The sacristy entered from the south side of the choir by a door having a
semi-elliptic arch, and mouldings and bases corresponding with those of
the choir (see Fig. 815). This doorway also led to a wheel stair, which
conducted to the scriptorium and library on the upper floor, and,
through them, to the dormitory. The ancient south transept was wider
than the present sacristy which occupies its site, as was disclosed by
the excavations above mentioned. The sacristy and the chapter house
adjoining are the best preserved parts of the edifice. They are both
elegantly vaulted, and lighted with windows, the tracery of which is
partly preserved (Fig. 821). The corbels (Fig. 822) which carry the ribs
of the sacristy vaults are carved in a quaint and rather debased style,
and point to a late date. The vaulting of the sacristy (see Fig. 814) is
peculiar, the ribs being arranged in the sexpartite form. The apartment
is considerably longer than it is wide; and the usual method of vaulting
such an apartment would be to divide it into two bays, each bay having
the usual cross ribs; but here the whole is vaulted in one bay, having
six ribs. This arrangement makes the axes of the side vaults oblique,
and produces the effect of twisting in the four side spaces of the
vaults towards the centre. The vaulting here, being wider than that of
the chapter house, rises higher, and thus rendered the floor of the
scriptorium above it higher than that of the library over the chapter
house, and necessitated some steps in the passages from the dormitory to
the church. The opening to the sacristy from the choir is recent, this
position having formerly been occupied by an altar platform, believed to
have been erected in honour of Robert III. in 1404. The position of the
high altar is still distinctly marked, being placed against a detached
wall carried across the apse, and provided with a small door for access
to the space behind. The three steps leading up to the east end are also
discoverable, and each step is beaded on the edge (see Fig. 815). A
plain doorway, with a drop arch, leads from the south-west angle of the
choir to the east walk of the cloister (see Fig. 819). Only the
foundations of the outer wall of the cloister walks are now traceable.
This, no doubt, carried pillars and arches (or wooden posts), on which
the wooden roof of the cloister walks rested. There may have been stone
piers
[Illustration: FIG. 821.--Crosraguel Abbey. East Side of Chapter House
and Sacristy.]
[Illustration: FIG. 822.--Crosraguel Abbey. Corbels in Sacristy.]
at the angles and at intervals; the springing of a diagonal arch
survives in the north-west angle. A well exists in the centre of the
cloister garth, with stone steps leading down to it. The chapter house
enters by a doorway only, without side windows, from the east alley (see
Fig. 819). The jambs and pointed arch are moulded, but there are no
caps. The chapter house is square, and has a central pillar, which
carries fine vaulting (Fig. 823). The vaulting is divided into four
square bays, each with cross ribs, resting on the central pillar and on
responds against the walls, which have bases set on the stone bench. The
bosses have been carved with coats of arms, now obliterated. One of them
has a mitre; another shows indications of an apsidal building. The
abbot’s seat occupies the centre of the east side, between the two
windows; and a stone bench is carried round the walls.
The upper floor, which still survives, above the chapter house and
sacristy (see Figs. 819 and 820) contained the scriptorium and library,
the latter having had a good mullioned window, overlooking the cloister,
now nearly destroyed. Following the ruins which continue the east side
of the cloister southwards, we come first to a vaulted chamber, which
may have been a parlour; then to the slype leading to the eastern garth,
which has a stone bench on each side, and is covered with a segmental
barrel vault. Beyond this are vaulted ruins of an indeterminate
character. On the south side of the cloister garth are the refectory and
part of the buttery, with a hatch which led from the one to the other.
Between these apartments a wide scale staircase formed the day access to
the dormitories above. This range of buildings is evidently of late
date, and may have been the work of Abbot Gilbert M‘Brayar, above
referred to. The refectory has been covered with a barrel vault, and had
a fireplace in the north wall. The windows in the south wall are low,
horizontal openings. The west side of the cloister is believed to have
contained a large common room, but it is now much ruined; the pointed
doorway at the north end, however, still remains.
The eastern courtyard is triangular in form. The ruin on the east side
is probably a fragment of the infirmary. On the south side is a range of
ruined vaults, over which was probably the abbot’s hall. At the
south-east angle stand the ruins of what was the abbot’s keep, or place
of strength, erected apparently in the sixteenth century. It is of the
ordinary form of the lay keeps of the period, having thick walls, with
chambers formed in their thickness and a corbelled parapet for defence.
It no doubt communicated with the abbot’s hall adjoining. It is built
over the stream which bounds the convent on the south, and passes under
the lower story, where it had an archway, grated at each end. The
principal floor contains a good fireplace, with ambry adjoining, and a
small stair leading to the water below. The upper floors contained the
usual bedrooms, one of which still shows the remains of a carved
fireplace. The
[Illustration: FIG. 823.--Crosraguel Abbey. Chapter House, looking
North-West.]
north and east walls are demolished. The south and west walls are quite
plain. Some of the corbels of the parapet, however, still survive.
The south-west courtyard is of considerable extent, and contained a
number of domestic offices, such as bakehouse, brewhouse, &c. A
picturesque gatehouse gives entrance to the monastery through this
courtyard, and strangers’ apartments are provided in the upper
floors.[155] The pigeon house is also a well preserved example of that
common class of structure.
The ruins seem for a long period to have formed a convenient quarry for
the district, but they were put in good order about fifty years ago by
the Kilkerran family, and are now well preserved and cared for.