Cellarage
Cellarage is an ecclesiastical name for the store chambers of the cellarer or house- steward, such as were formed under the refectory at Kirkham and Lewes; under the guest-hall at Chester; but more usually below the dormitory. It commonly was divided longitudinally into two alleys by a range of pillars, and laterally by wooden screens, into separate rooms. At Fountains one enormous range on the western side of the cloister was filled with wool, with which the Cistercians supplied the market at the convent. At Chester, a similar vaulted space was stocked with fish, which the abbey boats brought up the Dee. At Durham, it was divided into various apartments, and devoted to many uses. The substructure of the refectory contained the food, and that of the dormitory the materials for furniture and clothing. At Canterbury, in the western range of vaults were the beer and wine cellars; and at the north end, as at the Charter-house, the turn remains in the wall — an oblique opening through which the cup of wine asked for by a weary monk was passed to him. At Battle Abbey two magnificent specimens remain; one under the guest-house, and the other on the west side of the cloisters, as at Beaulieu, where a wall divides it from the cloisters.
