From the Ridiculous to the Sublime...

[endlessrarities]

A return to Wenlock Priory now, and today I'm featuring the lavabo, an unusual feature which sits in the middle of the cloisters.  It would have been been used by the monks as a place for washing their hands prior to eating.  They're commonly found in monastic contexts across continental Europe, but are rare finds in the UK.

The current structure dates to 1220, and it reuses part of an earlier mid- to late- 12th century predecessor.  The original would have been a three-tiered structure arranged around a central upper cistern, which fed a trough equipped with sixteen spouts which discharged into a lower trough where the monks would wash.

The structure was once adorned with a number of carved panels, manufactured from a high quality local limestone known as 'Wenlock limestone'.  The subjects were suitably religious, featuring Christ and the apostles.  The panel below features John (the Evangelist, I presume - since he's looking suitably studious), and another unknown apostle:-

The other panel features Christ calling Peter and Andrew, who are on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, with James and John in another boat to the rear:-

The whole structure was buried beneath a mound of earth until 1878, when it was  excavated.  The original panels have been removed indoors to protect them from the ravages of the weather, so unfortunately these are replicas, but to me that seems a much better option than leaving the medieval versions out to slowly decay.