York Guides

This lies to the west of the day-stairs, with a doorway from, the cloister. Its name describes its purpose, for in early days it was the only room in the monastery, except for the kitchens and infirmaries, where a fire was kept burning during the winter months so that the monks could restore circulation to their chilled limbs after hours spent in the cold of the cloister and the church. The Cistercians also used it for the periodical bleeding of the brethren for reasons of health.

The room has a fine ribbed vault springing from a central pier, and the whole of its east wall is taken up by two vast fireplaces. The northern one was later blocked and its chimney was dismantled, but the southern one remains intact, supported by a modern wooden frame, and it has a remarkable flat lintel of joggled stones with a span
of 16 ft. In the west wall there are two openings into the refectory to provide that room with a little borrowed heat, and the south wall has two acutely pointed archways the full height of the vault, leading into the yard beyond. The lower part of the eastern archway is grooved for boards or shutters, later replaced by a rough blocking wall, whilst the lower part of the western archway has a more carefully built wall with a doorway in it.