V
AS\
PARKER & SON,
English & Foreign Booksellers,
27, Broad Street, OXFORD.
THE ANTIQUARY'S BOOKS
GENERAL EDITOR : J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A.
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
FONT COVER. EWELME, OXON
First Published . . . September 7907
Second Edition . . . March K)o8
PREFACE
IN this book an endeavour has been made to gather together
some accounts of the more remarkable examples of old
church furniture which are now extant in the parish churches
of England ; with lists of all chancel screens, and of the best
instances of old altar slabs, altar plate, fonts, pulpits, lecterns,
piscinas, holy-water stoups, stalls, benches, embroideries, chained
books, and other details.
At first it was proposed to confine these accounts and lists to
pre-Reformation days ; but it was eventually decided to give a
certain amount of general information down to the end of the
seventeenth century.
The original intention was to include descriptions of such
matters as painted glass, wall paintings, floor tiles, and ironwork ;
but the plan became perforce more restricted for lack of space. It
is possible that these subjects may be discussed in a future volume.
The following pages have been in the course of preparation for
about six years. The delay in issuing a book which has been so
long announced has been caused by the desire of the authors to
improve and perfect the lists of various articles of extant church
furniture. They are, however, convinced that a delay of even
double that period would not suffice to make the work actually
complete, and are fully aware that it will be found deficient in
some places, and perhaps incorrect in others. Nevertheless, it
seems best to issue the book, notwithstanding its probable defects,
for a postponement until perfection was attained would probably
prove perpetual.
It is scarcely possible for any one or two persons to visit and
note, even during a long lifetime, the whole of the many thousands
of parish churches throughout England, and it will probably be
vi ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
found that some of the counties are more exhaustively treated
than others. Many of the churches in each county are known to one
or other or both of the writers ; in a few cases, such as Cornwall,
Derbyshire, Hampshire, Leicester, and the East Riding of
Yorkshire, all the old churches have been visited ; whilst personal
attention has been given to the contents of a very large number
of ancient fabrics in the counties of Devon, Essex, Gloucester,
Kent, Norfolk, Notts, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick,
Wilts, and N. R. Yorks.
Personal knowledge has been widely supplemented by the
study of standard ecclesiological and architectural works, and of all
the proceedings of archaeological societies, as well as by examina-
tion of a great number of more or less accurate monographs on
particular churches, both large and small.
It is also a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance so kindly
and readily given by other workers in the same field. Particular
gratitude is due to the Rev. R. M. Serjeantson and to Mr. Francis
Bond for the tedious task that they both so good-naturedly under-
took of reading the whole of the proofs, and for making a number
of valuable suggestions. Mr. Bond's kindness is all the greater
as he is himself engaged in a larger work that covers much the
same ground, and which will ere long be issued as a supplemental
volume to his recent great book on English Gothic Architecture.
They also desire to acknowledge the kindly general help on
particular information supplied by the Right Rev. Abbot Gasquet,
the Revs. W. E. Bury, A. N. Cooper, D. H. S. Cranage, E. H.
Goddard, S. P. Potter, T. M. Swann, and R. O. Yearsley. In
many other instances they are indebted to individual clergymen
for replies to queries as to fittings in the churches of which they
are incumbents.
Among the laymen to whom they are more particularly indebted
is Mr. H. Littlehales, the editor of the valuable work Mediaval
Records of a City Church, recently issued by the Early English
Text Society ; and others who should be named are the late Earl
of Liverpool, the Hon. F. Strutt, Colonel Hart, Dr. E. M. Sympson,
Dr. Laver, F.S.A., Mr. R. M. Murray, Mr. George Clinch, Mr. F.
PREFACE vii
Bligh Bond, Mr. Aymer Vallance, F.S.A., and the late Mr. J.
Romilly Allen.
To Mr. Guy Le Blanc Smith particular thanks are due for
putting at their disposal a large collection of good photographs
of fonts for reproduction. Grateful acknowledgments are also
extended to the Rev. and Hon. Canon Gibbs for the use of illus-
trations originally prepared for the English Church History
Exhibition held at St. Albans in 1905, and to the following societies
for the loan of blocks ; Royal Archaeological Institute, Society
of Antiquaries of Newcastle, the county Archaeological Societies of
Norfolk, Surrey, and East Herts, the Field Clubs of Dorset and
Hereford, and the Archaeological Section of the Birmingham and
Midland Institute, as well as to Messrs. Bemrose as publishers and
proprietors of the Reliquary.
Their apologies are offered in advance to any generous-minded
helpers, either in letterpress or pictures, whose names may have
been accidentally overlooked. They are also grateful to Messrs.
Methuen for their goodness in consenting to the considerable
enlargement of this issue beyond the size of its fellows of the series,
as well as to the multiplying of the original illustrations, and that
without any addition to the modest price.
By far the greater part of the letterpress has been written
exclusively for this book, but here and again a few paragraphs are
reused from critical church articles contributed by one of the
authors to the columns of the Athenaum, Btiilder, Guardian, and
Church Times, and for leave to cite these they are obliged to the
respective editors.
No one can be more cognisant of the imperfections of these
pages than the writers, and they will be grateful for any corrections
which may perchance eventually lead to the issue of an Improved
edition. At the same time they have the confident hope that the
book will prove of some real assistance to ecclesiologists, as a first
attempt to draw up schedules of existing examples of church
furniture. It is also their earnest wish that such a publication
as this may serve as some slight check on the grievous destruction
which ignorance and falsely directed zeal has wrought, even in
viii ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
quite recent years, among ancient church fittings, which ought to
be regarded as the monuments of the piety and artistic feeling of
bygone days.
J. C. C.
A. H.
August, 1907
SECOND EDITION
IN preparing a second edition, for which there has been an
unexpectedly early demand, the writers desire to thank most
cordially their numerous friends and many previously un-
known correspondents, who have most kindly forwarded corrections
or pointed out omissions. A large number of mistakes and slips
have been corrected, chiefly of a minor character, and several brief
additions have been made.
The only particular improvement that has been attempted is
an extended reference to good illustrations of specific pieces of
Church Furniture. The great Sketch Books of the Architectural
Association were referred to in the first edition. In this issue
references are also given to three other fine series of drawings,
which are very rarely to be met with except in the chambers of our
leading architects. They are :
(1) The Spring Gardens Sketch Book (contributed by the
pupils and associates of Sir Gilbert Scott), 1860-1890 ; eight vols.,
each having 72 plates.
(2) The Abbey Square Sketch Book (edited by John Douglas,
architect, Chester), 1872 et sqq., three vols.
(3) The John o' Gaunt Sketch Book (edited by Messrs. Paley
and Austin, architects, Lancaster), 1874-1885, three vols.
January, 1908
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PACK
ALTARS — ALTAR SLABS — ALTAR RAILS — ALTAR SCREENS OR RERE-
DOSES ... i
CHAPTER II
CHURCH PLATE — CHALICE AND PATEN — PYX — CRUETS AND FLAGONS
—SPOONS— PAX— CENSERS— CHRISMATORIES— ALTAR AND PRO-
CESSIONAL CROSSES — CROZIERS AND MITRES — ALMS DISHES —
HERALDIC CHURCH PLATE — CUIRBOUILLI CASES — PEWTER . . 28
CHAPTER III
PISCINA— SEDILIA— EASTER SEPULCHRE— LECTERN .... 60
CHAPTER IV
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 82
CHAPTER V
PULPITS AND HOUR GLASSES 144
CHAPTER VI
FONTS— FONT COVERS — HOLY-WATER STOUPS 160
CHAPTER VII
ALMS BOXES, OFFERTORY BOXES, AND COLLECTING BOXES . . 240
CHAPTER VIII
THRONES AND CHAIRS — STALLS AND MISERICORDS — SEATS AND
BENCHES— PEWS— GALLERIES— CHURCH CHESTS . . . .248
CHAPTER IX
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS— COPE CHESTS — BANNER-STAVE LOCKERS . 308
x ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
CHAPTER X
PACK
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 320
CHAPTER XI
CHURCH LIBRARIES AND CHAINED BOOKS 331
CHAPTER XII
CHURCH EMBROIDERY 34 i
CHAPTER XIII
ROYAL ARMS— TEN COMMANDMENTS 35 l
GENERAL INDEX 359
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
Leg of Altar Table, Dinton, Bucks. ........ 14
F. Roe.
Altar Table, St. Dunstan's, Canterbury 15
B. C. Boulter.
Chalice, Wylye, Wilts 30
From Nightingale's Church Plate of Wilts.
Paten, Buckhorn Western, Dorset 32
From Nightingale's Church Plate of Dorset.
Bracket with suspended Pyx and Canopy 39
Viollet le Due, Dictionnaire du Mobilier.
Pyx and Canopy, closed 40
Ditto.
Pyx and Canopy, open 41
Ditto.
Dove-shaped Pyx 42
Ditto.
Canopy, Wells 45
J. Charles Wall.
Cruet, St. Peter Port, Guernsey . .46
Ditto.
Pax, New College, Oxford 50
Ditto.
Chrismatory, St. Martin's, Canterbury .____ 52
Ditto.
Piscina Shaft, Tollerton, Notts 61
Ditto.
Angle Piscina, Blyford> Suffolk 62
Ditto.
Piscina, Ditchfield, Wilts 63
Ditto.
Piscina, Cowling, Suffolk .....,'. 64
Ditto.
Piscina, Trumpington, Cambs .... 65
Ditto.
Piscina, North Marston, Bucks ,. ...... 65
Ditto.
xii ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
.Piscina, Treborough, Somerset 66
Clifford Perkins.
Piscina, Crawley, Hants ..........66
J. Charles Wall.
S'edilia, Monyash, Derbs 69
V. M. M. Cox.
Sedilia, Ilkeston, Derbs 69
Ditto.
Sedilia, Sandiacre, Derbs 71
Ditto.
Sedilia, Tideswell, Derbs 71
Ditto.
Sedilia, Kirk Hallam, Derbs 72
Ditto.
Sedilia, Southwold, Suffolk 72
Ditto.
Sedilia, Rotherham, W. R. Yorks 73
Ditto.
Easter Sepulchre, Arnold, Notts , • • • 76
J. Charles Wall.
Stone Screen, Chelmorton, Derbs ^ . . - . .143
Ditto.
Pulpit, St. Paul's, Truro 145
V. M. M. Cox.
Pulpit-bracket, Walpole St. Andrew, Norfolk 146
Ditto.
Pulpit, Mellor, Derbs 147
Ditto.
Hour Glass and Stand, Bloxworth, Dorset . . . . . . . 157
J. Charles Wall.
Pulpit and Hour Glass, Pilton, N. Devon 157
Ditto.
Font, St. Martin's, Canterbury 167
B. C. Boulter.
Font, Sutton Bonnington, Notts. ........ 173
J. Charles Wall.
Font, Orston, Notts 175
Ditto.
Font, Wirksworth, Derbs. . . . 176
M. E. Purser.
Font, Mevagissey, Cornwall • 190
J. Charles Wall.
Font, Bodmin, Cornwall ....„, 190
Ditto.
Font, Puddletown, Dorset 197
Ditto.
Font, Haddon Chapel, Derbs 233
Ditto.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
PAGE
Font Crane, St. Alphege's, Canterbury 234
B. C. Boulter.
Font and Cover, Canterbury Cathedral 234
Ditto.
Stoup, Harlton, Cambs 236
J. Charles Wall.
Stoup, Endellion, Cornwall 237
Ditto.
Stoup, Wootton Courtney, Somerset ........ 238
M. E. Purser.
Stoup, Lastingham, N. R. Yorks. 239
J. Charles Wall.
Alms Box, Blythburgh, Suffolk 240
Ditto.
Alms Box, Watton, Norfolk 241
Ditto.
Offertory Box, Bridlington, E. R. Yorks 244
M. E. Purser.
Collecting Box, Holy Trinity, Guildford 246
Surrey Arehtzological Society.
Patriarchal Chair, Canterbury 249
M. E. Purser.
" Chair of St. Augustine," Canterbury 250
B. C. Boulter.
Frith Stool, Hexham, Northumberland r . 252
V. M. M. Cox.
Chair,' Little Dunmow, Essex 253
Ditto.
Bench End, Brent Knoll, Somerset 263
A. Gordon (Reliquary).
Bench, Winchester Cathedral 271
V. M. M. Cox.
Backless Benches, Cawston, Norfolk 273
J. Charles Wall.
Bench, East Leake, Notts. . . - -*- T "~~ 275
M. E. Purser.
Bench, East Leake, Notts 276
Ditto.
Bench End, Broomfield, Somerset 277
A. Gordon (Reliquary).
Bench End, Monksilver, Somerset 277
Ditto.
Bench End, Crowcombe, Somerset ..... . . . • • 278
Ditto.
Bench, Send, Surrey . 280
Surrey Archaological Society.
Canopied Pew, Madley, Herefords • 286
J. Charles Wall.
xiv ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Canopied Pew, Stokesay, Salop 287
V. M. M. Cox.
West Gallery, Cawston, Norfolk 289
J. Charles Wall.
Chest, Rugby, Warwicks. 293
Colonel Hart.
Chest, Chichester Cathedral 294
J. Charles Wall.
Chest, Heckfield, Hants 295
Ditto.
Chest, York Minster 298
F. Roe.
Chest, Cheshunt, Herts 302
East Herts Archceological Society.
Almery, Rowington, Warwicks. ......... 309
J. Charles Wall.
Almery, Carlisle Cathedral 310
Ditto.
Almery, Wetheral, Cumberland 311
Ditto.
Dole Cupboard, St. Albans 313
F. Roe.
Gospel Lectern and Almery, Chaddesden, Derbs. . . . . .314
V. M. M. Cox.
Gospel Lectern and Almery, Spondon, Derbs 315
Ditto.
Cope Chest, Wells Cathedral 317
J. Charles Wall.
Banner-Stave Locker, Barnby, Suffolk 318
Norfolk Archceological Society.
Banner-Stave Locker, St. Margaret's, Lowestoft, Suffolk . . . .318
Ditto.
Pricket Candlestick, Canterbury Cathedral 323
M. E. Purser.
Candlestick, Clapton-in-Gordano, Somerset 323
Ditto.
The Gloucester Candlestick, Victoria and Albert Museum . . . 324
J. Charles Wall.
Candlestick, Hackness, N. R. Yorks 326
Ditto.
Corona of Lights, St. Martin de Troyes 328
Viollet le Due, Dictionnaire du Mobilier.
Bishop Frithstan's Stole, Durham 343
J. Charles Wall.
Frontal, Steeple Aston, Oxon. . 348
Ditto.
LIST OF PLATES
Font Cover, Ewelme, Oxon
From a Photograph by Mr. H. W. Taunt, Oxford.
