My First School, The Mint.

One of the first schools that I attended was at St Nicholas Priory The Mint., I must have been 6 or 7 then,   My father also attended school here in 1912.  The quality of Teaching for them was by Rote, and the three R's were the mainstay of most working class education. But an education it was, very basic and the Forte children could count the money and write out deposit slips to the bank, and that was good enough.
St Nicholas Priory, the West range of an 11th Century monastery. And its North range is beautiful.

The Mint!
The North range was the Benedictine monks' refectory, mainly a vast high-ceiling hall, built originally in 1070. Here the monks would have been read to whilst eating their meals together. The Benedictines were not the most severe of monks, they lived in ornate buildings, with an ornate style of singing and worship, but life would nevertheless have been austere. The number of monks dwindled at the end of the 14thC and the refectory may have been converted into a main hall for the Prior's duties such as receiving rent and interviewing tenants for the monastic land.

The Benedictines are a religious order within the Catholic Church. They are the oldest of the
existing orders and today number about 9,100 men and 18,900 women. They are active in most countries of the world. Unlike the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits, whose structures are highly centralised,
Benedictines live in communities that are autonomous and only loosely associate with one another. In Australia there are three Benedictine monasteries for men and three for women. New Norcia is the only one in Western Australia.

Benedictines seek to live a way of life established in Italy in the sixth century by St Benedict. As a young man, Benedict became disillusioned with the world, and chose to live as a hermit in a cave at Subiaco, near Rome. After this period of isolation, he set about developing a regular, disciplined and prayerful way of life for people seeking God in a community. In old age he wrote down his practical arrangements for the living of monastic life as a Rule or guidebook for his followers.

After his death communities following his Rule sprang up all over Europe. The subsequent history of Benedictine monasticism is marked by many changes. However, the wise, gentle Rule of Benedict survived and is followed today at New Norcia.

Coins of the Exeter mint of 1696-7 By the late 17th century many coins in everyday use were old, worn and clipped, so the 'Great Recoinage' was instituted by William III to introduce a coinage of uniform standard. In 1696 mints were set-up in Exeter, Bristol, Chester, Norwich and York to supplement the production of the Tower of London mint. Exeter produced sixpences, shillings and half-crowns in 1696 and 1697 (shown here), recognisable by the letter E under the bust of the king. Nearly £500,000 worth of coins were produced at Exeter, which was second to Bristol in output among the provincial mints.

In the 15thC there was a major rebuild, it was turned into a smart building of the day. Tree-ring dating has shown that its ornate timber roof was constructed in the 1450s, at around the same time as the Guildhall's roof, in Exeter, but in a far more restrained, elegant style. On the east wall was plank-and-muntin panelling, with carved bosses, a tall, dark wooden backdrop to where the Prior sat. On the west wall was a screens passage, with doors that led through to the kitchens. A beautiful Oriel was constructed, effectively a glass walled room, where the light streamed in.
The 16thC however, saw the Reformation. The monastery was closed in 1536, and fell into decay as various wealthy families bought it, but passed it on, not knowing if the Catholic Church would be reinstated. In the 1570s, however it became a luxurious private residence. The following centuries saw the subdivision of rooms, the adding, moving and abridging of features. In 1650 two floors were inserted into the hall and a fireplace and chimney were hollowed out of one of the walls. An extremely risky business, which weakened the building. In the fireplaces were wonderful scraffitto drawings in black and white layered plaster. There are lovely 17thC and 18thC doors, mantlepieces and window frames in the building, often butting up to or re-using earlier features. In turn, the 19thC left a cast iron range made by Walter Otton of Exeter and a pebbled courtyard. In short, a patchwork of history everywhere you turn, a profusion of styles and a joy for anyone with an interest in buildings. There is even some Norman stonework visible in the outside walls, in a soft white stone from Caen.
All this lay undiscovered or unwanted in the 1990s. 21 The Mint was practically derelict, unsafe and worthless. In the 1980s one of its fine 17thC windows had been replaced and just thrown in a skip. Now, all this has been conserved, with some access for the public, (including the window which had been saved, and was traced by a council officer). The top room has been reserved and the rest of the building converted into a beautiful apartment and house, which will be managed by the Trust, possibly in connection with St Olaves Court Hotel. A medieval herb garden has been planted in the courtyard. Delicate features, such as the remaining 1450s plank-and-muntin panelling are protected behind easy to open white cupboard doors.