IN a very special sense the cloister was the home of the monk. It was the secluded centre of his daily life, communicating directly with the church and the other chief buildings, and forming, in at least one of its walks, the place of literary study.

The cloister was placed on the south side of the nave of the church to secure the maximum of sunshine. Occasionally the proximity of a road, or some other local cause, made it desirable, for reasons of privacy, that the cloister should be on the north side: notable examples are Canterbury (Christ Church) and Chester. At Waltham the unusual position was chosen of the north side of the quire. There were four covered walks, usually of about the same length and at right angles to one another. Up to the thirteenth century at least the roofs were supported on open arches, as may be seen in the Norman drawing of Canterbury, now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge: there are no extensive remains of an English cloister of this period. In the later Middle Ages glazed windows became the rule instead of open arches. The cloister garth in the centre was covered with grass.

All the walks were passages, but they had other uses as well. At Durham the east and south “alleys” were used for the ceremonies of Maundy Thursday.