Cistercian Abbey, Mellifont, County Louth, exterior - west end, crypt - Stalley, Roger (My University, 2011)
Cistercian Abbey, Mellifont, Collon, County Louth
Photograph by Roger Stalley. Exterior view of crypt from the west showing stone access steps to the nave. West elevation shows four small windows, previously each had a cruciform grille. The crypt is composed of a main chamber accessed from the nave by stone steps. It gives onto a roughly square-planned room under the west bay of the north aisle with no direct lighting. The west wall of this chamber has a large 'L'-shaped cupboard with a barrel vault and indications of wicker centering. It may have been used as a safe or strong-room. A smaller sealed chamber exists to the east of the main one but is not accessible.
Keywords: crypt; steps; chamber; doorway; barrel vault; wicker centering; window; cruciform; grille; safe; Architecture, Medieval--Ireland; Ecclesiastical architecture; Architecture--Ireland--Louth; Cistercian architecture; Monasteries?Ireland; Medieval; Early English Gothic