Durham Cathedral’s Great Kitchen Excavated

DURHAM, ENGLAND—Excavation of the Great Kitchen at Durham Cathedral has uncovered “a vast amount of food waste,” according to Norman Emery, the cathedral archaeologist. The kitchen was used from the fourteenth century until World War II in the twentieth century. Food was prepared for the monks, pilgrims, and patients in the cathedral infirmary. North Sea cod, herring, sole, turbot, and salmon and trout from the River Wear, calves, and domestic and wild birds were served. “The kitchen would have been a very busy place, with people milling about,” Emery told The Journal.