Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Although the monks spent a considerable amount of time praying and performing services in the church, the rest of their day would have been spent around the cloister. It formed the main living area, and gave access to all the main buildings of the Abbey.

Monument Types

• CLOISTER (Medieval - 1099 AD to 1276 AD)

Full description

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The cloister was laid out as part of Abbot Scotland's total replanning of the Abbey in the 1070's, although most of the construction of the domestic buildings was carried out during the Abbacy of Hugh of Fleury (1099-1124). The cloister reached its final form when it was rebuilt under Abbot Thorne in c. 1276. The cloister is roughly square measuring some 122 feet by 117 feet, and comprised a garth or garden, surrounded by covered alleys enclosed by an open or partially-glazed arcade.

Although the monks spent a considerable amount of time praying and performing services in the church, the rest of their day would have been spent around the cloister. It formed the main living area, and gave access to all the main buildings of the Abbey.

Tatton-Brown, T., 1985, Three Great Benedictine Houses in Kent: Their Buildings & Topography (Article in serial). SKE8094.

Sherlock, D. & Woods, B. A., 1988, St. Augustine's Abbey: Report on Excavations, 1960-78 (Monograph). SKE30287.

Roebuck, J., 2002, St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury (Monograph). SKE30293.

Sources and further reading