Granges, like other manors, were landed estates used for food production, centred on a manorfarm house with itsand out-buildings and possibly including other facilities such as a mill or a [[tithe barn]],. for''the word grange'' comes through French ''graunge'' from Latin ''granica'',"meaning a granary".<ref>''[[OED]]'': "grange"</ref> The granges were particularly important to urban-based monasteries and might be located at some distance. They could farm livestock or produce crops. Specialist crops might include [[apple]]sapples, [[hops]] or [[grape]]sgrapes to make beverages or herbs for the [[Hospital|infirmary]]. ManySome granges included fish-ponds to supply Friday meals to the monastery. The produce could both sustain the monks and be sold for profit. Favoured manor houses might be used as country retreats by the [[abbot]]. Granges are often mistakenly referred to as monasteries. However, whilstWhile under overall monastic control, manythey wouldmight rarely see a monk and werebe run on a day-to-day basis by a steward and worked by local farm labourers or perhaps [[lay brother]]s.
