cubicle or study for reading and literary work; the word is derived from the Middle English carole, “round dance,” or “carol.” The term originally referred to carrels in the north cloister walk of a Benedictine monastery and today designates study cubicles in libraries. Carrels are first recorded in the 13th century at Westminster Abbey, London, though they probably existed from the late years of the 12th century.

The carrels in the cloister of Gloucester cathedral (formerly Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter) represent the most complete series of carrels in existence. Built as an integral part of the cloister in 1381–1412, there are 20 of them, two to each bay, divided by short partition walls, lighted by the cloister windows, and roofed at the level of the window transoms. Each originally contained a desk.