Note 653 — Chapter VIII · THE EARLY YEARS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.[497] A.D. 1028–1051.
Reading edition
Chron. Becc. ap. Giles, i. 194. “Quia campestris et inaquosus est locus.” On the necessity of wood and water for monks, we have the witness of Orderic (461 A) in the case of his own house. “Locus iste,” says William the son of Geroy, “ubi cœpistis ædificare, habitationi monachorum aptus non est, quia ibi aqua deest et nemus longè est. Certum est quod absque his duobus elementis monachi esse non possunt.” The description of Bec in William of Jumièges enlarges on the advantages of the spot. It is “omni opportunitate humano usui commodus. Propter densitatem ac rivi recreationem, ferarum illic multus erat accursus.”