Plumbing in Monasteries
Magistra Rosemounde of Mercia (copyright MicaelaBurnham 2011)
Bibliography
Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water-Closet, Lawrence Wright (1960), ISBN 0-141-39035-2
Art and Architecture in Medieval France, Whitney S. Stoddard (1972), ISBN 06-430022-6
Europe in the Central Middle Ages 962-1154, Christopher Brooke (1979 ed.), ISBN 0582-48476-6
Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization, W. Hodding Carter (2006), ISBN 0-7434-7408-2
A Monk’s Confession: The Memoirs of Guibert of Nogent (1055-1123), Paul J. Archambautt, trans., ISBN 0-271-01482-2
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, Bede, or Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People from Dark Ages Britain: Some Sources of History, Henry Marsh (1970), ISBN 0-88029-156-7
Magistra Rosemounde of Mercia (copyright MicaelaBurnham 2011)
- Where did monastery plumbing come from?
- In many ways, the monasteries kept Roman plumbing alive through the “Dark Ages,” or Age of Migrations as we call it today.
- The design for most monasteries up to the 14th cent. Was based on the “Carta Caritatis” which may have dated to the 6th cent. C.E. This design was made for efficiency and minimal waste. Also, in early periods, monasteries were expected to be separate from the rest of the world, and thus, self-sufficient.
- The plumbing in the monasteries built according to this plan harkened back to the Romans; the conduits, drainage systems, and water supply systems were quite like their Roman equivalents.
- However by the 12th century, technology began to advance past what the Romans had used. But before we go further, let us first look at the history of plumbing, and bathing.
- History of plumbing and bathing
- Bathing, washing, and waste elimination are cultural as much as technological. The Romans didn’t have massive bath houses because they had the technology to build them. They developed the technology because bathing was an important social event in their culture. Cleanliness is not always the main goal. Socializing, relaxing, even demonstrating one’s social status might be just as important. Also, the health benefits of regular washing were well known from very early times, though not the reasons. “Sanitas” means health. There are also religious taboos that require washing or refraining from washing; ablutions to remove spiritual taint, for instance. Washing after childbirth, washing the dead, washing before praying. When Jesus was ordered to be crucified, what did Pilate do? He washed his hands. Privacy is another cultural issue. It has only been since the 19th century that bathing and elimination functions have been considered something that should be done in private. This trend started in Europe and has spread, though many cultures today still do not have this stricture.
- Early plumbing
- The Chinese had plumbing with bamboo pipes in 4000 B.C.E.
- By 2000 B.C.E. the Harappan civilization of the Indus valley had plumbing systems that rivaled those of the Romans. In the major city of Mohenjodaro, every house within the city had indoor plumbing including a latrine that emptied into city wide drains, and a bath tub waterproofed with gypsum.
- In ancient Crete, the Minoans had great skill in sanitary engineering and hydraulics. The developed terra cotta pipes whose design prevented sediment build up. They had latrines with wooden seats and a pan below that was flushed out into drains with a raised reservoir of water, remarkably similar to modern toilets. Their bathtubs were also similar in design to the footed tubs still used today. They also had public baths, and ducts that brought water into buildings.
- In ancient Europe, drains have been found in Neolithic stone huts dating to 1700 B.C.E.
- In ancient Egypt, where water was scarcer, bath tubs were reserved for the rich, but public latrines were available. They were generally built over a cesspit.
- Roman plumbing
- Romans were the masters of water engineering on a massive scale. Rome itself was supplied with water by 13 aqueducts that brought fresh water from the mountains. By the 4th cent. C.E. Rome had 11 public baths, 1352 public fountains and cisterns, 856 private baths, and about 300 public water flushed latrines. The baths of Caracalla were 6 times the size of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and could accommodate 1600 bathers at one time. Public baths’ water was heated by boilers in the basement, and the steam from these was channeled to heat the floors in the warm and hot rooms.
- “Plumb” means lead, and the Romans were the first to use lead pipes extensively for moving water. They were aware of the dangers of lead—Pliny the Elder wrote about it, and plumbers, or plumbarius, considered lead poisoning to be an occupational hazard.
- Back to the Monasteries
- Washing, bathing, and waste elimination were considered necessary for health reasons in the monasteries. Indeed, many saints were lauded for their failure to bath, not because this was holy in itself, but because it was a mortification of the flesh—the giving up of something that makes one more comfortable and promotes health. Not bathing was also given as a penance. By the time of Pope Gregory the Great, most monks were expected to bathe weekly.