Altar Tables, Powick and Evesham, Worcs.
R. H. Murray.
Altar Tables, Cheddar, Somerset, and Parish Church;
Wolverhampton ........
Ditto.
Reredos, Christchurch, Hants
From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate.
Post- Reformation Chalices, with Paten Covers .
St. Albans Church Exhibition.
Pyx Cloth, Hessett, Suffolk
Ditto.
Censers, Ripple, Pershore, and Langwith ....
I Ditto.
Processional Crosses ; i$th Cent
Ditto.
Silver-Gilt Mitre, Bishop Wren
Ditto.
Cuirbouilli Mitre Case
Ditto.
Easter Sepulchres, Hawton and Sibthorpe, Notts.
Pelican Lectern, East Leake, Notts
Rev. S. P. Potter.
Rood Screen and Pulpit, Harberton, Devon . .
Stone Screens, Stebbing and Bardfield, Essex, and
Bramford, Suffolk . . '' . . ' . » ' .
Rood Screen, Shoreham, Kent
From Memorials of Old Kent.
Rood Screens, Somerton and Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oxon.
From Photographs by Mr. H. W. Taunt, Oxford.
, Frontispiece
To face page 12
16
20
» 36
„ 40
50
54
56
58
76
80
» 94
„ 116
„ 120
» 130
xvi ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Rood Screen, Withycombe, Somerset .... To face page 134
Clifford Perkins.
Rood Screens, Flamborough and Hubberholme, Yorks. . „ 142
Font Panels, Farningham, Kent, and West Lynn, Norfolk „ 168
Dr. Alfred C. Fryer.
Fonts, Ashover and Mellor, Derbs., Thorpe Arnold, Leics.,
and Lenton, Notts „ 194
Guy Le Blanc Smith.
Fonts, Great Kimble, Bucks, Bishopsteignton, and
Alphington, Devon, and Youlgreave, Derbs. . . „ 196
Ditto.
Font, Castle Frome, Herefords „ 200
Woolhope Field Club.
Font, Wormley, Herts. „ 202
East Herts. Archaeological Society.
Fonts, Ashbourne and Bakewell, Derbs., and Burrow-
on-the-Hill, and Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leics. . . „ 206
Guy Le Blanc Smith.
Font, Huttoft, Lines „ 208
Lincoln and Notts. Archaeological Society.
Font, Little Walsingham, Norfolk „ 210
Dr. Alfred C. Fryer.
Collecting Box, Holy Trinity, Guildford .... „ 246
Surrey Archaeological Society.
Misericords, Cartmel Priory, Lanes., and Screveton and
Wysall, Notts „ 258
Seats round Piers, Sutton Bonnington, Notts. ... „ 262
Rev. R. O. Yearsley.
Stall Ends, J arrow, Durham ,, 270
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle.
Thirteenth Century Chest, Icklington, Suffolk ... „ 292
From Reliquary.
Church Chests, Wootton Wawen and Brailes, Warwickshire „ 306
Colonel Hart.
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
CHAPTER I
ALTARS— ALTAR SLABS— ALTAR RAILS— ALTAR SCREENS
OR REREDOSES
ALTARS
THE altar, in the mediaeval Church, was the central object,
the one essential part of the furniture, without which the
due performance of worship was impossible. As a result
of the Reformation movement of the i6th cent., only a very few
of the old stone altars are standing in English churches, though
there are a fair number of cases in which the old mensa, or altar
slab, still remains in the pavement, or has been restored to its
original use. Of those that remain in their original position, three
were high altars, namely, those at Arundel, Forthampton, and
Peterchurch, whilst a few more exist in the chapels or as side altars.
In England, the altar was often called Christ's Board, or God's
Board in pre-Norman days, and occasionally so for two or three
centuries after the Conquest. Wooden altars were in general use
for the first four or five centuries, and lingered on in this country
till the end of the nth cent. They were, however, sometimes of
wood down to the very dawn of the Reformation, as can be
abundantly proved from old inventories and wills.*
^Elfric, in his celebrated homily of I2th-cent. date, speaks of
" Codes borde " and " Godes table." Lydgate, in his Vertue of
the Masse, writes of the
" Altar called God's board."
* Among the Proceedings of the Alcuin Club (1899) is a valuable tractate of Mr.
W. H. St. John Hope on English altars, with 36 pictures from illuminated MSS. from
the loth to the i6th cents,
B
2 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The will of John Raven thorpe, 1432, priest of the chapel of St.
Martin, Aldwark, leaves a vestment to the wooden altar (altari
ligned) of that chapel. Erasmus mentions a wooden altar as
standing in Canterbury cathedral. The Eastern Church still uses
wood for its altars.
In 1076, the Council of Winchester, under Lanfranc and the
papal legates, ordered the altars to be made of stone. St. Wulstan,
Bishop of Worcester, is said by William of Malmesbury to have
demolished numerous wooden altars throughout his diocese, and to
have constructed and consecrated others of stone. One of the
formal visitation questions of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's,
when inspecting the various churches of their peculiars in Essex
and Hertfordshire in the I3th cent., was whether the altars were
made of stone and duly consecrated.
The vast majority were, however, of stone, and severely plain.
A large slab of freestone or marble, bevelled on its under surface,
and marked above with five crosses, was generally in this country
supported on a built-up pedestal of stone ; less frequently it
rested on four or five legs, as at Forthampton, whilst sometimes,
in the case of small altars, the table, as at Belper, was supported on
brackets.
The original old altar at St. Mary's, Forthampton, is very
simple, consisting of five pieces of stone, namely, a pillar or leg,
6 inches square, at each corner, and a mensa or slab on the top of
them. The height is 2 feet 10 inches, and the dimensions of the
table are : length, 5 feet 3^ inches ; breadth, 2 feet 3 inches ; thick-
ness, 5^ inches. The upper edge is left square, and the lower
bevelled off to the extent of 2^ inches.
The existing altars, or their obvious traces, are found most
frequently in side chapels or chantry chapels, occasionally on
either side the entrances to chancels, in crypts, vestries, or
sacristies, and one, at Gloucester cathedral, in a triforium gallery.
In Warkworth Hermitage, Northumberland, the one stone altar
not overthrown in the county in the i6th cent, is still in position ;
it has a plain sunk moulded panel in front ; the dedication crosses
are not now visible.
At Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, is a side altar, supported on
three stone legs, supposed to be of Norman date.
The I3th-cent. chapel of St. John Baptist, Belper, retains the
original small altar below the east window. The slab, on which
ALTARS 3
one of the consecration crosses still remains, is supported by two
projecting brackets. The mensa measures 3 feet 6 inches by I foot
9^ inches, and is 2 feet 7 inches high. The chapel of the Pyx, at
Westminster, has a plain solid altar of the time of Henry III.
In the I4th-cent. sacristy chapel, on the north side of the chancel,
of Claypole, Lines., there is an altar slab in situ.
The north chapel of Northleach, Glos., has the original stone
altar in sittt. The altars of the Lady chapels of Shotteswell and
Warmington, Warwicks., are supported on brackets ; whilst those
of the north chapels of Chipping Norton and Asthall, Oxon., rest
on stone legs. In the undercroft of Bedale church, Yorks., is a
small altar, resting on a window-sill.
At Bengeworth, Worcs., and at Enstone, Oxon., are solid side
altars of I5th-cent. date, both of which are figured in Parker's
Glossary ; in the latter case the slab has disappeared. The altar
which remains in the Lady chapel of Christchurch, Hants, has a
slab of Purbeck marble. The side altar of Titchborne church, in
the same county, has a wooden mensa with a Latin cross in slight
relief on the surface ; it is of Elizabethan date, and was secretly
used for mass. In the small north chancel chapel (vestry) of
Tintagel, Cornwall, is a good example of an undisturbed solid
altar.
The old altar stone has been restored to its place in the tiny
chapel of St. Laurence, of Dunster parish church.
In the two hospital chapels of St. Anne's and St. Mary
Magdalene's, Ripon, are the old stone altars ; the former rests on
two stone legs or supports, whilst the latter, which is 7 feet 7
inches long by 3 feet 5 inches wide, and 2 feet 1 1 inches high, is
solid.
Small original altars are also to be found in the private chapels
of Broughton Castle, Nunney Castle, and the Prior's Lodge,
Wenlock. The mensa at Broughton Castle bears nine incised
crosses. There is a stone altar in its original position in the tower
chapel of St. Michael, Penkivel, Cornwall.
The custom of marking altar slabs with five crosses is not of
late mediaeval origin as sometimes supposed, for a marble altar
stone of the 6th cent., at the church of Vouneuil-sous-Biard,
France, is figured in the first volume of Rohault de Fleury's La
Messe. Nevertheless, most of the known early examples bear
only one or more crosses in the front of the mensa.
4 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
At St. Benet's, Cambridge, is an early altar stone with crosses
on the front edge, believed by the Bishop of Bristol to be the
altar stone of the pre-Norman church ; it is described by him
in vol. xxi. of the Antiquary.
English altars from the I2th cent, onwards were, as a rule,
incised on the mensa with five crosses, namely, in the centre and
at the four angles. " In the consecration of altars," said the late
Father Morris, when writing to the Antiquary in 1890, "a little
fire is made on each of the crosses. Five pieces of incense are put
on each cross, and on the lumps of incense a cross is made of thin
wax taper, which is lighted at the four ends. When the fire is
burnt out, the ashes are scraped away with a wooden spatula, but
as the cross is incised, the melted incense runs into it and remains
there, as the scraping is only flush with the surface." The five
crosses seem, however, to have been always cut in the slab whether
the ceremony of formal consecration was carried out or not. Each
consecrated altar required a vessel of relics accompanied by a
descriptive scroll of parchment, on which was also written the name
of the consecrator, the date, and a note as to any indulgence
granted. This vessel or case was placed in a small cavity called
the confessio, or septilchrum altaris, and the cavity sealed or closed
by the bishop with a thin stone called the sigilhim. Relics enclosed,
according to Ayliffe, were regarded as essential ; but Lyndwood
thinks that they were not of the substance of the consecration.
It is now the custom of the Roman Church, and was sometimes
the case in England in the later pre-Reformation days, to prepare a
cavity for the reception of the relics in the surface of the covering
slab, which is cunningly closed with a well-fitting piece of stone ;
this opening was usually made in the centre of the mensa, but
near the front edge below the central cross.
A few old altar slabs with such receptacles have been noticed
in England. The altar slab of Barnack stone in the Jesus chapel,
Norwich, now remounted on short pillars, has a confessio sealed
with a bit of Purbeck marble. The large altar stone now in the
porch of Callington, Cornwall, shows the sealing cavity. A granite
slab of the Holy Chapel, Madron Well, Cornwall, has a cavity in
the centre 9 inches by 8 inches. The same may be noted on the
altar slab of St. Robert's chapel, Knaresborough. Altar slabs at
Grantham, Westborough, and St. Andrew's, Hertford, are also
said to have relic receptacles. One at Bolton Priory, with a
ALTARS 5
very shallow depression in the centre, has been wrongly named as
" a sealed altar stone ; " the depression in this case marks the
place where a small post- Reformation brass had been affixed, when
the old altar stone had been used as a monumental paver.
But the question arises — how is it that so small a fraction of the
large number of undoubted old altar slabs have any such receptacle ?
The answer is twofold. In the first place, a very large proportion
of such slabs are those of side or chantry altars, which were
probably never consecrated ; and in Puritan fury what more likely
than that the chief or high altar known to have sealed relics
would be specially attacked and broken up ? In the second place,
and perhaps the more important, it was a known English custom
to deposit the relics in the actual substance of the altar, and not
in the mensa. A stone block, in which was formed a small box or
confessio with a stone lid, containing relics wrapped in lead, was
found at Roche Abbey. At Jervaulx Abbey, in the front of an
almost perfect altar, is an opening just beneath the centre of the
mensa, whence a square stone has been moved which doubtless
contained the confessio. Stones of a like character to that at
Roche have also been found at Calder Abbey and at Lanercost
Priory. Full descriptions of these will be found in the Proceedings
of t lie Society of Antiquaries, 2nd ser. xi., and in the third volume
of the Transactions of the Ctimberland and Westmoreland Anti-
quarian Society.
In the earlier mediaeval days the relics, however diminutive,
were often in an important church far too numerous to bear
enclosing in the actual mensa, and would certainly be embedded
in the substance of the altar itself. Take, for instance, the cases
of the dedication of two altars in the great church of Christchurch,
Hants, early in the I3th cent.
On December 7, 1214, Walter, Bishop of Withorne, dedicated
an altar to the honour of St. John Baptist. The relics placed
therein were exceedingly numerous, and included parts of the
vesture and robe of our Lord ; part of the vestments of the
blessed Virgin ; bones of St. John Baptist and of Sts. Peter
and Paul ; some of the blood of St. Stephen ; bones of Sts.
Laurence, Blasius, Victor, Vincent, Alban, Hippolytus, Polycarp,
Urban, Chrysogonus, and Holy Innocents ; bones of the martyrs
and confessors, Martin, Julian, Simplicius, and Joseph of Arima-
thea ; some of the oil of St. Nicholas, monk of Rome ; and bones
6 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
of the virgin saints, Agnes, Alice, Lucy, Julianna, Perpetua,
Margaret, Agatha, Barbara, Beatrice, and Martha.
In 1221, Nicholas, Bishop of the Isles, dedicated an altar in the
same church to the honour of St. Michael the Archangel. The
relics were remarkably numerous, and included portions of
the manger and cradle of our Lord, and of the stone upon which
our Lord stood when speaking in the Temple ; fragments from
Gethsemane, from the Sepulchre and from Mount Sion ; part of
the vesture of the blessed Virgin ; some of the bones of St.
Columbia ; parts of the chasuble and altar-pall of St. Remigius,
and part of the shroud in which he rested 400 years ; and a piece
of the sepulchre of St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin.
It is obvious that it would be impossible to enclose relics in
the substance of bracket- or pillar-supported altars such as have
been mentioned, and the slabs of several that are extant have no
trace of a confessio. In such cases it is, of course, possible, though
unlikely for ritual reasons, that the confessio would be placed in the
adjoining wall masonry. But the more likely explanation, as is
known to have been the case with various chantry altars, is that
there was no consecration of the altar, but that a portable super-
altar was used. The huge dioceses of mediaeval England, and the
difficulty of locomotion, made it impossible for bishops to always
attend for the consecration of the numerous side altars so often
multiplied even in our small parish churches, and of the oratory
altars that abounded in manor houses. The difficulty was sur-
mounted by the bishop consecrating numerous super-altars. The
various names for these thin light altar stones, on which it was
lawful to celebrate mass, such as altare viaticum, portatile, gesta-
torium, lapis portatilis, altaria itineraria, denote their original use
on journeys, in camps, and at visitation of the sick. It was also
considered necessary to use them where the altar was of wood.
