The Chapter House

The Chapter House. . As the abbey grew, its organisation became more elaborate. The abbot was in charge, with support from the prior and sub-prior, and the chapter house was the centre of their management., The monks' communal lives were highly regulated by a book of guidance called the Rule of St Benedict. As a result, they were called Benedictines. The monks all slept in the dormitory, ate together in the refectory, and assembled in church eight times a day. They met here every day for religious readings, to receive any orders or punishments and to read a chapter of their monastic rules which is how the chapter house got its name. The monks took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and they could not leave without permission. Those who misbehaved suffered the humiliation of sitting in isolation during meetings while their fellow monks looked on., The Abbots' Graves , In the late 19th century, a famous scholar and author, M. R. James, was researching Bury's history and found that six abbots were buried in the chapter house. This led to the first archaeological excavation on the site in 1902-3. It revealed the outline of the building and six graves of the abbots who had ruled there between 1148 and 1256 (left).