if she wished, with a linen kerchief (mitra) dyed black and furred with lamb's wool. All headgear was to be black and thick, as were also their veils.

The nuns received holy water and the pax (lapis pacis) "ad fenestram," and probably by means of the same window the nuns were communicated. The nuns were not allowed to sing in church or to talk Latin.

On fourteen occasions during the year a solemn procession was made round the nuns' cloister in this order: first, the bearer of the holy water; then the cross-bearer and taperers, followed by the censer-bearer; then the deacon carrying the Gospel book and relics, with the rest of the canons, the novices going first. After them came the seculars, if there were any. The lay brethren followed, the seniors going first, except two old men who came after the novices. Then came the præpositae of the nuns, followed by the rest in order of seniority; then the sisters after the novices, and then the novices of the sisters. Two elderly sisters, not veiled, brought up the rear. During the procession, doors constructed between the altar of the nuns and themselves were closed during the passage of the men, lest they should see or be seen by the nuns in passing. Similarly veils were placed across the four corners of the cloister, and curtains were extended by rings along the sides of the cloister, so that none could see across.

The nuns kept cloister and chapter as in other Orders. There was a guest-house for women within the nuns' court, with an oratory or chapel in it for the use of the inmates.

The Statutes end with a direction " De Numero Sanctimonialium fratrum et sororum " allowed to each house. At Watton the brethren were not to exceed 70, nor the nuns and sisters 140. These are the highest numbers, those of Sempringham being 60 and 120, and Chicksands 55 and 120. Watton was, therefore, the largest house of the Order. It is clear that nuns and canons lived in distinct houses, separated by a considerable interval, each containing its own cloister, church, chapterhouse, dorter, frater, guest-house, infirmary, etc. The two houses were probably connected by a corridor or gallery in which was the domus fenestrae. The nuns'

church was the principal one, and had separate accommodation for both sexes.

The Gilbertine monasteries in England, according to Dugdale,1 were twenty-six in number. Of these eleven were in Lincolnshire, five in Yorkshire, three in Cambridgeshire, and two in Wiltshire; while Bedfordshire, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire contained each one. Only half the number began with nuns and canons, the other half being apparently houses of canons only. At the Suppression only three surrenders were signed by nuns and canons, those of Chicksands (Beds.), Watton (Yorks.), and Shouldham (Norf.).2

Apart from such information as could be derived from the Statutes, nothing was known until lately of the actual arrangement of a Gilbertine monastery, or the disposition of its cloisters and buildings. Of Sempringham nothing is left but part of the parish church. At Malton some of the monastic buildings exist in and beneath a modern-looking house, and the greater part of the nave of a considerable church is standing and in use, but its plan presents nothing unusual. At Chicksands part of a late cloister remains, together with the western range, incorporated in a modern mansion, but there is not enough to show whether we have here part of the nuns' or the canons' buildings. With the exception of an interesting block at Watton, there does not seem to be anything of importance on the site of any other Gilbertine priory.

Shortly after the formation of the East Riding Antiquarian Society in 1892, a project was brought forward for excavating the site of Watton Priory. The chief reasons for this were threefold. In the first place, it seemed probable that as Watton had remained a double house from its foundation to its suppression, its ground plan would illustrate the peculiar arrangements of the Order. In the second place, the site was temptingly free and open, and the only buildings on it had evidently formed part of the monastery. And in the third place,

*iv.

1 Monasticon Anglicanum, vi. part ii.

Miss Rose Graham has pointed out to me that nuns as well as canons appear

also in the pension lists of the priories of Alvingham, Bullington, Cattley, Haverholme, Sempringham, and Six. hills.

the discovery, in the Public Record Office, of a survey taken at the Suppression, which enumerated various buildings and their dimensions, promised to afford useful information during the progress of the work.

By the kind permission of the owner, Mr. William Bethell, and of Mr. Richard Beckitt, the tenant of the Abbey," as it is now called, excavations were begun in September, 1893, under the direction of the writer and the Rev. Dr. Cox, in the pasture west of the present house, where the irregularities of the ground promised good results. The excavations soon brought to light the foundations of the priory church and the site of a cloister, but the further elucidation of the plan had to be postponed until the next year. In September, 1894, the church was further explored, as well as the buildings surrounding the cloister adjoining it, but no traces could be found of a second cloister, or any other group of buildings. Some additional excavations made by the writer the following Easter led to the tracing of certain walled enclosures east of the cloister, and a few other details, but the other buildings still remained undiscovered. The interest attaching to the search was enhanced by the fact that it had been noticed, on comparing the survey with the plan, that the dimensions therein given did not in any way correspond to those of the buildings already laid bare, and that it must refer to the missing cloister. As the outcome of a more careful consideration of the plan, the site, and the existing buildings, a final search was made in Whitsun week, 1898, to the north of the present house, and here the long sought for cloister was successfully traced, together with the remains of the buildings that surrounded it.

Many of the buildings uncovered were unfortunately reduced to mere foundations, and in places even these had been destroyed. The chalk of which the walls were largely constructed had been burnt for lime, and most of the ashlar work had been torn out from the doorways and other places. Owing to the scarcity of building material in the district, as much as possible of the wrought and moulded stonework had been removed, and in consequence it is difficult to assign dates to many parts of the buildings. So much as could be made out