Cloister Passage - Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK
N 51° 41.290 W 000° 00.147
30U E 707188 N 5730610
This 12th century vaulted passage is one of the remains of Waltham Abbey.
Waymark Code: WMJB27
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/22/2013
Views: 2
There are two markers for the Cloister Passage: the older one that is
attached to a wall and a more modern information table set a few metres from the
passage and free standing.
The wall-mounted plaque reads:
Waltham Abbey
Cloister Entry
This vaulted passage of late
12th century date formed an
entry to the cloister of the
Abbey through the northern
range of claustral buildings
The information table tells us:
The Cloister Passage
What came to be known as The Midnight Chapel is in fact an entrance to the
cloisters which were part of the 12th century abbey. In the 1930s it was
used by local farmers as a potato store. It is possible that it may have
been put to a similar use by the Denny family when they lived at Abbey
House. If you look up to the left hand side of the doorway you can still see
remnants of the stairway which the canons would have used to come down from
the dorter (sleeping quarters) to the cloisters. If you look inside you will
see the vaulted ceiling which is typical of the Gothic architecture in the
12th century.