The small Anglo-Saxon super-altar from St. Cuthbert's coffin
has been often described, and is still preserved at Durham
cathedral. In the parish church of Beckermet, Cumberland, is a
portable or super-altar, fixed in an oak frame within the altar rails.
It is of red sandstone, and measures 10 inches by 7^ inches, and
is | inch thick ; it bears five equal-limbed consecration crosses,
and is cracked across the centre.
A portable altar slab of Purbeck marble, 8-f inches by 5]-f inches
and | inch thick, found in a chest at Abbey Dore, Herefords.,
ALTARS 7
with a set of vestments, etc., is now in the Victoria and Albert
Museum. This collection had probably been used by an itinerant
priest of the unreformed faith during the time of the Elizabethan
persecution.
The fullest possible particulars are extant of the foundation of
the two chantries of Crich, in Derbyshire, in 1357 and in 1368, down
to the actual date of the episcopal institution and archidiaconal
induction of each of the first two chaplains ; but the new altars at
the ends of the rebuilt north and south aisles (which took the place
of those of different dedication and earlier date) were not conse-
crated. The inventories, however, of each chantry begin with the
entry of a super-altar, which had doubtless been duly consecrated
by the diocesan.
In contradistinction to such super-altars for practical use were
those that pertained to great churches, and which were probably
used at festivals on the already consecrated high altar for purposes of
greater reverence and dignity. These were usually made of valuable
stone or set in precious metals and jewelled, as is proved by a variety
of old English inventories. In York cathedral there were, in 1500,
a precious super-altar of jasper, set in copper-gilt, and two super-
altars of red marble adorned with silver. At Westminster Abbey
there were, in the I4th cent., three super-altars, two of jasper and
one of marble. At Jarrow the monks kept the super-altar that had
been used by the Venerable Bede, and at Glastonbury was an
ancient super-altar so richly garnished that it went by the name of
" the greate sapphire of Glasconberye." Dr. Rock, in The Church
of Our Fathers, gives much information on this subject ; the very
valuable and richly framed old super-altar, of foreign workmanship,
which belonged to Dr. Rock and is engraved in his work, is now
in the Roman Catholic cathedral of Southwark.
When the old altars were overthrown at the time of the Refor-
mation, many of the slabs were used in the paving of the churches,
sometimes on the very site of the stone altar. These may be
noticed up and down the country, and are usually easily recogniz-
able by their more or less distinct incised crosses. It is exceed-
ingly rare to find an inscribed altar stone, but at Camborne church,
Cornwall, is an ancient altar slab bearing these words in incised
lettering, Levintjtisit hec altar e pro anima sua.
A word of caution is necessary with regard to alleged altars,
which may be of service to less experienced archaeologists. In a
8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
few cases of " restoration " of the last century, table-tombs were
moved to the east end of the chancel, and ignorantly styled
"altars."
A notable instance of this occurs in the grand old church of
Hartland, in North Devon. All the guide-books draw attention
to the stone altar now in use. One writer says that it is the only
old stone altar in its original position and still in use which can
be found throughout all England ; whilst Kingsley's Country, one
of the most popular of the local handbooks, quietly assures its
readers that this altar dates from the " Saxon times." In reality
it is a beautifully carved table-tomb of I4th-cent. date moved to
the parish church from the adjacent abbey. It was, of course,
never intended for an altar, for which purpose, both by association
and size, it is singularly unfit.
ALTAR SLABS
The following is a list of some of the places where the old altar
stones still remain —
Abergavenny Mons.
Abbey Dore \ Herefords.
Adderbury (vestry) Oxon.
Aldingbourne ...... Sussex.
Alverscot Oxon.
Arne (in use) ...... Dorset.
Arundel (4) ....... Sussex.
Aston ........ Staffs.
Aston Rowant ...... Oxon.
Bardney Lines.
Barnby Dun W. R. Yorks.
Bedale N. R. Yorks.
Beighton (in use) •. Derbs.
Belper „
Birts-Morton ...... Worcs.
Bishop's Cleeve (3) Glos.
Bishop's Stortford Herts.
Bolton Yorks.
Bottesford Lines.
Brancepeth ....... Durham.
St. Breward Cornwall.
Bridgnorth ..... . Salop.
Brixton . . . . . . . I. of Wight.
ALTAR SLABS
Broadwater
Burford (vestry) ....
Burgh wa His .....
Burton Dassett ....
Burton Joyce ....
Callington .....
Camborne .....
Cambridge, St Benet's .
Car Colston .....
Chichester Cathedral, Lady Chapel
Chipping Norton ....
Chithurst
Christchurch ....
Claypole .....
Cley-next-Sea ....
Collingham, South
Columb Major ....
Compton .....
Cookham (inlaid crosses of brass) .
Gorton (altar in situ]
Cotes-by-Stow (6 crosses ; in use) .
Debenham .....
Dulas ......
Dunster (2) .
Easington .
Ecclesfield .....
Edmondbyers .
Ely
Enstone .....
Forthampton ....
Fressingfield ....
Garsington .....
Gilston . . . — ~.
Gloucester cathedral (triforium)
Grantham .....
Great Hautbois ....
Haddon (2) .
Hanworth (in use)
Harpole
Hemingborough . .
Hertford, St. Andrew .
Highley ...«,.
Holdenby ...
Horning .....
Sussex.
Oxon.
W. R. Yorks.
Warwicks.
Notts.
Cornwall.
»
Cambs.
Notts.
Sussex.
Oxoa
Sussex.
Hants.
Lines.
Norfolk.
Notts.
Cornwall.
Surrey.
Berks.
Dorset.
Lines.
Suffolk.
Herefords.
Somerset
Oxon.
Staffs.
Durham.
Cambs.
Oxon.
Glos.
Suffolk.
Oxon.
Herts.
Glos.
Lines.
Norfolk.
Derbs.
Norfolk.
Northants.
Yorks.
Herts.
Salop.
Northants.
Norfolk.
10
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Hougham ....
Howden ....
Howell ...
Kemys Commander
Kimpton ....
Kinsham ....
Lackford ....
Larling ....
Legbourne ....
Leigh-on-Mendip .
Lenham ....
Long Ashton
Longb ridge ....
Madron Well
Maidstone ....
Middleton ....
Mid-Littleton
Mildenhall ....
Mishay (2) .
Moreton-on-Lugg .
Mowsley ....
Mundham ....
Newington ....
Newland (5) ...
Normanby ....
Normanton-on-Soar (replaced)
North Somerton .
North Wotton
Norwich cathedral, Jesus chapel
Norwich, St. Stephen
Oving .....
Ovingdean ....
Oxford, St. Giles .
Penkevel ....
Peterchurch (3) .
Poundstock ....
Probus. . .-
Rame . . * . . .
Ranceby . . . . .
Ratcliffe-on-Soar (replaced) .
Repton . . .»•
Ripon . . . . .
Sale .....
Salehurst
Kent.
Yorks.
Lines.
Mons.
Hants.
Herefords.
Suffolk.
Norfolk.
Lines.
Somerset.
Kent.
Somerset.
Wilts.
Cornwall.
Kent
Lanes.
Worcs.
Suffolk.
Herefords.
n
Leics.
Sussex.
Kent.
Glos.
N. R. Yorks.
Notts.
Lines.
Dorset.
Norfolk.
»
Sussex.
H
Oxon.
Cornwall.
Herefords.
Cornwall.
Lines.
Notts.
Derbs.
Yorks.
Norfolk.
Sussex.
ALTAR SLABS
ii
Sandwich .
Selmeston .
Shaugh. .
Sheffield
Shottiswell
Shrewsbury, St. Mary .
Sigglesthorne (churchyard)
Solihull (crypt of vestry)
South Stoke
Stanton, St. John .
Swineshead .
Tangmere .
Tarring Nevill .
Terrington, St. Clement
Tewkesbury .
Theddlethorpe (2) (replaced)
Thurgarton (in use) . .
Tickenham .
Tideswell .
Tintagel .
Titchborne .
Todbere (in use) ....
Toddington .
Tong .
Treyford . . - .
Tywardreath (replaced) . . .
Uffington . . . .
St. Veep . . .
Waldron . ...
Warrnington (vestry)
Waterbeach .
Wells (Vicar's College) . . .
Westborough .. . - ~~. 7
Westham (in use) . • . •
Weston . ...
Weston Longueville . .
Whaplode . . . . .
Wheatfield
Whissendine . .
Whitwell(2) .
Wiggenhall .
Wintringham (in use, south chapel)
York, All Saints ....
„ St. Michael-le-Belfry .
Kent.
Sussex.
Devon.
Yorks.
Warwicks.
Salop.
E. R. Yorks.
Warwicks.
Sussex.
Oxon.
Lines.
Sussex.
Norfolk.
Glos.
Lines.
Notts.
Somerset.
Derby.
Cornwall.
Hants.
Dorset.
Beds.
Salop.
Sussex.
Cornwall.
Lines.
Cornwall.
Sussex.
Warwicks.
Cambs.
Somerset.
Lines.
Sussex.
Norfolk.
»
Lines.
Oxon.
Rutland.
Northants.
Norfolk.
E. R. Yorks.
Yorks.
12 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The size of the mensa differed considerably. Thus the high altar
stone which has been restored to use in the chancel of RaUiiffe-on-
Soar, Notts., measures 7 feet I \ inches long by 2 feet 9 inches broad ;
the thickness is 6 inches, and it has a chamfered edge. In the
neighbouring church of Normanton-on-Soar there is a much
smaller altar stone, 5 feet by 2 feet 6 inches ; it is, however,
6 inches thick, and has, like the one at Ratcliffe, a chamfered
edge. At Car Colston, in the same county, there is an altar slab
7 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 6 inches. The old altar slab of Kinsham,
Herefords., is said to be of the great size of 9 feet by 4 feet.
The Elizabethan injunction of 1559 with respect to altars has
been often misunderstood, and more often misquoted, in an
endeavour to prove the illegality of stone altars in the post-
Reformation Church. It runs as follows : —
" Whereas her majesty understandeth, that in many and sundry parts
of the realm the altars of the churches be removed, and tables placed for
the administration of the Holy Sacrament, according to the form of the law
therefore provided; and in some places, the altar be not yet removed,
upon opinion conceived of some other order therein to be taken by her
majesty's visitors ; in the order whereof, saving for an uniformity, there
seemeth no matter of great moment, so that the Sacrament be duly and
reverently aministered ; yet for observation of one uniformity through the
whole realm, and for the better imitation of the law in that behalf, it is
ordered that no altar be taken down, but by the oversight of the curate of
the church and the churchwardens, or one of them at least, wherein no
riotous or disordered manner to be used. And that the Holy Table in
every church be decently made, and set in the place where the altar stood,
and there commonly covered, as thereto belongeth."
From this it is clear that the injunction permits but does not
order the removal of stone altars. Stone altars remained in the
Chapels Royal and in several of the cathedrals. In 1626 a stone
altar was again set up in Durham cathedral, and at Worcester by
the dean in 1634. In 1662 Bishop Racket consecrated a stone
altar at Foremark, Derbs. Instances of their revived use in the
1 8th and igth cents, are quite common, as at Gotham, Notts.,
Canons Ashby, Northants, and a score or two of other examples.
Nevertheless, in the vast majority of cases tables or altars of
wood were substituted for tables or altars of stone. In the
churches that were not under the immediate influence of the
foreign strain of Puritanism, great care was taken that the altar
POWICK, WORCESTERSHIRE
EVESHAM, WORCESTERSHIRE
ALTAR TABLES
ALTAR SLABS 13
tables should be of honest and fine workmanship. Not a few
beautifully wrought Elizabethan altar tables still remain. They
are usually characterized by the legs having great bulbous bosses
richly carved, and by the ornamental sculpture of the rails below
the actual table and those that unite the legs near the base.
There are fine examples of the bulbous or " melon " legs to
holy tables at Blyford, Suffolk, Breadsall, Derbs., and at Dinton,
Bucks. The last, which is dated as late as 1606, is well illus-
trated and described by Mr. Roe in his Old Oak Furniture. He
considers it to be " a strikingly fine piece, of noble proportions."
On the surface of this table is incised, Francis Himtts geven by
the youth of Upton. Upton is a hamlet of Dinton parish.
At Woodborough, Notts., the Elizabethan altar table, with good
bulbous legs, measuring 70 inches by 28^ inches, has a long Latin
inscription stating that it was the gift of John, son and heir of
Robert Woode of Lamley, Recorder of Newark. At Halam in the
same county is another excellent table of this date ; it measures
6 feet by 32 inches, and is 3 feet 6 inches high.
The holy table of Townstal, Devon, is a unique example of
Elizabethan carving. The four legs take the form of somewhat
imaginative beasts ; there are drawings of this table in the Sketch
Book of the Architectural Association (ist series, vol. iii.).
At Sunningwell, Berks., is a rich example of the carving of
an Elizabethan altar table, which was probably executed when
Bishop Fowle was incumbent. In the disused chancel of Omber-
sley church, Worcs., is another good example of an early table
of this period. It is 7 feet ij inches long, 2 feet 6 inches wide,
and 2 feet io£ inches high. The carved bosses of the legs are
9 inches in diameter. Round the frame of the table runs the
inscription in capitals — Whosoever eateth and drinketh unworthily
is guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. There is no date,
but as Lord Sandys gave the altar vessels still in use to this
church in 1572, it is practically certain that the altar-table is of
the like date.
Among other good examples those of St. Thomas, Oxford ;
Ringstead, Northants ; Weston Zoyland, Somerset ; Broadwas,
Worcs. ; Lapworth, Knowle, and Rowington, Warwicks. ; and
Abingdon and Dorchester, Oxon., may be mentioned.
At Haddenham, Cambs., the massive Elizabethan altar table
stands on seven legs ; whilst another good one of the like period,
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
at Orwell in the same county, is supported by two legs and
brackets. There is a highly elaborate altar table at Minehead,
Somerset, originally designed, perhaps, for secular use ; the local
idea that it came out of the Armada is obviously absurd.
The earlier Jacobean tables took a rather simpler form, and
though the legs were slightly bulbous, the bosses remained plain.
The rails of the table were usually well ornamented, and occa-
sionally inscribed with the names of the donors and dates or
suitable texts, throughout the i/th cent. The good Jacobean
table, however, of Dinton, Bucks., though dated 1606, retains most
of the Elizabethan characteristics. The Isle of Wight offers
several good examples. There are early Jacobean altar tables
with bulbous legs at Arreton, Godshill, and Whitwell ; the upper
table rail of Godshill is inscribed Lancelot Coleman, and that of
Whitwell, / wil take the Ctip of Salva-
tion. Yarmouth and Gatcombe are
of later Jacobean date ; the latter
bears Prayse ye the Lord. The altar
table of Church Knowle, Dorset, is
another good instance.
