Reconstruction of the lavabo at St Nicholas Priory

The view shows a reconstruction of the priory cloister as understood prior to excavation in 1998. Nothing shown here stands above ground, but many architectural fragments attributable to the cloister area have been recovered during the last century. The most striking feature was a circular lavabo (washing place) surrounded by an open arcade of paired columns, all in costly Purbeck marble, dating to about c.1170.

Acknowledgments: Richard Parker, Exeter Archaeology