Not every building at the Royal Abbey of l’Épau was devoted to prayer, contemplation or the careful storage of books. The monks also required somewhere to keep the agricultural produce generated by the abbey’s estates, including cereals and wine, and this fifteenth-century building served as the cellar. It stands slightly apart from the main monastic complex, to the south of the former refectory range and close to what was once a fishpond. The ground floor provided a cool and secure space for produce, while an upper level increased the available storage. Its position away from the main abbey buildings would also have made it easier to bring in goods without carts, barrels and agricultural workers having to traipse through the cloisters.
As an aside, the French name for the building is ‘le cellier’, although this did not necessarily mean an underground cellar. The word comes from the Late Latin ‘cellarium’, meaning a store room for food and other provisions, and a French ‘cellier’ could be at ground level or stand separately from the main building. The English word “cellar” has the same origin, but later became more firmly associated with somewhere underground.
I was able to peer through the doorway into the lower room, although the darkness prevented a particularly comprehensive inspection. It nevertheless looked exactly as an old monastic cellar ought to look which was cool, gloomy and slightly damp. I rather like these administrative buildings, they are a reminder of how large the whole abbey operation would have been. I did think about trying to get in, but it was evident that this was positively discouraged and I was worried that there might be snakes inside. Historical curiosity has its limits.