Going Down The Drain...

[endlessrarities]

It's Medieval Drain time!  I think I'm the right person to present such a post since - according to the local press, at least - I'm an 'expert' (!) in Medieval Drains... 

The drains at Fountains Abbey are much like everything else there.  They're big.  Really big.  Really, really big!

Here's a view of some of them:-

 

Now, I've visited various medieval drains in my time (I still say that Paisley Abbey can boast the best!), and these have to be awarded an Award of Merit in the Biggest Medieval Drains Award.  And to show them in action, here's a view of the Infirmary, with a silted-up drain just visible underneath it.:-

 

The structure to the left in the background is the Laybrothers' Reredorter, which is the Posh Monastic Way of saying 'The Laybrothers' Toilet Block'.  Bearing in mind that the Laybrothers' Refectory housed as many as 200 diners, then you can imagine how much effluent must have been dumped into the River Skell by the inhabitants of Fountains Abbey,  In times when the river flow was sluggish, the smell must have been, well...  Unpleasant...

And a final appropriate image to finish things off:-
 

 

Comments

[jandersoncoats.livejournal.com]

That last picture reminds me of the bathroom in my first apartment. Only without the window.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Then it's not really very surprising that you write fiction set in medieval period, is it?? That bathroom must have left a lasting impression...

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

Given your interest in medieval sanitary arrangements can I share these beauties which are found on the town walls at Conwy.
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQps21RLbrmoMFawtsLdY4Ki6FvvZmK6PtlpnbQUCMeoyhEfLM&t=1&usg=__TDatoZ4i8k45mtWOXnIE7suipuY=

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! I'd clean forgotten them. I wonder if they double up as machicolations? Wait till the site is under seige then... "Gentlemen and Ladies... Await the order to empty chamberpots, and... Empty chamberpots now!!!

Conwy is amazing. I loved Plas Mawr to bits. I'd have taken it home, but a) I think they'd have missed it, and b) we would never have got it in the car.