A Description of the House from the ages
- Mr Landymore
- Feb 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 7
Meister Omers stands as a beautiful amalgamation of centuries worth of change and adaptation all while clinging to an air of stoic persistence. Several accounts of the structure of the House have been made over the years, some of which can be found below. I have done what I can to collate such accounts outlining the structure to be found due East of the UK's oldest and arguably most prominent cathedral. At the bottom of the article, I include scans of some original documents where text has been taken from.
Firstly, an account made on the 6th December 1931 - five years prior to MO opening as a boys' boarding house:
Beyond the east end of the Cathedral stood a block of monastic buildings, where for several centuries Priors entertained their most notable guests. The only portion still standing is the large hall (or Aula) called Meister Omers, which was built in the 13th Century. The kitchen, at the west end, has the widest fireplace arch in England and Scotland (a single span of 21 feet 8 inches). The huge stones still as solid and unshaken as when they were fitted together over seven centuries ago.
The hall had a noble roof with tie beams, king-posts and struts, much like a contemporary open-timbered roof. The only camera (or chamber) in the hall was over the kitchen, which was divided into two rooms. There Master Omer had a lodging and an office for his documents where he could be seen on business.
In 1399 (two years before the death of Geoffrey Chaucer) another document records that Prior Thomas Chillenden repaired the hall and extended it eastward, inserting two oriel windows. In 1468, a French warship near Dover threatened a landing and the City Chamberlain's account-book has an entry ''for carting large stones from the place called Master Omer's to Queningate hard by, to strengthen the fortification of the wall''.
In medieval times the main doorway stood on the north side and the Prior's guests entered by it, coming from their apartments beyond the hall. They made use of a picturesque newel-staircase, which had long stood at that angle outside the hall.
After the Dissolution and the destruction of this annexe, the north door and newel staircase were (and still are) used to reach to floors intruded into the hall itself, the first in Queen Elizabeth's reign, the second with the dormer windows in Charles I's time. The first floor carried a reception gallery 60 feet long with bedrooms opening out of it. So Meister Omers become the residence of the Canon holding the eleventh stall in the Cathedral Choir.
In the year of Meister Omers being converted into a boarding house for The King's School, a newspaper article was written commemorating the occasion - see below:
On Thursday 4th September 1975, an account was made by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain on both Meister Omers and Walpole House in conjunction with the respective Housemasters (only the Meister Omers account is included here):
The most extensive account of the monastic buildings in the Precincts is R. Willis, 'The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings... in Canterbury', 1869. This appears previously in 'Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol. VI', 1868. All authors draw (often via one another) on William Somner, 'The Antiquities of Canterbury', 1640, especially on the second edition enlarged by Nicolas Battely, 1703; William Gostling, 'A Walk in... Canterbury', 1774; Francis Grose, 'The Antiquities of England and Wales (Vol. III, Kent)', c. 1780; and Woodruff & Danks, 'Memorials of the Cathedral... in Canterbury', 1908, all contain interesting, and not always consistent, descriptions and drawings. Somner, Gostling, and Woodruff were King's Scholars here.
Account of the House, provided to the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (by courtesy of the Housemaster, Mr Duncan Craik):
The building is the most substantial remnant of the accommodation available to the Prior of Christ Church for himself and distinguished guests, and it represents the Hall (with kitchen and other adjuncts) of a complex which lay North and West of it. A building existing on the site in the thirteenth century was practically rebuilt by Prior Thomas Chillenden c. 1400. 'Item, reparacio de Meisteromers pro majori parte in toto'. It is generally agreed that Chillended extended the building by breaking East through the convent wall, and that he inserted two Oriel windows, North and South. Some evidence of the original Eastward limit is said to be visible in the roof timbers. The fireplace arch in the kitchen (ground floor West) is believed to be original (i.e. 13th century) and the widest in the country - 21ft 8in. The Western part of the building was always divided horizontally, but the sequence of dates and levels is not clear: it is hoped our visitors will alter this state of affairs. Access upstairs was by the (then external) winging staircase immediately to the North and West of the main entrance, represented by the arch which now gives on modern offices. The Eastern part was till the Dissolution open to the roof, forming the Hall itself. Floors and partitions were inserted in it c. 1550 to make the place suitable for the holder of the Eleventh Prebendal Stall. The house continued to be attached to the Eleventh Stall, suffering in c. 1860 a complete restoration, which, as usual in such cases, has destroyed its venerable character (Willis). In 1936 it became a boarding house for the King's School. We will attempt to point out items of interest as we go round, but we really hope to learn much more from our visitors than they from us.
Note i. The name 'Meister Omers'. Three theories in decreasing order of probability are: That the name is taken from Meister (Magister, Master) Omer, a well-attested legal officer of the priory of the mid-13th century. The name is recorded several times, and others of the family are known. Or that the meaning is something like 'the master, or principal, honour' honour being alleged to mean the main residence of an estate: a sort of creme de le creme. This interpretation is based on a misreading by Somner, Honer being read for Homor: but it is a fact that the expression 'the Homors' is used quite frequently about the site. Thirdly, that Homor(s) is a corruption of Ormeaux Elms; the Meister then somehow got tacked on.
Note ii. The text of the Grace (in Grace Dormitory upstairs) is: Que nunc rememus membris alementa cadicts hec Deus imperio sint benedicta tuo: Bona fides. It is a corrupt version of Quae nunc rememus (?) membris alimenta caducis haec Deus imperio sint benedicta tuo.
Interestingly, this later transcription and then translation is subsequently rebuked in a letter received on the 15th October 1985, signed ''MJT'':
You really need a medieval Latinist, I'm afraid.
My amateur reading from ground-level yields much the same as PP's reading in 1975, though I can't read fully the initial 'Que nunc' and I suspect you may have 'caducts' rather than 'cadicts'. Also, there seems to be a comma at the end, indicating a run-on to text now lost.
I would tentatively suggest that whoever wrote this was a copyist with no Latin, or very little. If so, the original version could well have had 'cenemus' rather than 'rememus' (which is nonsense).
QUAE NUNC CENEMUS MEMBRIS ALIMENTA CADUCIS, HAEC DEUS IMPERIO SINT BENEDICTA TUO... BONA FIDES,
May the food we now eat with our mortal bodies, Lord, be blessed by your power. Sound faith...
In 1982, plans with the current (at the time) floor plan transposed over original plans was made and can be seen below:
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