Evesham, St. Lawrence, affords a
good specimen of the better class of
altar table of this style ; it bears round
the upper rails, All good Christians
[part covered up] to imitate this her
godly devotion towards the Church both
in life and death, Margaret Hay late
of this Parish 1610.
The communion table of Burton
Dassett, Warw., has well-turned legs
and carved rails with the date and
initials "1618^. G" The altar table
of Aston-on-Trent, Derbs., bears on
the rail, Ex dono Johannis Hunte,
1630, anno atatis, 35, also the crest
of a bugle-horn. Two Cornish altar
tables were the gift of the Mohun family ; that of Boconnoc is
inscribed, Made by me Sir Raynold Mohun, 1629, and that of
Lanteglos-by-Fowey bears the arms of Mohun and the words,
The gift of Baranet Mohun to the Pariske, 1634. The carved altar
LEG OF THE TABLE IN DINTON
CHURCH, BUCKS
ALTAR SLABS 15
table of North Elmham church, Norfolk, was made by Francis
Floyd, parish clerk, 1605-51. It bears date 1622, and is inscribed,
Christus vera vita.
The uninscribed and undated ones of general i/th-cent. date
are pretty well distributed throughout the country, and are far too
numerous to mention ; they have usually been discarded to the
vestry, to a side aisle, or beneath the tower.
At Powick, Worcs., is an example of the "telescope" altar
table. When closed, it stands 9 feet 3 inches long, and 2 feet
9 inches wide, but it draws out to 16 feet. It is quite obviously
of later date than the battered Elizabethan legs and frame on
which it now stands. It is almost certainly of Commonwealth
date, and came into being after the suppression of the Prayer-book,
and the issue of the Directory of Worship in 1644. When used it
would be brought out into the church and fixed on trestles, and
the communicants would sit round it. There are two of these
telescope or slide tables in the church of All Saints, Hereford, and
another at Upper Donhead, Wilts.
The altar of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, is a remarkable and well-
finished exampleof a late Elizabethan or early Jacobean walnut-wood
ALTAR TABLE, ST. DUNSTAN'S, CANTERBURY
table, turned at a later date into the telescopic form. It is supported
by nine legs of a bulbous character, there are three in a line in the
centre, then a single one at each side of them, and two at each end.
The mensa is 5 feet 8 inches long, but it has two leaves that draw
out at each end, giving it, when extended, a total length of 10 feet
8 inches. These leaves are an obvious addition of a later date, and
would be added under the Puritan rule of the Commonwealth and
Directory of Publick Worship, when the participants at the love-
feast seated themselves round the extended " board." Rye church,
Sussex, has an altar table of mahogany.
,6 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The discarded altar table of the parish church of Cheddar is
a particularly rich example of carving. It is of small size, being
4 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 2 inches, and stands 2 feet 7i inches high.
The top was originally loose. The churchwardens' accounts for
1631 contain an entry, "It. Thomas Smith, for a new Table Board
XXV.T." In the same year the wardens received 3* 4^. for "an
olde Table Borde." It has usually been assumed that 1631 is the
date of this beautiful carving ; but it could not possibly have been
done for 2$s. The table-board of the accounts probably only refers
to the oak slab or mensa proper ; the carved work of legs and frame
seems to go back to the previous century. This altar table now
stands in the vestry ; the cumbersome thing beneath it, shown in
the photographic plate, is the gas-meter.
Particular interest attaches to the old altar table in the great
church of Wolverhampton, on account of the reference made to it
in a sermon by Henry Burton, a noted Puritan, which he preached
in St Matthew's church, Friday Street, Cheapside, in 1636. In
haranguing against prelacy, he said —
" What prescription can that Cathedral (? Collegiate) Church at Wolver-
hampton, in Staffordshire, plead for her goodly costly new Altar, with the
dedication thereof, within these two or three years last past, in which
dedication all the Roman rites were observed, as censings, washings,
bowings, copes (though but borrowed from Lichfield), chantings, abusing
of Scripture to prove dedication of Altars and the like ? "
The top of this table and the sort of dog-tooth mouldings on
the lower rail are comparatively modern, but "said" to be
reproductions of the old work.
At Holy Trinity, Coventry, the elaborate old altar table, of
great size, being 9 feet 6 inches in length, is still in use. The city
annals record, in 1635 : " Edmund Owen, Mayor : in his year the
High Altar was set up in Trinity Church and cost a deal of
money."
After the Restoration the altar tables were replaced in their
proper position against the east wall of the chancel. Thus, in
Evelyn's Diary for 1 66 1, we read—
5 April. Being of the vestry in the afternoon we order'd that the
mmumon table should be set as usual altarwise, with a decent raile in
front as before the Rebellion."
CHEDDAR, SOMERSET
PARISH CHUKCH, WOLVERHAMPTON
ALTAR TABLES
ALTAR RAILS 17
In many instances the Churchmen preferred to have new holy
tables, and hence there are many dated, and still more undated,
examples of the reign of Charles II. The altar table of Shorwell,
I. of Wight, has the date 1660 ; and that of Eckington, Worcs.,
1663. The handsome holy table of Mainstone, Salop., bears :
/. B., N. P., W., 1673 ; and the well-carved example at Kirk
Ireton, Derbs., Thomas Hay wood, 1679.
There are also various dated examples later in the century,
such as that of South Petherton church, Somerset, which has
small pillar legs and the date 1698.
The table of Cubberley church, Glos., has twisted legs, a style
that prevailed towards the end of the I7th cent.
In a fair number of cases, stone altars, or stone or marble
slabs resting on iron brackets, were introduced in the i8th cent., to
take the place of the wooden tables.
At Steane church, Northants, a costly communion-table of
marble is inscribed, The gift of Nathaniel Lord Crewe, Lord
Bishop of Durham.
In 1726, a large marble slab, resting on handsome wrought-iron
brackets, was placed in the rebuilt nave of All Saints', Derby.
Other examples, cited by Bloxam, are Bulkington, Warwicks. ;
Loughborough and Welham, Leics. ; and Chesterton, Hants.
ALTAR RAILS
When chancel screens were the invariable rule of the Church,
there was no need for altar rails. It was probably the custom to
place kneeling benches for the use of infirm or aged communicants
at the time of Mass, and thereon would be placed the houseling
cloth, as is still the case at Wimborne, Dorset.
The necessity of rails across the chancel, a little way in advance
of the altar pace, began to become apparent in Elizabethan days in
cases where the rood-screens or their gates had been removed.
At Gatcombe, I. of Wight, were a set of handsome altar rails
in their proper place, of i6th-cent. date, bearing the inscription,
/ will wash mine hands in innocency so will I compasse Thine altar
O Lord. Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit
within me. By a distressing piece of bad taste, these rails have
been cut up, and used at the top of a make-shift screen.
There is a prevalent but quite erroneous idea that altar rails
,8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
did not come into use until the time of Laud. On the contrary,
they were in general use in early post-Reformation days, save where
the Puritans, who were practically non-conformists all round,
managed to hold the benefices. Williams, Archbishop of York,
when a Lincolnshire minister, published a treatise in 1636, called
The Holy Table, Name and Thing. Therein he observes—
"Throughout all the Diocese I live in, being no small part of the
kingdom, there is rails and barricades to keep the people from all
irreverence ... and so it was well done by the Reformed Church in
Poland in 1573-"
Lincoln diocese then included the counties of Lincoln, Leicester,
Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, and part of Herts. The
passage cited clearly does not refer to rails that had, as a rule,
been recently erected.
Bishop Wren, of Norwich, in his primary visitation in 1636,
put plainly one of the chief necessities for having altar rails,
ordering that " the Rayle be made before the Communion Table
reaching Crosse from the North wall to the South wall, neere one
yarde in height, so thick with pillars that doggs may not gett in."
In 1638, it was found at Lympenhoe that " the railes before the
Communion Table were so wide that dogs might go through."
The altar rails of Flintham and Elton, Notts., are clearly of
earlier work than Laud's days ; the former are probably late
Elizabethan.
Various churchwardens' accounts of the reigns of Elizabeth and
James I. name altar rails. There are also some dated examples
prior to Laud's injunctions.
At St. Gregory's, Norwich, they were erected in 1623 when
" vj greatt posts and 42 pillars " were provided to serve as rails
for " ye high Altar." Weever in his Funeral Monuments, printed
in 1631, mentions that the vicar and wardens of Stow-by- Walton
" about eight years agoe, in making a Raile about the Communion
Table, pulled downe the Toomb of William Spelman Esq. to
make roome for the Raile and Communicants." In the Calendar of
State Papers, under the year 1632, there is a specimen of some
scurrilous verses written against the parson of St. Nicholas,
Colchester, for having railed in the communion table.
At Maids-Moreton, Bucks., the altar table is dated 1623, and
the altar rails were undoubtedly erected at the same time ; whilst
at Burton Dassett, Warwicks., where the altar table with well-
ALTAR RAILS 19
turned legs bears the year 1618, there used to be rails of the same
date. The rails across the chancel of the little church of Barton-le-
Street, Yorks., were inscribed The Guifte of Jo Jin Slingsby, 1610 ;
they disappeared when the church was rebuilt in 1870. The altar
rails of Langley Marsh, Bucks., are dated 1625.
Altar rails that may fairly be termed Laudian, or of the latter
part of Charles I.'s reign, still remain in situ in some churches up
and down the country ; but the " restoration " fever of last century
is responsible for the destruction of many handsome and seemly
examples, which were infinitely more dignified and useful than the
cast-iron standards and oak or brass rail of modern church furnishers.
Among various churches where Laudian rails are to be noticed
in their proper place may be mentioned Froyle and Winchfield,
Hants ; Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Langar, Notts. ; Knipton, Leics. ;
Kingsthorpe, Northants ; Lingwood and Burlingham St. Edmund,
Norfolk ; Hunsdon, Herts ; and St. Martin, Talland, and Lanteglos,
Cornwall.
But where Laudian rails are still extant in our churches, they
have usually been moved and put to some more or less foolish and
inappropriate use. Thus at Potter Heigham, Norfolk, they have
been cut in two and placed in front of the quire seats ; whilst at
Monk Sherborne, Hants, they have quite lately been taken out of
the chancel and re-erected in front of the ringers' platform at the
west end of the church. These rails exist in the Northampton-
shire churches of Duddington, Creaton, and Gretton, but in each
case put to some inappropriate use ; whilst at Wellingborough, in
the same county, a good set of Laudian altar rails may be seen in
front of a music gallery in a public-house singing-room !
By far the most elaborate and beautiful Laudian altar rails
are those of Winchester cathedral. By a most unfortunate lack
of good taste, these rails have been moved from before the high
altar and are now to be seen in the Lady chapel.
With regard to the position of the altar rails, there are various
official presentments of Puritan clergy extant made by church-
wardens early in the iyth cent, among the archidiaconal records
at Ely and Chelmsford, objecting to rails being placed round
three sides of the "altar," instead of across the chancel from
north to south. In the Laudian days archidiaconal and episcopal
instructions for rails being placed across the chancel are common.
In one or two cases the three-sided rails have survived, of which
„ ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
x&sxssssg*-*.
balustrades,
-m extant; it
is so illustrated by Bloxam (m. I75>- churches
When ^^tTA^±^dS of this period is
iidered that this spiral treatment is later than the time of
Cha^s II, and the spiral rails of Lewknor church, Oxon., which
were dated 1699, are cited as evidence. We believe, however, that
the fashion prevailed from 1660 onwards.
ALTAR SCREENS OR REREDOSES
It was usual if not invariable to place behind the altar some
special background, whether hangings of drapery, paintings on
wall or panel, or some sort of erection of masonry. The earliest
existing English reredoses are the mural paintings on the west faces
of the piers in the nave of St. Albans, of Norman date, and the
two well-known stone reliefs at Chichester of the same period were
probably intended to serve the like purpose ; but most of the
existing altar screens belong to the second half of the I4th cent.
or later periods.
In cathedrals and great monastic or collegiate establishments,
the reredos to the high altar generally stood free, but in parish
churches and in chapels and behind minor altars the wall itself
was treated as the reredos, sometimes architecturally, in other
cases by drapery or paintings. For purpose of description these
reredoses may be divided into those of stone and those of panel,
whether English or otherwise.
RKREDOS, CHRIST CHURCH, HANTS
ALTAR SCREENS OR REREDOSES 21
Masonry reredoses were either free standing or attached.
The FREE STANDING may be—
Retables or High Altar Screens. — Of these there are six
good examples still existing in England, namely, those at
Winchester, St. Albans, Southwark, Ottery St. Mary, Christ-
church, and Milton. They resemble the Spanish retables, and
may be adopted from those of that country, or more probably may
have suggested them. These screens are all alike, in that they
consist of lofty walls of masonry enriched with tabernacle work,
but of the six, those of Winchester and St. Albans are the finest
examples. These are almost exactly alike, and are no doubt by
the same artist : both have the great central cross, and the same
niche arrangement, and in both the great niches are separated by
niches adorned by tabernacle work. In each case there are two
doors, one on each side of the altar. The statues are all modern.
The example at St. Saviour, Southwark, is very similar, but some-
what smaller and flatter in treatment ; it is plainer, not possessing
the tabernacle work between the niches, and the place of the
central cross is filled by a niche ; its three tiers are separated by
cornices of angels ; the similar cornice which crowns the whole is
modern. That at Christchurch is smaller, but equal in design to
any : it has the advantage of preserving most of its sculpture, all the
figures in the small niches and the great central group, representing
the tree of Jesse, being ancient ; like the previous example, it has
two doors. That at Ottery is earlier in date than any : it is smaller
and without doors ; it has below a row of panels and above three
very broad niches separated by tall compositions of tabernacle
work and finished by a projecting cornice, enriched by armorial
bearings, and crested. The example at Milton is similar in size
and proportion, but its architectural treatment is different ; it bears
an inscription with the date of its erection, A.D. 1492.
The Ottery example is attributed to Grandison (c. 1350); the
others all date from about 1500.
In Southwark, Milton, and Christchurch the screen is set
back to the eastern extremity of the presbytery, at Winchester
and Ottery it stands one bay, and at St. Albans a bay and a half
forward.
Similar in effect, though not in construction, is the reredos at
All Souls' College, Oxford, where the east wall is covered from
floor to roof with tabernacle work.
