leedsmuseumsThis small room was used as a library, it may seem tiny but books were rare and took a long time to produce, a decorated bible could take one monk 3 years to produce by hand.
Bibles and other religious works were written on specially prepared calf skin called vellum and inks were produced by the monks in the abbey, some monks would have their own special recipes to produce different colours using natural ingredients such as plant and vegetable extracts, soot and metals mixed with egg white for shine and depth of colour. Precious stone such as lapis lazuli were used to make inks and for decoration as was real gold particularly for the production of bibles.
Because books were so time consuming to produce they were rare and precious, and they were kept very carefully. Medieval monasteries invented the library system for cataloguing and signing out books. Some books would be too precious to be kept in the library and would have been locked away separately.
The Victorians used the library as a grotto or summer house, they added the fireplace and lined the walls and roof with lead which gives the room its green tinge. The soft metal also made this room easy to graffiti and there are lots of names scratched into the walls probably in Victorian times.
Walk through the archway into the church. A punishment for pride was to lie in this doorway and let the other monks walk over you to teach you humility.
