The reredorter or necessarium (the latter being the original term) was a communal

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

found in

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and later also in some

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

monasteries.

Etymology

The word is composed from dorter and the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

prefix ''rere-'', coming from Anglo-French ''rere'' "backward, behind," from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. It was coined in the 19th century; the mediaeval term was ''necessarium'' (place of necessity).

Siting and features

It was normally attached to the south end or the east side of the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

or "dorter" on the east of the main

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

, that is, the end away from the church,Geoffrey N. Wright, ''Discovering Abbeys and Priories'', 4th ed. Princes Risborough: Shire, 2004,
p. 27
with seats arranged on the first floor of the building allowing direct access from the dormitory. Waste fell down chutes or between walls (as far as )Greene
p. 121
and was usually carried away by a stream, river or conduit; availability of a suitable stream was often a factor in siting a monastery,Greene
p. 8
and some monasteries have unusual ground plans to enable facilities such as the reredorter to have access to the water. Sophisticated water engineering was used at

Cîteaux Abbey Cîteaux Abbey ( ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of th ...

, Roche Abbey and the Carmelite Desierto de Los Leones in Mexico to ensure both that these rooms remained fresh and that the

effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pol ...

did not pollute water needed for cooking and washing. There appear to have been as many seats as there were monks, separated by screens, and each with a window. In some monasteries there were two reredorters, one for the monks and one for the lay brothers. The lay brothers' reredorter was most often to the west of the cloister, attached to their dormitory in a similar way to that of the monks. An example was at Valle Crucis Abbey in

Clwyd Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...

References

{{Toilets Christian monastic architecture Toilet types Rooms