22
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The Low Free-standing Reredos, — The altar screen at West-
minster, separating the presbytery from the Confessor's Chapel,
is similar to the members of the last group, except in height ; it
is earlier in date than most of the former, but still Perpendicular,
probably about the end of the 1 5th cent. ; its west face is modern,
but the back, much shattered, is original. Its doors are large in
proportion ; it is only one stage in height, and has large niches
on either side of the doors ; its cornice is a band of sculpture
representing scenes from the life of the Confessor.
The rood screen at St. Albans also serves the purpose of a
reredos to the nave altar : its arrangement is similar to the last ;
it has two doorways with panelling above. Between the doors,
above the altar, is a row of panel, with a range of seven lofty niches
above, and external to the doors two similar niches, one on each
side ; a light crested parapet covers the whole.
At Great Malvern is a reredos which is probably unique. It is
composed of two walls, one forming the segment of a circle, and
the other its chord, the convexity of the curved position being
toward the east. The actual reredos is formed by the straight
wall or chord. This is quite flat, finished by a cresting and pierced
by two doors which lead to the narrow enclosed space. The west
face of this wall is completely covered with encaustic tiles, and the
segmented portion, unrelieved by carving or moulding, is also,
though not so profusely, decorated with tiles.
At Beverley and Selby there are detached altar screens of I4th-
cent. date, which resemble rather the solid or structural rood screens
in that they are of considerable depth, and form above roomy
galleries. In each case the posterior surface is, curiously enough,
more beautiful than the anterior, which, however, perhaps in neither
case shows its original arrangement. At Beverley it is simply
panelled, a modern restoration which claims to be faithful, and the
panels have the ungraceful peculiarity that they become narrower
toward the centre.
The Selby screen (destroyed, alas ! in the recent fire) extended
across the quire one bay from the east end, and was returned west-
ward on both north and south sides for one bay. The treatment
toward the altar was peculiar. The eastern and northern sides were
covered in the Perpendicular period with wooden presses for vest-
ments, with sliding panels for doors, and with a narrow locker for
the processional cross, while the south had four sedilia with rich
ALTAR SCREENS OR REREDOSES 23
canopies, of the same period. The arrangement had been altered
recently on its east face by the introduction of a modern carved
reredos.
These free-standing reredoses, though very rare, are not quite
unknown in parish churches. Examples are to be found at
Tideswell and Sawley, Derbs. ; at Westleton, Suffolk ; and South
Petherton, Somerset.
Open Reredoses. — At Durham the reredos is the finest piece of
open tabernacle work in the kingdom. It is of late Decorated or
transitional work (1373-80), and fills the arch, separating the quire
from the Nine-altars to the height of about 30 feet, and is returned
from one bay on each side to form four sedilia.
ATTACHED REREDOSES. — In smaller churches, and in aisles,
chapels, and chantries of the larger ones, the wall itself at the back
of the altar was treated as a reredos, either by arcading, panelling, or
by a sculptured table let into the wall. An early example is to be
seen in Chichester cathedral, where, in the north aisle of the nave,
there is a perfect though small example of Early English arcading,
and traces of two others. The finest example is at the east end
of Bristol cathedral. It presents three lofty masonry-work ogee
heads, crocketed and foliated, the interior enriched with gilt diaper.
They are separated by canopied niches or panels, the spandrels
occupied by armorial shields, finished by a carved cornice with light
open-work rail ; this dates from the beginning of the I4th cent.,
but was not finished till c. 1500. Another fine example is at
Ludlow, which preserves some of its original statuary, and has two
doors leading to an eastern sacristry beyond. Two other i5th-
cent. examples on a large scale, preserving some of their original
sculpture, are to be seen in the Lady chapel and in Tanner's
chantry of St. Cuthbert's, Weils. Other examples are to be seen
in the side chapels of Henry VII.'s chapel, Westminster, in the
north choir aisle of Bristol cathedral, and in the Mayor's chapel
at the latter city. At Sedgeberrow, Worcs., the reredos consists
of three large canopied niches extending the whole width of the
five-light east window, the centre niche being raised considerably
above the side ones. At Smisby, Derbs., the centre of the three-
light east window of the chancel, c. 1 360, is filled up with a canopied
niche, apparently part of the original design. A striking feature of
the church of Great Billing, Northants, is the large niche in the east
wall of the south aisle, between two smaller ones ; the three niches
24 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
are surmounted by crocketed ogee canopies of I4th-cent. date.
Similar examples are found at Solihull, Oxford St. Michael, and
various other churches. A simple but very elegant and perhaps
unique arrangement is that at Clapton-in-Gordano, Somerset.
This is of the I5th-cent. date, but Early English capitals are very
happily used in it. It consists of a shelf running right across the
chancel, supported by a slender circular shaft on each side of the
altar, whose caps and bases are well-carved Early English capitals.
Above the shaft the shelf is brought forward to form brackets for
two candlesticks, which fortunately survive.
In several churches are to be found tables of stone sculptured
in relief, which were probably intended as reredoses. They are
generally of alabaster, often coloured and gilded, and of 1 5th-cent.
date, but they occur at all periods, the earliest being the two well-
known Norman panels at Chichester. Other important examples
are those of Long Melford, Suffolk ; Yarnton, Oxon. ; and Welling-
ton, Somerset, the last now in the Taunton Museum. The pietas of
Breadsall and Battlefield may have served as reredoses to side altars.
Panels or fragments of panels of sculptured alabaster, the
majority of which have doubtless formed parts of reredoses,
exist in many other churches ; several of them have been found
during recent restorations. Dr. Bensly described the three
remarkable series of sculptured alabaster panels at Norwich
((i) Bishop's palace, (2) church of St. Peter Mancroft, (3) church
of St. Stephen) in Norfolk Archceologia, xi. 352-8. Mr. St. John
Hope, in 1890, gave a thorough paper on the alabaster panels of
SL John Baptist's Head (Archceologia, lii. 669-708). Additional
examples occur at the churches of Buckenham, East Rudham,
and Mulbarton, Norfolk ; Somerton and Hanwell, Oxon ; Milton
and Whittlesford, Cambs. ; Barkway, Herts (remains of two
groups) ; Freckenham, Suffolk ; White Waltham, Berks. ; Broughton,
W. R. Yorks. ; and Lostwithiel, Cornwall. All the mediaeval
worked alabaster came from Chellaston, Derbs. ; it seems to have
been chiefly carved at Nottingham. At the British Museum are
a considerable number of these old English alabaster panels, tables,
or retables; they include three Heads of St. John Baptist, three
Holy Trinities, and one each of the following subjects : Annuncia-
tion, Nativity, Adoration of Magi, Last Supper, Flagellation,
Resurrection, Assumption, Coronation of B.V.M., Destruction of
Sodom, Martyrdom of a King, and two differently treated Dooms.
ALTAR SCREENS OR REREDOSES 25
There are also at the Museum the lower halves of three broken
panels of alabaster subjects of superior finish, which were found in
the church of Kettlebaston, Suffolk, in 1883.
Wooden reredoses are rarer, but painted panels used for the
purpose are to be found at Westminster, Gloucester, Norwich
cathedral, and at the church of SS. Simon and Jude in the same
city, at Winchester, Romsey, and a few other places.
"The most beautiful thirteenth-century painting in England,"
says Mr. Lethaby, in his charming Westminster Abbey and the
King's Craftsmen (1906), "is the Westminster altar retable, now in
the Jerusalem Chamber. It is decorated with glass inlays and
jewels, and is made to resemble a piece of enamelled gold work."
Mr. Lethaby pronounces this reredos — termed by him retable —
to be English work. In the midst stands our Lord in majesty
between the Blessed Virgin and St. John. The small intermediate
panels contain beautifully executed miniatures of the miracles.
One of the end panels represents St. Peter, and the other one, now
destroyed, was probably St. Paul. The field between the panels is
beautiful gesso work. It was probably wrought by Master Waller,
" King's painter " to Edward I.
The panel-painted Norwich reredos, c. 1380, is of remarkable
interest and of undoubted English workmanship. It is 8 feet
6£ inches long by 2 feet io£ inches in height. It was found in the
cathedral church about 1850, having been long in use, in a reversed
position, as a table top. The paintings represent five scenes in the
life of our Lord, namely, the Scourging, the Carrying of the Cross, the
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, with raised grounds
of gesso work. The frame is decorated with some banners of the
probable donors, or in commemoration of some more substantial
offering made by them. The banners include those of Bishop
Henry le Despenser, Stephen Hales, Sir Thomas Morieux, and
others who were concerned in suppressing the great insurrection
of 1381. It is not therefore unreasonable to suppose that the
reredos was a thankoffering. There is a facsimile of this in the
Victoria and Albert Museum.
The triptych form is very rare in this country, but examples
are to be found at Sherborne (hospital chapel), Burford, Salop.,
and St. Cross, Winchester. The great wooden figure still existing
at Abergavenny was part of the sculptured reredos representing the
tree of Jesse.
26 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
At the east end of the north chancel chapel of Worstead,
Norfolk, are two large pedestals for images. The altar pace
between them retains its original elevation. Above where the
altar stood is the delicately painted wooden framework of a former
reredos, a most interesting and unusual survival.
There are a few old instances of a shelf behind the altar —
termed in modern days a retable— remaining in English churches.
At Grantham there is a low stone shelf, 5^ inches wide, and 6 inches
above it is another shelf in the window-sill. At the east end
of the south aisle of Cold Overton church, Leics., there is an
altar shelf enriched with moulding and carving, and clearly intended
to be seen. There are remains of a shelf over the chantry altar
within the grate of the tomb of Henry VII., in his chapel at West-
minster Abbey.
The following is a list of reredoses — it makes no claim to be
exhaustive — arranged under counties : —
s, — Arlesey, Blunham (sculptured panels preserved at the rectory),
Eaton Bray.
Berks. — Ardington (north aisle), Drayton, Fifield.
Cambs. — Ely, Lady Chapel, Harlton.
Chester. — At Bunbury, two altar pieces or reredoses came to light
during restoration in 1865. The one in the north chapel is 10
feet long, and has a frieze of carved foliage 9 inches deep; the
other in the south chapel is a mural painting, 7 feet 4^ inches long
and 8 inches high, representing Christ rising from the tomb.
Deri's. — Sawley, Tideswell.
Devon. — Exeter, Cathedral — Lady Chapel and Chantry Chapels ; Exeter
St. Mary Steps, Ottery St. Mary (retable, i4th cent.).
Dorset. — Milton Abbey (retable 1492), Rampisham (fragment); Sherborne,
Hospital (triptych).
Durham. — Durham Cathedral, c. 1380.
Gloucester. — Bristol, Cathedral ; Bristol, Mayor's Chapel ; Gloucester Cathe-
dral, (i.) painted panel in triforium, (ii.) Lady Chapel, (iii.) and (iv.)
fragments in chapels ; Northleach (battered remains of an elaborate
one, 7 inches below and 4 inches above), Notgrove.
Hants. — Christchurch, (i.) retable, (ii.) in Lady Chapel; Winchester
(i.) retable, (ii.) painted panel in feretory, (iii.) in Langton's Chapel,
and (iv.) in Wainfleet's Chantry ; Winchester, College.
Hereford*. — Kynnersley, sculptured rood (oak).
Herts. — St. Albans, retable, and several painted on west faces of nave
piers; Great Munden (south aisle), Oxhey (Jacobean), Stevenage
(oak), Wheathampstead (north transept).
27
Kent. — Smarden.
Lines. — Fiskerton.
Middlesex. — Westminster Abbey, St. Edmund's Chapel, Jerusalem
Chamber.
Monmouth. — Abergavenny (colossal recumbent statue of Jesse, part of a
Jesse's tree).
Norfolk. — Norwich, Cathedral (painted panel in Jesus Chapel) ; Norwich,
St. George Tombland (fragment), St. Peter Mancroft, St. Simon
and St. Jude (painted panel), St. Stephen ; Thurne (space for reredos
below east window), Worstead (north chapel), Yarmouth (fragment).
Northants. — Caistor, Chipping Warden.
Notts. — Newark.
Oxon. — Abingdon St. Nicholas, Adderbury, Bampton, Enstone, Hanwell
(n. aisle), Chipping Norton; Oxford, All Souls' College, Magdalen
College, St. Michael's Church ; Somerton, Yarnton.
Rutland. — Whissendine, i4th cent., paintings of Crucifixion, etc. ; now
stowed away behind the organ.
Salop. — Bur ford (triptych), Leintwardine, Ludlow.
Somerset. — Axbridge, Clapton-in-Gordano, Ilminster, Wellington (c. 1400);
Wells, St. Cuthbert's, Lady Chapel, and Tanner's Chantry.
Su/olk.—Long Melford, Westleton.
Surrey. — Guildford, Reigate (wooden reredos), South wark (retable).
Sussex. — Chichester Cathedral, Harting.
Warwicks. — Chesterton (a fragment of stone reredos built into wall above
porch), Shotteswell (wooden),* Solihull, (i.) south chapel (of stone),
(ii.) north chapel (fragment of wood).
Wilts. — Barham (Carolean reredos of panelled oak, dated 1643),
Great Bedwin (sculptured panel in respond) ; Salisbury, Cathedral,
Lady Chapel ; Urchfont (fragment), Winterbourne Monkton.
Worcs. — Kidderminster, Great Malvern, Sedgeberrow ; Worcester,
Cathedral, Prince Arthur's Chantry, Refectory.
Yorks. — Beverley (low screen with gallery), Pocklington, Preston-in-
Holderness (sculptured, c. 1350), Selby (low screen), Sutton, York
Minster (open screen).
* This reredos did not originally belong to Shotteswell, but was placed here by a late
rector.
CHAPTER II
CHURCH PLATE-CHALICE AND PATEN— PYX-CRUETS
AND FLAGONS —SPOONS — PAX — CENSERS — CHRISMA-
TORIES — ALTAR AND PROCESSIONAL CROSSES — CRO-
ZIERS AND MITRES— ALMS DISHES— HERALDIC CHURCH
PLATE-CUIRBOUILLI CASES— PEWTER
CHURCH PLATE
ECCLESIASTICAL Plate consisted of the Sacramental Plate,
namely, Chalice and Paten, Cruets, Pyxes or Ciboria,
Censers and Incense Vessels, the Pax, the Chrismatory,
the Altar Cross and Candlesticks, and at a late period the Mon-
strance ; to these we may add the jewelled bindings of the Service
books. All these were for the service of the altar, and in addition
were Processional and other Crosses, Croziers or Pastoral Staffs,
and Mitres.
Ancient inventories show how rich were the cathedrals and
larger parish churches, both in the number and costliness of their
sacred vessels, and it is certain that at the time of the Reformation
no church was so poor as not to possess at least one chalice and
paten of silver or silver-gilt, with a seemly provision of the other
Instrumenta. Now in the whole country careful search has not
hitherto brought to light more than about fifty old chalices and ninety
patens, whilst of the other objects which dropped out of use or were
not needed in the Reformed Service, the destruction has been nearly
absolute. It is customary to attribute the loss to the rapacity of
Henry VIII., but it was at least his intention to leave a sufficiency
for the decent celebration of the Holy Communion, and this no
doubt was done ; but during the reign of his immediate successor
and of Elizabeth, Puritan zeal was bitter against even " Mass-Cups."
