Brother William's Year A Monk at Westminster Abbey

Brother William is a monk-gardener at Westminster Abbey in the 14th century. Based on the monk-gardener who would have lived and worked in the garden at that time, he's responsible for providing the other monks with food all year. He does almost all the work himself, except at busy times such as harvest-time, and he only has one day off all year -- his "O" Day, when he's excused from some of the services. The Rule of St. Benedict, which all the brothers followed at that time, stated that everyone should work, whether rich or poor. Packed with bright illustrations and information about life in the 14th century, "Brother William's Year" shows why practical work like Brother William's -- gardening, keeping animals, building a barn, or illustrating a manuscript -- was thought to be as important as praying, writing sermons, or singing psalms.

Brother William is my name. My home is Westminster Abbey and the year

is 1383. I am a monk and I am also the Abbey gardener. I grow all the food we eat and the herbs we use for medicine, and I keep the garden looking neat and tidy.

To help me, I have a friend called Rufus, who shares my home and my food.

About 80 other monks live in the monastery. We call each other Brothers, and each of us has a job.

We live by the rule of St Benedict, which means we all work very hard. Everyone’s job is equally important, to make the monastery run smoothly.

The clothes we wear – called habits – used to be black but they have faded after washing. Only the Abbot’s habit is really black because his doesn’t get as dirty as ours.