chapter houses
Cathedral administrative buildings
Chapter houses are rooms or buildings where the chapter of a cathedral, monastery, or collegiate church meets to conduct business.
The chapter—the governing body of clergy—gathers there to discuss administrative matters, hear readings, and make decisions.
Many medieval chapter houses are architectural treasures, often polygonal with vaulted ceilings: The octagonal chapter house at Westminster Abbey dates to the thirteenth century.
- conventReligious sisters' dwelling
- vaultedCurved overhead, or leaped
- cloisterCovered monastic walkway
- monasteryReligious seclusion dwelling
- meetingGathering for discussion
abbey · monastic order · religious community · canonry · cathedral · masonry · stone bench · medieval · Romanesque · octagonal · vestry · choir stalls · sacred · architecture · meeting hall · ecclesiastical · guildhall · fraternal lodge
chapter housesnave
Church's main interior
sanctuary · chancel · high altar · choir · chapel
chapter, house, chapters, houses, housed, housing, housekeeper, housekeeping, household