Cloisters, when we visit them today, are usually quiet beautiful places whose users, monks or nuns, were cloistered from society leading lives of devotion. John McNeill, in his talk on the medieval cloister, pointed out the many other uses of the cloister. I now feel that they must been a hive of activity of all kinds and a place where monks or nuns met and talked (even if they had to use sign language!).

Cloisters very probably derived from the atrium of the Roman villa or house, where the various rooms of the house had access to each other via the central courtyard and garden. Cloisters, in a religious community, were usually situated to the south of the church (in Italy, because of the fierce sun, they were sometimes sited on the north side to take advantage of the shade of the Nave).

Here, via four covered passages, looking inward onto probably a herb filled garden with gravelled walkways, monks had access to the various rooms or areas they needed. These included dormitories, usually situated near the church for easy stair access to the church at night for services, a refectory, often on the south side, with a kitchen nearby, a chapter house, a warming room, a scriptorium and a library. Attached, or near to, the cloister were also guest houses and areas for nursing the sick. These we have seen on visits to cloisters but what surprised us most was to hear that the cloister area was also used for washing, (often a lavabo was situated in the cloister), washing and drying clothes, hair cutting, gardening, reading teaching, exercising, and most important, communicating with one another.

John showed us numerous views of all kinds and types of cloister, from living ones like that of St Martin de Canigou, high in the Pyrennees, to the more elaborate and beautiful cloisters of Moissac, France, and Santa Creus, Catalonia.

We have always been aware of the beauty and variety of cloisters. After this talk we can people them with monks who, as well as fulfilling the spiritual demand and duties of their calling, engaged in normal day to day living and activities within them.

Joan Samuel