In another way the Reformation led indirectly to the loss of much
church plate, apart from royal confiscations. Rather than see their
28
CHALICES 29
valuables confiscated, the vicars and wardens sold large quantities
to pay for repairs, and, less legitimately, diverted still more to their
own use. Thus at one church alone, at Devizes, the churchwardens
appropriated a cross, five chalices, a pair of candlesticks, two censers,
an incense boat with spoon, a pyx, two paxes, and two cruets, the
whole valued at the time at £106.
CHALICES
Among the consecrated vessels of the Church the cup took the
first place. Originally the chalice or cup was of various materials,
glass — at a time when glass was rare and costly — being frequently
used. Wooden chalices were in occasional use until the gth
cent. Several councils of that century forbade the use of wood,
tin, glass, and copper. ^Elfric's canons, however, of 957 allowed
wood, owing probably to the devastations of the Danes ; but the
canons of King Edgar, three years later, ordered molten metal.
In 1222, the Archbishop of Canterbury forbad the use of tin or
pewter.
From the I3th cent, downwards, the English mass-cup, with
the rarest and most uncanonical exceptions, was always of one
of the precious metals, generally of silver-gilt, and occasionally
of gold.
In this country they were always stately vessels, generally from
6 to 8 inches in height, and consisted of a spreading base, a stem
for holding, and a bowl ; almost invariably the stem presented a
swelling member, the knop, for convenience of handling. They are
generally richly decorated, both by engraving and in the modelling.
They have been variously classified, but the simple system
adopted by Mr. Cripps (Old English Plate, 9th ed., 1906) is
sufficient, namely, Romanesque or Norman, from the earliest
period to about 1350 ; Gothic, from that date till 1510 ; and Tudor,
from 1510 till they ceased to be made, at the period of the
Reformation.*
Most of the cups of the first type owe their preservation to
their having been used as sepulchral, or coffin chalices. It was the
* In the Archtp.ological Journal of 1886 (vol. xliii.), Mr. St. John Hope and Mr.
Fallow subdivided mediaeval chalices and patens into a large variety of types according
to the form and ornamentation of the vessels. In the same journal for 1904 (vol. Ixi.)
there is a supplementary note as to additional examples discovered since 1886.
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
custom, at the interment of a priest, to bury a chalice with him.
These were usually of base metal, latten or pewter, but in the case
of dignitaries actual sacramental chalices were sometimes used.
WYLYE, WILTS., 1525
tt °
°f
of
one n e vet T °' '""* °f S"Ch CUpS' 3"d 'm at least
mernbe of ,, *"' ^ *K '" °CCasional use- T1>=
r th,s group have the bowl hemispherical, the base
PATENS 31
circular, and the knop small ; they are smaller than the later cups,
and especially shorter in the stem ; they are little ornamented,
depending for their effect on their graceful proportion. All but
two known to exist are coffin cups, and are to be found at Canter-
bury, York (3), Lincoln (3), St. Davids, Hereford, Salisbury,
Exeter, and Chichester (2). The two exceptions are the examples
from Berwick St. James, Wilts, (now in the British Museum), and
the beautiful Dolgelly chalice.
The cups of the second type are taller ; the bowl is conical, or
rather sugar-loaf shaped, the foot is hexagonal, the knop large and
elaborate ; the ornament, which is generally rich, is architectural
in character ; the crucifixion is usually engraved on one side of the
base, and sometimes other subjects on the other side. There are
occasionally small feet at the angles of the base. Occasionally the
cups of this period are severely plain, as in the Combe Pyne chalice,
which is unusual in having only a rudimentary knop. There remain
about twenty-one examples of the second type, beginning with that
at Hamstall Ridware, c. 1350, which is transitional from type one, to
the Leominster chalice of 1510, which has affinities with the next
class. This last is the largest of all the specimens remaining of
the mediaeval silversmith's art in England.
The chalices of the third type, Tudor, generally resemble the
last, but the bowl is shallower and more nearly approaches the
hemispherical form ; the foot is a sexfoil, or has a wavy base ;
stem and knop elaborate, the decoration being purely architectural,
the character late Gothic, but with sometimes an admixture of
renaissance ornament. There is generally an inscription round the
bowl, and sometimes on the base also, and the underside of
the latter may be engraved. These cups are usually over-elabo-
rated ; the most simple, as it is the most beautiful, is the chalice as
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which is the only gold cup ot
English workmanship extant. Ten examples in all exist of this
type.
PATENS
With the chalice was always found the paten, a small, flat,
shallow dish, circular in form, for the reception and distribution of
the consecrated wafer. Every chalice had its own proper paten,
of the same material and workmanship, designed to form a cover,
and not, as is sometimes stated, a stand for it. In old inventories
32 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
the term " chalice " must always be taken to include a paten. Most
of the chalices which have been preserved are still accompanied by
their patens, but several of the latter have survived when their
cups have been lost. This is especially the case in the county of
Norfolk, where, though only a single cup has remained, there are
no fewer than thirty-four patens. It is probable that the Puritan
objection was less to the paten, which was used by the laity, than
to the chalice, the exclusive possession of the priest, and no doubt
too it was more easily concealed. The total number of patens of
BUCKHORN WESTON, DORSET, c. 1520-30
undoubted English workmanship is ninety-one, and a few more may
still be discovered.
All patens, of whatever period, are circular plates, about 6
iches m diameter, with a depression in the centre, either circular
our-, six-, or eight-foiled. All have a design in the centre. Of
patens belonging to the first type, the earlier have the Agnus
i as the central device, the later the Manus Dei, or hand in
\ 1^ lepression is ei*er circular or a quatrefoil,
-ely an octofoil. The patens of this type are generally bette
PATENS 33
in design than the later example, and the two earliest, those at
Wyke, Wilts, c. 1200, and Worcester, 1266, are the best.
In the second type the depression is six-foil, the device most
usually the "Vernicle," or head of Christ ; in one instance, a repre-
sentation of the first and second Persons of the Trinity.
Those of the third type resemble the last. Sometimes the
sacred monogram is used as the device ; and the inscription round
the rim, occasional before, is now habitual.
The following is a list of pre-Reformation chalices and patens,
arranged under counties.
C., chalice; P., paten; sep., sepulchral.
Berks. — Farringdon, Little, C. ; West Challow, P.
Chester. — Chester, Dean of, C.
Cornwall. — Anthony, St., C. ; Kea, C. and P. (foreign).
Cumberland. — Kirk Oswald, C., P., sep. ; Melmerby, sep. ; Whitebeck,
flagon (pewter).
Derbs. — Dronfield, P. ; Hartshorne, P. ; Shirley, P.
Devon. — Cofton, C. ; Combe Pyne, C., P. ; Exeter, Cathedral, C., P., sep. ;
Ipplepen, C. ; Haccombe, C., P., sep.
Dorset. — Buckhorn Weston, P.; Combe Keynes, C. ; Sturminster Mar-
shall, C.
Durham. — Hamsterley, P. ; Heworth, P.
Essex.— Earls Colne, P. ; Waltham, Great, P.
Glos— Bristol, All Saints, P.
Hants. — Gatcombe, C., P. ; Sutton, Bishop's, P. ; Wyke, P. (c. 1200).
Hereford's. — Bacton, C., P. ; Dorstone, sep. in latten ; Leominster, C., P.
Norton Canon, P. ; Stoke Prior, C., P. (now in South Kensington
Museum) ; Hereford Cathedral, C., P.
Hunts. — Stowe Longa, P.
Kent.— Cliffe at Hoo, P. ; Walmer, P.
Lanes. — Claughton, R. C. Church, C. ; Hornby, R. C. Church, C. j Leyland
R. C. Church, C.
Leics. — Blaston St. Giles, C. ; Easton, Great, P. ; Radcliffe-on-Wreake,
R. C. Coll., P. ; Syston, P. ; Wymeswold, C. (original object doubtful),
Lines. — Lincoln Cathedral, C. iL, P. ii.
Middlesex. — Drayton, West, C., P.
Norfolk. — Bacton, P. ; Banningham, P. ; Beachamwell, P. ; Beeston-next
Mileham, P. ; Beeston Regis, P. ; Beigbton, P.; Brancaster, P. ; Caston,
P. ; Colby, P. ; Cossey, P. ; Cromer, P. ; Felbrigge, P. ; Foxley, P. ;
Gissing, P. ; Happisburgh, P. ; Hanworth, P. ; Hockering, P. ; Hoik-
ham, P. ; Hockham, Great, P. ; Merton, P. ; Mundham, P. ; Norwich,
St. Peter Mancroft, C. ; Oulton, P. ; Paston, P. ; Runton, P. ; Salle,
D
34 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
P. ; Soham Toney, P. ; Shernbourne, P. ; Suffield, P. ; Thurgarton, P. ;
Tittleshall, P. ; Tuddenham, North, P. ; Tuttington, P. ; Wood Bailing,
P.; Wymondham, P.
Oxon.— Garsington ; Little Farringdon, C. ; Oxford, Brazenose Coll., C. ii.,
P. ii.; Corpus Christi, C., P. (gold); Trinity Coll., C., P.
Rutland.— Preston, P.
Somerset— Chewton Mendip, C, P. (cup is secular) ; Nettlecombe, C., P. ;
Pilton, P.
Staffs.— Hamstall Ridware, C, P. ; Pillaton Hall, C., P.
Suffolk.— Pakefield, C. ; Bedingfield, P.
Sussex.— Chichester, C. ii., P. ii. ; Lodsworth, C., P. ; Westbourne, C.
Warwicks— Castle Bromwich, P.
Westmoreland.— Button, Old, C.
Wilts.— Salisbury, Cathedral, C., P. ; St. Edmund's, P. ; Berwick St. James,
P. (now in British Museum) ; Ebbesbourne, C., P. ; Highworth, C. ;
Wylye, C.
.— Cofton Hacket, P. i.; Dudley, R. C. Church, C. ; Worcester,
Cathedral, P.
— Beswick, C., P. ; Goatland, C. ; Hinderwell, C., P. ; Kirk Ham-
merton, P. ; York Minster, C. iii., P. iii.
Nothing suffered more grievously during the Reformation
period than the altar plate. After most of the plate had been
locally embezzled or seized by the crown as monuments of super-
stition in the earlier part of Edward VI.'s reign, the covetous Council
of the boy-king coolly decreed, in 1551, that "forasmuche as the
King's Majestic had neede presently of a Masse of Mooney there-
fore commissions should be addressed into all shires of Englande
to take into the Kinges handes such church plate as henceforth to
be emploied unto his Highness use." This commission swept every-
thing, save a chalice and paten, bells, and a surplice or two, into the
royal coffers ; and where Puritanism was rampant, even the old
mediaeval chalice, with all its beauty, was melted down to make
the unsightly Edwardian cup.
There are but few Communion Cups of the time of Edward VI. ;
those that have been identified as belonging to this period are
seventeen* in number, and have been found at Bridekirk,
Cumberland; St. Clements, Oxford; Hunstanton, Norfolk;
Totnes, Devon ; Clapton and Houghton, Northants ; Repton and
Twyford, Derbs. ; St. Margaret's, Westminster ; and St. Lawrence
* Mr. Cripps in the gth edition of Old English Plate (1906) mentions fifteen, but
the two Derbyshire examples, as well as the beautiful medieval paten at Dronfield, were
not noted until 1907.— J. C. C.
PATENS 35
Jewry, and several other churches of the city of London. With the
exception of Bridekirk, which may have been originally for secular
use, the few cups of this reign are plain with bell-shaped bowls, and
a conical stem without knops.
In the great majority of cases the solitary old mediaeval chalice
and its accompanying small paten, that had been spared during
the Edwardian spoiling, was suffered to remain in use for three or
four years after the accession of Elizabeth. But not long after
the beginning of the Queen's reign, there was a movement among
the leading reformers to substitute new cups for the old chalices.
The utilitarian reason was that the restoration of the communion
in both kinds to the laity demanded a larger vessel. Instances
of what were termed cups as opposed to chalices occur as early
as 1561, at Biddenden and Lyminge, Kent ; at Beeford and
Ugglebarnby, Yorks. ; and at St. Laurence Jewry, London. Kent
was the first county where the general substitution of the cup
for the chalice took place, for a large number of the Elizabethan
cups of that county date from 1562. By degrees the abandonment
of the old chalice was insisted upon at various episcopal visitations.
When Archbishop Parker made his metropolitical visitation in
1 569, he asked, inter alia, " Whether they do minister in any pro-
phane cuppes, bowles, dishes, or chalices heretofore used at Masse ;
or els in a decent Communion cuppe, provided and kept for that
purpose." In 1571, Archbishop Grindal instituted a metropolitical
visitation of the northern province of York. His fourth injunction
to the clergy contained these words —
" And shall minister the Holy Communion in no chalice, nor any
prophane cup or glass, but in a Communion cup . of silver, and with a
cover of silver appointed also for the ministration of the Communion
bread."
In the face of such injunctions, the wonder is that any mediaeval
•chalices or patens remain.
In the Elizabethan chalice the form of the old cup was
altogether changed ; instead of being a shallow wide bowl, it
was elongated into the form of an inverted truncated cone,
slightly bell-shaped. The form of the paten was also at the same
time much changed ; the sunk part of the platter was deepened,
the brim narrowed, and a rim or edge attached, whereby when
inverted it fitted on the cup as a cover. A foot, too, was added
.6 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
O
to the paten, which served as a handle to the cover, and also to
steady it in the minister's hand when administering the bread.
Although there was considerable variety in these cups and covers,
the style of ornament was almost invariably the same. It consisted
mainly of an engraved band or bands round the body of the cup
and on the top of the cover, formed by two narrow fillets which
interlace or cross each other, the space between them being
occupied by a scroll of foliage. They vary in height from 5$ to
8£ inches.
There are a vast number of Elizabethan chalices, many of
which retain their paten-covers, left in English churches up and
down the country, particularly in the west of England and in the
Midlands. The old Somerset churches actually possess Elizabethan
plate in nearly half the number. There are 493 ancient parish
churches and chapels, and in 225 there are Elizabethan chalices
and patens, or one or the other. Out of about 300 parishes in
Dorsetshire, over 100 retain their Elizabethan cups. In Wiltshire
there are 70 of these cups. In Leicestershire there are 83, 33
of which have their paten-cover. Kent churches possess 90
Elizabethan chalices and 42 paten-covers. In the diocese of
Carlisle are 37 Elizabethan chalices, 14 of which retain their cover.
