Passing through this noble gateway, which, somehow or other, does not
look as old as we know it to be, we enter the great quadrangle, around
which the various buildings are grouped. On the eastern side is the
Infirmary, with the Ambulatory beneath it, a long, low cloister of
sixteenth-century date, which extends along the whole side to the
church. In one of the rooms above, a window opens into the church, where
there may once have been a gallery to enable the infirm to hear the
services. In 1763 Bishop Hoadley granted a license to the Master to pull
down the cloister and use the materials for other purposes, but
fortunately this was never done. On the opposite side of the quadrangle
are the houses of the Brethren. Each dwelling consists of two rooms and
a pantry, and has a garden attached.
The Brethren's Hall stands on the north side of the quadrangle, and is
a portion only of the old "Hundred Mennes Hall"; but enough is left to
enable one to form a good idea of the original apartment, which measured
36 feet by 24 feet, until a portion was cut off to provide rooms for the
Master, who is now lodged in a modern dwelling outside the gates.
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