- Most monasteries had a room with a plain wooden tub or tubs for bathing, often near the infirmary. Only one fixed monastic bath is known. It was in Kirkstall Abbey, a 13th cent. abbey. It is a sunken stone chamber in the courtyard with steps descending into it. It was fed by a lead pipe and emptied by a drain with a removable plug. A “lavabo,” “laver,” or washroom, was generally placed alongside the cloister near the refectory so the monks could wash their hands before and after eating. There could be multiple lavers in the monastery depending on the size and number of souls living there. Latrines that emptied into a drain that was washed out with the waste water from the rest of the monastery were found at the end of the plumbing system.
- The Cistercians were at the forefront of plumbing technology in their abbeys and monasteries. Clairvaux Abbey was a prototype of the Cistercian plan, though large, with as many as many as 700 residents. It was built near a river, and water was channeled for use in the abbey. The river current itself provided the water pressure. The water first went to the grain mill, then to a boiler room where ale was made, and to the fulling mill, and on to the tannery. After this it was divided with many smaller conduits that went to the kitchens, the washrooms, and to smaller shops where necessaries were made. Finally, all the water was channeled into the drains that ran below the latrines before it was returned to the river. A similar Cistercian Abbey is Fontenay Abbey in Burgundy, finished in 1147.
- One of the largest improvements in this period was the extensive use of water mills to do many kinds of work. Although the Romans had water mills, they were not as efficient as manual labor for many tasks. The monasteries needed to many things with few people, and improved the machinery in the mills to efficiently do a great many tasks.
- Christchurch Monastery at Canterbury built in 1150 was also built near a river. Close to the river was a round tower that was the conduit house from which underground lead pipes carried water through 5 settling tanks to remove sediment and other impurities, each with a vent to control pressure. From the settling tanks the pipes took the water into the monastery proper where it first went to fill the large tank of the laver, or wash room. The water in the lavers had no shut off valves, but trickled continuously into the basins and then down the drains. Two pipes went from here; one to the scullery, kitchens, and refectory, and the other to the bake house, brew house, and guest hall, then to the infirmary. The water then ran into a fish pond and the prior’s tank, a large storage tank of water where water from the roof gutters and the remaining waste water joined. From there the strong current flowed through the drains under the latrines. There were also pipe branches called “purgateria” that were used for flushing out pipes to prevent clogging. There was also a well with a storage tank next to it, which was used to store water in times of drought. Interestingly, the residents of this monastery were completely spared by the black plague that devastated the rest of the area in 1349.
- Who took case of all this plumbing?
- For anything major, like a pipe break or a major leak, a plumber would be called in if the monastery did not have a monk trained in those arts.
- For regular maintenance we would look to the Chamberlain. The chamberlain was responsible for keeping the bath house, lavers, and latrines sweet smelling with sweet hay and herbs for the floors. He provided for the purchase or manufacture and maintenance of the oval oak or walnut bath tubs. Towels, soap, and supplies for head shaving were provided and kept fresh by him. He also made sure that there was sufficient wood to heat water for bathing and for the “calefactory,” or warming room, used for the sick and others in cold weather. The regular purging of pipes was probably supervised by him, if there was no resident plumber.
- Conclusion
- As we have seen, sophisticated plumbing has been known for a very long time.
- And although Europe was greatly disrupted by the migrations of the 5th-10th centuries C.E., the plumbing of Rome was kept alive and improved upon by the monks and nuns of the religious orders.
Bibliography
Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water-Closet, Lawrence Wright (1960), ISBN 0-141-39035-2
Art and Architecture in Medieval France, Whitney S. Stoddard (1972), ISBN 06-430022-6
Europe in the Central Middle Ages 962-1154, Christopher Brooke (1979 ed.), ISBN 0582-48476-6
Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization, W. Hodding Carter (2006), ISBN 0-7434-7408-2
A Monk’s Confession: The Memoirs of Guibert of Nogent (1055-1123), Paul J. Archambautt, trans., ISBN 0-271-01482-2
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, Bede, or Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People from Dark Ages Britain: Some Sources of History, Henry Marsh (1970), ISBN 0-88029-156-7