The canons had their own houses for when they were in residence, but the vicars, chaplains and other clerks had to find lodgings in the town. This seems to have caused some problems, as they were described as being
in the company of women, and because of this they were most maligned as negligent in their divine offices and remiss concerning incontinence and other excesses, and were publicly deemed extremely dissolute, and slanders and grievances arose through this among the clergy and people
The original solution to this problem in 1398 seems to have been to acquire 4 houses between Bridgegate and Parsons Lane for the clergy to use. For reasons that are not now clear, this failed, and in 1403 it was decided to rebuild the 4 houses, and other houses and land were given to the chapter of the minster to support them.
It seems this again failed to solve the problem, and in 1405 it was decided to build a hall (the Bedern) for all the clergy other than the Canons. It must have been quite a large building, since not only was there a communal hall for meals, but each of the residents had their own room. The residents were provided with food and drink, and servants to help run the building.
At first there was a problem getting the clergy to move into the Bedern, and even when that was achieved, problems continued. It seems the clergy, having lived apart for so long, were finding it hard to adapt to a communal style of living. In 1418 the prior of Durham was forced to issue rules for how they should behave. These included:-