medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Paul Chandler wrote:
>
> Fr Tim Finigan is close to the Carthusians at Parkminster and has
> posted extensively about them on his blog <
> http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/search/label/Carthusians>,
> including a photo of the cemetery, where there seem to be no
> significant signs of digging or unusual tending; in fact the mowing
> seems a bit sub-standard.
I visited Parkminster about 10 years ago. The community was pitifully
small, and extremely elderly. The cloister is huge by medieval standards,
as are the "cells". Even the reconstructed cell at Mount Grace Charterhouse
is larger than my house - the cells at Parkminster are substantial Victorian
houses. The wood for chopping is for the wood-burning stoves - you can have
as much heat as you like (and hot water - the showers in the refurbished
cells looked comfortable) if you are prepared to chop the wood. Most of the
cloister garth is an apple orchard - used for making cider: one pint is the
standard issue per day. "And then there's the Chartreuse , of course!"
I don't know if there are any/many Lay Brothers, or just lay servants.
Substantial state help was required for repairs to the buildings. I was
most disappointed by the library. There was no computer catalogue, of
course, but the card catalogue looked inadequate. There was no sign of the
librarian (a layman), but we later found him praying in the chapel - whether
for a lost book, or for guidance on the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, I
was unable to determine.
John Briggs
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