York Guides

The southern twelve bays of the range were the refectory of the lay-brothers, entered in the eleventh bay of the west wall by an archway opposite the foot of their day-stairs. In the east wall of the same bay there was a service hatch from the kitchen, blocked after the lay-brothers had ceased to be a significant force in the life of the abbey, and in the twelfth bay of the west wall what now appears to be a round-headed doorway was a cupboard recess. These two bays formed a service or 'screens' end, and the refectory proper occupied the southern ten bays, making it appreciably longer although not as wide as the refectory of the monks.