Surrey is exceptionally destitute of Elizabethan plate ; this wide-
spread county only possesses 27 cups of that reign, 18 of which
have their proper cover ; there are also two paten-covers that have
lost their cup.
There are a fair number of Elizabethan cups and covers in
Buckinghamshire, the majority of which date from 1569, the year
of Archbishop Parker's injunction on the subject. Herefordshire
churches retain a large proportion of Elizabethan plate, namely,
53 chalices and 39 paten -covers. But in the north of England
their occurrence is much rarer ; there are only 7 Elizabethan cups,
4 of which have their paten-covers, in the whole of Northumber-
land, and they are all of 1570 or 1571 ; whilst Durham has but
17 pieces of Elizabethan church plate all told.
Northamptonshire, on the contrary, has a great variety ; there
are 97 Elizabethan cups (chiefly of the year 1570), 45 of which
have their paten-covers, whilst in eight churches there are patens
lacking the cup.
The prevailing date of the Elizabethan cups in different
counties clearly indicates the time when the various bishops insisted
PATENS 37
on the order as to the abandonment of the massing chalices.
In Yorkshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire the prevailing
date is 1570 or 1571; in Norfolk and Suffolk about four years
earlier ; but in Gloucestershire and the west of England about as
much later.
Occasionally the evidence of the reforming of the mediaeval
church plate on Elizabethan lines is plainly evident. Thus at
Little Birch, Herefords., the inside of the paten-cover of the
Elizabethan chalice, dated 1576, shows distinct traces that it was
made out of the ancient flat paten ; on the under side there are
remnants of the old engravings and gilding, showing the faint
outline of the vernicle in the centre.
In a very few cases parish churches possess beautiful examples
of pre-Reformation plate of a secular character, presented to them
by generous donors. The two most noteworthy instances are the
singularly fine secular cups at Tong, Salop., and at Yateley, Hants.
A few handsomely ornamented secular cups bearing Elizabethan
hall marks are to be found among church plate now in use.
Derbyshire supplies two good examples. The beautifully engraved
cup of Derwent Chapel has a great variety of ornamental figures,
such as a seal, a turtle, various fish, harps, and eagles ; it was
clearly not intended for ecclesiastical use ; the date mark is 1584.
The chalice at Kedleston, 1601, is a beautiful silver-gilt cup,
engraved all over with trefoils, and bearing the impaled arms of
Penn and Leake. There are various fine examples of early
I7th-cent. secular plate, in the shape of standing cups, as at
St. Andrews, Norwich ; Linton, Kent ; Welland, Worcs. ; Appleby,
Westmoreland ; Westward, Cumberland ; Odcombe, Somerset ;
Bodmin, Cornwall ; Babbacombe, Devon ; All Saints, Oxford ; and
Greeting St. Mary and Playford, Suffolk.
In Archbishop Laud's days an attempt was made to revive
the shape of the old mediaeval chalice, as is shown by the Lambeth
Palace chapel cup of 1635, and by the cup of the neighbouring
church of St. Mary in 1638 ; but the cups of the latter part of
Charles I.'s reign were mostly of a heavier and plainer style.
It is not proposed to follow up here the further history of
English altar plate, but it may be remarked that there are some
instances in the I7th cent., in addition to the days of Laud, in
which there was a happy reversion to the old English traditional
shape of hemispherical bowl, stem with knop, and hexagonal
38 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
indented foot. The best of all such examples are to be found in
Derbyshire, in the beautiful silver-gilt chalices (accompanied by
patens and flagons) given by Lady Frances Kniveton, second wife
of Sir Gilbert Kniveton, Bart, of Bradley, to the adjacent churches
of Bradley, Kniveton, Mugginton, Osmaston, and Kirk Langley,
in the time of Charles II. Similar sets were also given to Ashbourne
and Brailsford, but they have been stolen ; each set cost £50.
The church of Vowchurch, Herefords., has a peculiarity
attaching to its altar vessels unshared, we believe, by any other
church in England. It possesses a cup or chalice of wood (long
unused) standing /£ inches high, with a large oviform bowl ; it
has a short baluster stem and a circular base with small incised
mouldings ; on the bowl are carved three birds, of different designs,
each within a circle. The probable date is about 1620, and there
seems little doubt that it was in use as a sacramental cup until
1693, when the parish purchased a silver chalice.
It was not unusual, in the later mediaeval days, to ask for prayers
for the souls of the donors on altar plate. The small amount of pre-
Reformation plate left in English churches affords four examples.
Round the hexagonal foot of the mediaeval chalice (1507) of West
Drayton, Middlesex, is the black-letter inscription — Orate pro aiabus
Johis Porpyll et Johanne uxor'ei. On the paten at Pilton, Somerset,
is the following ungrammatical legend : Orate pro bono statu d j
dier vicariits hius loci. At Bacton, Herefords., on the foot of
the chalice, is the name John Capull. The Elizabethan cup of
Thornage, Norfolk, bears the counterpart of a legend which was
evidently at one time borne by the pre-Reformation chalice, it is
inscribed — This is ye gyfte of John Bates and Margret hys wyfe,
1456, whych died 1477 ; and on the paten-cover of this cup
appears — The f ashen altred by I. Stalom, d. av 1563.
There are various records as to similar special inscriptions on
altar vessels that are no longer extant ; it will suffice to cite two-
instances. Lincoln Minster possessed a chalice which had been
given to that church by William of Wykeham ; on it was inscribed —
Memoriale domini Willelmi Wikehm. In 1498, Anne, Lady
Scrope, of Harling, bequeathed " To the priory of Chacombe a
chalis of iiif, and my husbandes name Sir Robert and myn, upon
the foote, for a remembrans to pray for us."
PYXES
PYXES
39
Although there does not seem to have been a definite rule in
this country as to the place of preservation of the Reserved Sacra-
ment, the general English usage was undoubtedly to place it in a
BRACKET WITH SUSPENDED PYX (DG>VE) AND CANOPY
4o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Pyx, or box of wood, metal, or ivory, which was then suspended
in front of the Altar, in a hanging receptacle usually termed the
tabernacle, and sometimes only the canopy.
A crane or pulley was so arranged over the altar as to permit
of the ready raising or lowering of the pyx, which was suspended
by a chain or cord attached to a ring on its top. Above the pyx
was hung the canopy, a circular tent-like construction, formed of
some costly fabric, which was generally attached to a ring and
ornamental crown of metal.
This custom of suspending the pyx was also used in the Gallic
Church, and the accompanying illustrations from French sources
explain the method of suspension, and the nature of the pyx and
canopy, far better than any mere verbal description.
Pre-Reformation wills bear ample evidence to the zeal displayed
for the renewal and beautifying of the pyx canopy. In 1500 a
bequest was made to the church of Walberswick,
Suffolk, to provide " a canope over the hygh awter
welle done with our Lady and iiij aungelys and the
Holy Ghost [i.e. the dove] goyng upp and down
with a cheyne." Faversham church, Kent, pos-
sessed in 1512 "a canopy for the Sacrament of
crymson sarsenett with knoppis of golde and tacellys
of sylke." The pyx cloth of St. Mary-at-Hill,
London, in 1496, was fringed with gold and had
" knoppis of golde & sylke of Spaynesshe mayking."
Whenever early wills are consulted the devotion of
the faithful to any form of enrichment about the
Blessed Sacrament becomes obvious. Thus, the
following occur in a group of Northamptonshire
bequests : —
" To mendynge the canopye and blessed Sacrament of
the aulter xuW." (Holcot) ; " towards the maintenaunce of
a canopye over the hie aulter, iiij^." (Daventry) ; " to the
sacrament of the aulter to by a canopye xs." (Great
Billing) ; " a canope to hang over the holy & blessyd
Sacrament" (Brafield).
The references in the highly interesting records of the church
of St. Mary-at-Hill contain various references to the repairs of the
pyx pulley, the pyx rope, and the pyx plum ; the last of these was
TK
01
^
PYX CLOTH, HESSETT, SUFFOLK
PYXES 41
the plum of lead which acted as a counterpoise to the weight of
the suspended pyx. In the roof of the chancel of West Grinstead,
Sussex, there may still be noticed a rude kind of lever-balance of
wood, which evidently served for the purpose of raising and lower-
ing the pyx. Roof-pulleys in the apex of the nave roof immediately
in front of the chancel arch are to be noticed in several churches,
particularly in East Anglia, as at Wissett, Ubbeston, and Wyverstone.
These are sometimes wrongly pointed out as Sacrament pulleys ;
PYX AND CANOPY, OPEN
but of course in this position they served for the suspension of the
"rowell," or circle of lights in front of the Rood.
Immediately over the suspended pyx there also hung a white
cloth of fair linen or lawn, which had in the centre a round hole for
the passage of the ring and chain. The churchwardens' accounts
of St. Mary-at-Hill for 1529-30 contain an entry of the payment
of 2d. for " wasshyng and starchyng of the pix clothe." There is
a highly interesting survival of an English pyx cloth preserved in
the church of Hessett, Suffolk. It is of a square shape, measuring
2 feet 4 inches, made of linen, worked into a pattern by the with-
drawal of some threads and the knotting of others. Around it is
a silk fringe of rose and yellow, I inch wide, the colours alternating
in the space of i^ inch. At one corner a gilt wooden ball is still
suspended by a tassel of silk, of the same colour as the fringe ; the
other three balls have become detached. In the centre is a round
hole, more than an inch wide, bound with silk ribbon that shows
£ inch on each side. One of the most usual forms that the actual
42 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
pyx took in early days was that of a dove, which was often
beautifully made of gold or silver and richly enamelled. This
form appears to have been commoner in the Gallican than the
English Church ; but there is a reference to it in an inventory of
the cathedral church of Salisbury of the year 1222. Bishop Canti-
lupe, of Worcester, ordered, in 1240, that the Eucharist should be
reserved in a pyx of silver, ivory, or Limoges enamel (de opere
Lenovidico). An inventory of the chapel of Hurst, Berks., of the
year 1220, makes mention of a pyx suspended over the altar of
Limoges enamel. The more usual English shape seems to have
been of a circular form, with dome-cover surmounted by a cross
and ring. An old one of this description, richly enamelled, is
illustrated in the Archaological Journalist 1846 (ii. 167).
A most interesting example of a pyx was found in the parish
of Exning, near Newmarket,
Suffolk, buried in the earth,
a little distance from the
church. With it were found
altar candlesticks and sacring
bells, so that there could be
no doubt that they repre-
sented some of the altar furni-
ture hidden to escape the con-
fiscation of Edward VI.'s
commissioners. This pyx is
of latten and in the form of
a covered cup, surmounted
by a conical spire, which is
crowned with a crucifix. The
height is ii inches, and the
diameter of the cup 4! inches. Round the cover is engraved in
large characters, Magnificat ai'a — "My soul doth magnify." At
the top of the cross is a ring and a link of a chain by which it had
been suspended, and there is another small ring under the hexagon
foot of the cup. There is a lock to the cover. Its date is pro-
bably of the last half of the i$th cent.
There is, however, just some slight evidence that the method
of Reservation occasionally followed the Italian fashion of using a
small locker immediately over or on the high altar. In 1466 there
was " j coffyr for to keep the Sacrament on the hygh auter " at the
DOVE-SHAPED PYX
PYXES 43
church of St. Stephen, Colman Street; and in 1547 the church-
wardens of St. Margaret, Westminster, is. ^d. for the making of
" a little coffer upon the hie altar for to set in the sacrament." It
has also been conjectured — but we are not aware of any evidence
to support such an idea — that an almery in the north wall of the
chancel was sometimes used in English churches for Reservation.
The occurrence of "Sacrament Houses," of the I5th and i6th
cents., in this position in the churches of Scotland, is well known.
At Warkleigh, Devon, is a remarkable box of oak richly
painted and gilded. The base is a solid piece of oak /£ inches by
7i inches ; it is richly moulded except on one side, which is cut
flat to allow it standing against the wall. Into this base, which is
2 1 inches thick, the three oak sides are morticed. The front is a
door on iron hinges, and a lock was its original fastening. The
interior is 6f inches high, and the square of the box is 4^ inches
by 4^ inches, so that it could only have held a small ciborium. At
the top the two sides rise slightly above the roof, possibly to serve
as a protection for the base of the actual pyx when placed for
devotion on the top of the box. The painting is in fair preser-
vation, and is in oils. The front, back, and sides are green within
a vermilion border, and in the centre of each is a jewelled ring of
gold. Within these rings on door and back are five-leaved ver-
milion roses etched in with black. On the sides are stars of eight
rays in vermilion on a white ground. Each circle or ring is girt
with a wreath of alternate white and red leaves, and the corners of
the box are cusped with white, and within the cusps are gold roses
of four leaves. There is a coloured plate and description of this
box in the Proceedings of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society
(N.S. v. 126-130), where it is definitely assumed to be a pyx case
that stood above the altar. But the far more probable solution is
that the box was merely used for containing the metal pyx during
the rites associated with the Easter Sepulchre. Among other
mistaken ideas as to supposed pyxes may be mentioned a curiously
shaped circular silver cup, of 1512-13, at the church of Wymes-
wold, Leics., and a circular wooden iron-bound box with three
locks in a church at Bristol.
The true pyx was always provided with a single lock and key.
At the episcopal visitation of his diocese made by Bishop Waltham
of Salisbury, in 1393, one of the questions asked in every church
was as to the condition of the locks and keys on three pieces of
44 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
church furniture which were always to be kept locked, namely, the
pyx, the chrismatory, and the font.
Many instances might be cited as to the beautiful workmanship
and considerable sums lavished on pyxes, particularly towards the
eve of the Reformation. The silver pyx of St. Mary-at-Hill bore
a small Rood with attendant figures on its summit. Thomas
Doddington, of All Saints, Northampton, leaves, in 1530, £10 in
money or plate to make a pyx for the Sacrament, and requests
that his brother (who was probably a working goldsmith of the
town) should " make the said pix after such a goodly manner as
he can devyse." Parishioners often united their contributions to
procure a worthy vessel ; thus Henry Godwin, of Irchester, leaves,
in 1526, 40s. "towards the bying and purchasing of a pyxe of
sylver & gylte to ley the blessed Sacrament or body of our Lord
Jhesu Cryste, there to remain for ever."
