Behind the Cloister Door – Secrets, Silence and Confinement at Byland Abbey

Join us as we explore the abbey as a place of devotion, prayer, peaceful seclusion and a space of discipline, order, and even confinement.

While monasteries are often considered sanctuaries of prayer and peaceful retreat, they were also places of rigorous discipline, silence, and limited personal freedom. As we walk through these remains, we’ll uncover the hidden world of regulation and restraint behind the cloister door – here at Byland and in other great Cistercian houses such as Fountains and Meaux Abbey.

At the heart of monastic life was the Rule of St Benedict, written in the 6th century by Benedict of Nursia. This was not a prayer book, but a detailed guide to living a monastic life. It governed everything from the timing of prayers to the care of the sick, from the abbot’s behaviour to punishments for faults.

Let’s step back for a moment to understand the world of the Cistercian monks who once lived here at Byland.