The Refectory was the canon's dining hall, aligned east-west, parallel to the the church and placed on the northern side of the Main Cloister. It building probably commenced in c. 1150 but was not completed until c. 1225, this included a small dias or pulpit against the south wall, immediately east of the cloister doorway.
The dining hall was substantially refurbished during the latter part of the 14th century c. 1380. At this time the pulpit was enlarged by the addition of a wide step encompassing the base of the earlier arrangement and decorated with a mixture of contemporary and re-used floor tiles. This may have been a platform for reading scriptures during mealtimes. In most ecclesiastical orders, a small pulpit was usually located between the entrance and high table, central to the refectory hall. The structure remained in this form, unchanged, until the Dissolution, when it was completely robbed of decorative materials. A small podium lay diagonally opposite the pulpit built against the north wall, and may have held a crucifix or an image of some sort.

Hicks, M., 1989, 'St. Gregory's Priory: The Church and Conventual Buildings' (Article in serial). SKE30366.

Hicks, A. & Hicks, M., 2001, St. Gregory's Priory, Northgate, Canterbury, Excavations 1988-1991 (Monograph). SKE30367.