Yes, the Cistercians were good hydraulic engineers. They did some elaborate
and cunning work at Byland (North Yorkshire), some of which is still in use
(an aqueduct supplying the fish-pond at Newburgh (Augustinians). This was
supply and fish-storage rather than drainage.
See J. McDonnell and Dom M.R.Everest 0SB, 'The Waterworks of Byland Abbey'
in the *Ryedale Historian* 1 (1965) 32-38
If you can't see that far, reply off-line and I can send an attached
transcription.
Anselm Cramer OSB
Ampleforth Abbey, York
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Crockett <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 14 July 1999 15:00
Subject: lime pits and nuns
>Jim Bugslag wrote:
>
>
>>Attempts were made to locate the monastic buildings close to a stream, and
>sometimes a channel was dug under the reredorter...From
>the 12th century onwards, many monasteries were piping in water
>supplies, sometimes from great distances...(cf the surviving
>12th-century water tower at Canterbury Cathedral Priory, and the
>plumbing map of the precinct slipped into the Eadwine Psalter).
>
>
>I've never seen any French maps of the spectacular sort from C'bury or
>the E.P. (perhaps the French just "winged it": "Hey, Pierre, dig here."),
but
>a few years ago Terryl Kinder, resident expert at the Zoo on
>Pontigny, gave a couple of typically riveting papers on the rather
extensive
>and elaborate aquatic constructions which she had unearthed at various
>Cistercian sites.
>
>It seems that the Cistercians, at least, were quite adept at hydrological
>engineering, from flood control in areas prone to flash flooding to
re-routing
>and storage in arid areas, and, of course, "simply" getting water into the
>living areas (it seems that most every house had a--sometimes quite
>large--lavabo with running water).
>
>Ashamed to say, I do not know whether she published her work on this--if
she
>did, it is probably in the periodical Cteaux (which she also edits,
>I believe); and she may have made reference to this subterranean stuff in
her
>recent _L'Europe cistercienne_ (in the Zodiac series "Formes de la nuit"),
>which I also have not seen.
>
>Best from here,
>
>Christopher
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>____________________________________________________________________
>Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at
http://webmail.netscape.com.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|