buildings included a cemetery, a brewery, a bakery, cattle sheds, a dormitory,
and water mills. Despite many setbacks, including flooding and subsidence, the abbey
grew to be a home to 35 monks (including the
Abbot) plus 7 Lay Brothers, 17 serving men
and one Novice.

When it was finished, the Abbey looked
something like this.
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