Anchorage; Anchorite
An anchorage is a small house in which an anchorite (a kind of hermit) lived. These houses would face an altar of a church or chapel through a narrow slit, which would allow the anchorite to observe services, but not be observed. Such houses would also face the outside world and have allowed passage for those seeking guidance. These could be endowed by religious or secular patrons, (compare with hermitage).
e.g. Chester-le-Street and Staindrop, (County Durham) and at St. John's Newcastle (Tyne and Wear), amongst others.
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