The nuns would assemble here to discuss everyday matters affecting the convent. Novitiates were mostly single girls from well-to-do families who came to the abbey with a decent dowry provided by their families. Those who paid believed that it would assist their passage into heaven.
The nuns lived frugal lives where prayer and devotion eclipsed bodily needs we would consider fundamental today. I look at this and my mind goes to Harry Potter, and I don't feel good about that. This is, after all, a holy place.
Nikon D700 and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens at f/8.