The Chapter House

'As the rose is the flower of flowers; so is this house the house of houses'

The chapter house as it may have appeared after its completion in 1308 (drawing by Jill Atherton) © English Heritage
 This boastful inscription is recorded in the medieval decoration of several chapter houses that share a distinctive polygonal plan. An enclosed space of regular form and brilliantly lit with great windows, the interior was a perfect architectural creation, its proportions and form rich with implied symbolism.

The canons formally met in the Chapter House each day as a community to discuss business. They would have sat against the walls around the abbot, who had a special seat on the axis of the building facing the entrance. Issues of importance to the community were discussed and the abbot disciplined canons for misbehaviour. 

The chapter house was planned as part of the huge reorganization of the abbey buildings begun in 1261. It was built in stages and only finally completed in 1308, when the pavement was laid. There are two surviving walls that belong to the first stage of building.  

The chapter house was originally designed to have a central column. It seems that this feature was omitted in the course of construction to make the interior more spectacular.