No account of English pyxes, however brief, should leave un-
noticed the generosity in this respect of Henry VII., as is certified
by the following clause in his last will : —
" Forasmoche as we have often and many tymes, to our inwarde
regrete and displeasure, seen in diverse and many Churches of oure Reame,
the holie Sacrament of the Aulter kept in ful simple and inhonest Fixes,
specially Fixes of copre and tymbre ; we have appointed and commaunded
the Tresourer of our Chambre, and Maistre of our Juellhouse, to cause to
be made furthwith Fixes of silver and gilte, in a greate nombre, for the
keping of the holie Sacrament of th' Aultre, after the faction of a Fixe
that we have caused to be delivered to theim, every of the said Fixes to
be of the value of iiii/., garnished with our armes, and rede Roses and
Poortcolis crowned : of the which Fixes we woll, that to the laude and
service of God, th' onour of the holie Sacrament of th' Aulter, the weale of
our soule, and for a perpetual memorie of us, every house of the iiii ordres
of Freres, and in likewise every Parisshe church within this our Reame,
not having a Fixe, nor noon other honest vessell of silver and gilte, nor of
silver ungilted, for the keping of the said Holy Sacrament, have of our gifte
in our life oon of the said Fixes, assone and spedely as goodly may
be doon."
Various blunders have been made, and often repeated, with
regard to supposed survivals of pyx tabernacles in English churches.
The two commonly cited examples, at Milton Abbas, Dorset, and
at Tewkesbury abbey, where there are beautifully carved small
wooden cases (the former of which is surmounted by delicate
CRUETS AND FLAGONS
45
pinnacled work), prove, on careful examination, to be receptacles
for a ring or chime of small sanctus bells affixed to a wheel. A
supposed pyx tabernacle of another
style is to be seen in the library of
Wells cathedral. It has several times
been asserted that this cylindrical case
of open woodwork used to hang in front
of the high altar of Glastonbury abbey
as a pyx tabernacle. It was exhibited
before the Society of Antiquaries in
1897, when it was fully described by
Mr. St. John Hope. It is 3 feet ii£
inches high, and has an internal diameter
of 14^ inches ; it has moulded rings at
the base and the top, as shown in the
illustration. From the crested upper
ring rise two pair of iron stays which
unite in a ring. The woodwork shows
considerable traces of colour. This
lantern-like object, c. 1270, is depicted
in the Proceedings of the Society as a
"wooden pyx-canopy (?)." We are in-
clined to strongly emphasize the query.
If the pyx was ever slung in its midst,
it could not have been got out without
infinite trouble.
CRUETS AND FLAGONS
Two cruets, one for wine and the
other for water, formed an invariable
part of the Eucharistic plate, from the
earliest days of which we have any in-
ventory. These cruets at great churches
were sometimes of gold, but most
usually of silver. Many, however, of
the smaller parish churches were con-
tent, in the I5th and i6th cents., with
cruets of pewter, lead, or tin. Very
, L, , , , CANOPY, WELLS
rarely they were of glass ; a single pre-
Reformation glass cruet was found concealed in the church of
46 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Lapvvorth, Warwicks., about 1850; it passed into the hands of
Mr. Bloxam. Even a city church was content with cheap cruets
for the side altars. The churchwardens of St. Mary-at-Hill bought
three pairs of cruets, in 1539-40, for 2s. ; they had, however, as
we know from an earlier inventory, a pair of silver cruets, the use
of which was probably reserved for the high altar.
At All Souls' College, Oxford, are a pair of fine silver-gilt
bottles, of a design apparently imitative of glass, which are still
used as altar cruets in the chapel. They are 15 J inches high, and
of flattened pear shape. On each shoulder is a curved man's head
and neck, to which a strong chain is fastened, and to this chain is
attached a lighter chain from the trefoil head of the stopper. It is
not known whether these bottles were originally designed as altar
cruets, but there is no valid reason against such a supposition ; they
are apparently of early i6th-cent. date.
A small silver parcel-gilt altar cruet, in private hands, was
exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in 1887. It has no hall-
mark, and is supposed to be of I5th-cent. date. On the top is the
initial A for Aqua, showing that the cruet
is one of a pair ; the lost one would bear
V for Vinum.
A pair of golden cruets at Ely cathedral
were distinguished by a large ruby for the
wine and a beautiful pearl for the water.
A beautiful little silver pair of cruets,
in private hands at Beverley, has a bunch
of grapes on one stopper and a water-lily
on the other.
In the church of St. Peter Port, Guern-
sey, is a single cruet. It is late in date
(c. 1530-5), and small in size, about 6 inches
in height by 3 inches in its widest diameter.
It is of a graceful flagon-shape, with lid,
handle, and a slender curved spout, spring-
'""^ ^ ^^ Uke th&t °f * COfTee-pOt,
W1th an inscription round the bowl, Sancte
Paule era pro nobis. On the lid is en-
grayed A for Aqua; doubtless its lost fellow bore V for Vinum.
The size of these old cruets was but small when the cup was denied
- laity ; but after the Reformation it became necessary that
CRUET, ST. PETER
GUERNSEY
CRUETS AND FLAGONS 47
the vessel for the wine should be considerably enlarged, and hence
the use of what is generally termed the flagon. Thus, at Grantham,
the churchwardens, in 1565, sold two chalices and a silver and
copper shrine of St. Wulfran, " and bought wythe the pryce therof
a silver pott parcell gylt and a Ewer of sylver for the mynistracion
of the holye & most sacred supper of oure Lord Jhesus Christ
called the holye communion." There are a few examples of these
Elizabethan ewers or flagons extant ; they have a pear-shaped
body, domed lid with thumb-piece, and a curved handle, and are
mounted on a spreading circular foot.
At Cirencester are a pair of these round-bellied silver flagons,
dated 1576. A pair at St. Margaret's, Westminster, and one at
St. George's Chapel, Windsor (with one of later date to match), are
of 1583. There is another silver pair, of 1587, at St. Mary
Woolnoth, London. At Rendcombe, Glos., are a pair of similar
shaped small flagons, of 1592, ornamented round the bowls with
engraved belts of the Elizabethan communion cup pattern. At
Worplesdon church, Surrey, is a jug-shaped silver flagon of the
year 1598. At Wadham College, Oxford, are a silver-gilt pair of
1598. Salisbury cathedral has a single silver example of the year
1604.
Mr. Cripps, in his Old English Plate, cites several examples of
silver tankard-shape flagons, of Elizabethan date, to be found
among church plate. Such are those of the churches of Teffont
Ewyas (1572), Fugglestone St. Peter, and Heddington, Wilts. ;
and of the chapels of Corpus Christi and New College, Oxford.
Soon after the beginning of the I7th cent, the round-bellied
small flagon, or large cruet, quite disappeared, and the common
tall tankard shape came into use. There are a pair at Salisbury
cathedral of 1610. The earliest flagon in any Somersetshire parish
church is that of Weston Zoyland, 1612 ; it is of a flat-topped
tankard shape. The silver flagon of Hadley church, Middlesex,
which is round-bellied and dome-topped, with a curious spout,
is hall-marked 1609 ; but it was not given to the church until 1619,
and is obviously of secular origin.
It is interesting to note that both before and after the
Restoration these flagons, throughout England, were frequently,
and almost invariably in larger churches, in pairs, after the fashion
of the old cruets and the small Elizabethan flagons. This supply
of a pair of flagons may be taken, beyond doubt, as a survival of
48 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
the old use of a pair of cruets. This idea is further supported by
the difference in covers or handles that may frequently be noticed
in a pair of these flagons, whether of pewter or silver, of the same
date. This difference, too, may well have been designed to assist,
as of old, the celebrant or his server in readily distinguishing
between the wine and water ; for the mixed chalice continued
to largely prevail in post-Reformation times, and was the un-
doubted use of such prelates as Archbishops Laud and Sancroft,
and Bishops Andrewes, Cosin, Field, and Wren. There is a
charming variation in both handles and shape in the elegant pair
of silver flagons of classical design (Birmingham hall-mark 1775-6)
at Sudbury, Derbs. Several of the old engravings of post-
Reformation altars show a pair of flagons of varied shape ; notably
in the frontispiece to The Whole Duty of receiving worthily the
Blessed Sacrament, which was in a fifth edition in 1717.
SPOONS
In the Greek Church a spoon with a long narrow bowl (the
labidd) has been in use since the loth cent, for administering
the bread and wine together at the Eucharist to the laity, and the
spoon is so shaped that its contents can be taken into the mouth
with ease. The Celtic church used spoons, invariably a pair, with
very broad bowls. A pair of late Celtic spoons were found at
Crosby Ravensworth, Westmoreland, in 1868. The cross-lines in
the bowl of one seem to confirm the suggestion of its use in
Christian ritual. Various other pairs have been found in Ireland.
They formed the subject of an illustrated article by Mr. Albert
Way in the Archaeological Journal (vol. xxvi.).
Dr. Rock says that the only spoon used by the Latin church in
this country for eucharistic purpose was one, with a deep bowl like
a salt-spoon, for spilling a few drops of water into the chalice prior
to consecration. The Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, in 1681, sold
an old silver spoon that had " become useless." This was probably
one of mediaeval date.
Silver spoons are sometimes enumerated in I7th-cent. and later
inventories of English church plate ; their use was to remove
impurities from the altar wine. Such spoons remain, and are in
occasional use, in some churches ; now and again the bowl is
perforated to make them serve as strainers. There is an Apostle
PAX 49
spoon at St. Peter's, Walworth, c. 1575, and another of 1597 at
Dallington, Northants. At Ramsbury church, Wilts., is an
Apostle spoon of early I7th-cent. date. Diss church, Norfolk,
has a "rat-tailed" spoon, 1715. At St. Olave's, Southwark, is a
spoon of 1697, and at St. Saviour's, Southwark, is one of 1716.
There are many later instances.
London is by far the richest part of the country in its supply
of these post- Reformation church spoons. In the City churches
are 58 of such spoons, varying in date from 1631 to 1852 ; and in
the County of London parish churches there are 37 spoons, dating
from 1641 to 1882.
In the churches of the city of Norwich there are 12 spoons,
varying in date from 1613 to 1876. The spoon of St. Peter
Mountergate is an interesting specimen of a seal-headed early I7th-
cent. spoon. A small worn crucifix surmounts the seal-head, and
is probably an addition taken from an older piece. On the back
is E. W. 1613. This spoon is engraved in the tenth volume of
Norfolk Archeology.
PAX
Yet another Instrnmentum in connection with the service of
the Altar was the pax, or osculatorium. The pax, or tabula pads,
took the place of the direct kiss, and was introduced into this
country A.D. 1250 by Archbishop Walter of York. This pax took
the form of a plate, either round or oblong, of one of the precious
metals, or of brass, wood, ivory, glass, or other material, and
generally bore on its face a representation of the Crucifixion.
Attached to the back was a handle for convenience of passing.
The best- known metal pax in England is that which is said to
have been given by William of Wykeham to his college at Oxford,
and measures 5^ inches by 3 inches, and consists of an oblong
plate of silver-gilt, with a rich border and an engraving of the
Crucifixion with Sts. Mary and John. The pax is still preserved
with other relics of Wykeham at New College, though its probable
date is the end of the I5th or beginning of the i6th cent. A second
pax is preserved at Oxford, at All Souls' College, and a third, of
ivory, at the Archbishop's House, Westminster, where it is still
occasionally used.
Although the Rood was the usual ornament on the pax, there
£
5o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
are a considerable variety of subjects on the several English
examples still extant, such as the Vernicle, the Agnus Dei, the
Nativity the Adoration, and the Virgin and Child. There is
an excellent illustrated article on the various paxes still surviving
in England, by Miss Layard, in the ArckaologM Journalist 1904
(vol. Ixi.).
The pax was used in lieu of the early ceremonial kiss of mutual
PAX, NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD
salutation and affection at mass. It was kissed by the celebrant
after the Agnus Dei, offered by the server or parish clerk to those
in quire, and then to the congregation in order. The use of the
pax is illustrated by a curious incident at Theydon Garnon, which
shows that it did not always tend towards peace. On November
4, 1522, after the elevation of the Host, the parish clerk presented
the pax to Mr. Hempton, lord of the manor, and patron of the
living, and to Margery his wife, and then to Mr. John Browne,
who took it, kissed it, and then broke it in two pieces over the
clerk's head, causing streams of blood to flow. On the previous
Sunday, Browne had said, " Clerke, if thou hereafter givest not me
the pax first, I shall breke it on thy hedd."
CHRISMATORIES 51
INCENSE VESSELS
Among the metal or plate vessels chiefly associated with the
altar are the two employed in censing, the thurible, or censer, and
the incense boat or ship. Many of our parish churches, as well as
cathedral and collegiate churches, used to have these incense vessels
of silver. A beautiful silver-gilt censer was found about the middle
of last century when Whittlesea Mere was drained ; it is supposed
to have formed part of the treasure of Ramsey abbey ; it is now at
Elton, in the possession of Lord Carysfort The censer is of I4th-
cent. date. With it was found an incense ship or boat of most
interesting design, of silver parcel-gilt ; it is of the reign of
Henry VII. Both these vessels were figured in an illustrated
•catalogue of the Loan Collection of Plate exhibited in the Fitz-
william Museum, May, 1895.
Various censers or censer covers of bronze or latten have been
found in or near to our parish churches. At Ashbury church,
Berks., is the cover of a bronze censer of I4th-cent. date. In 1871
a bronze censer of rude but vigorous design was found under the
flooring of the church of Limpsfield, Surrey. At Church Stretton,
Salop., is another bronze thurible of early (possibly pre-Conquest)
design. A bronze or latten censer, of I3th-cent. date, was found
in Ripple church, Worcs., in 1884; it much resembles one
found at Pershore, in the same county, in 1870, which is
now in private hands. A bronze censer cover, found built into
the east wall of the chancel of Langwith, Derbs., about 1865, is
still preserved at that church. Another bronze censer cover of
a like kind was found in the walls of the church of Dymchurch,
Kent, about 1845.
The lower part of a latten censer found at Heyford church,
Northants, is now in the museum of the county town. It
is small, of poor construction, and of late I5th-cent. date; but
it is of exceptional interest as it has four armorial bearings
on small shields. It is illustrated in volume thirty-one of the
Antiquary. The foot has been clumsily renewed in brass.
CHRISMATORIES
There are fortunately still extant one or two examples of a very
rare class of Instrumental Ecclesiastica, called chrismatories, which
52 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
used to be found in every parish church of the land. The
chrismatory was the case for the three holy oils of liturgical use,
blessed on Maunday Thursday, namely, the (i) oleum infirmorum
for the sick ; the (2) oleum sanctum, or oleum catecJiumenorum,
used at baptism and for several other purposes ; and the (3)
ckrisma, or balm, used for confirmation, ordination, and in various
consecrations.
A most interesting example of a chrismatory was found in 1879
in a hole in the wall near the chancel arch of Granborough church,
Bucks. It is a pewter box, 6£ inches long, 2£ inches broad, and
2^ inches high, and raised f inch from the ground by legs at the
corners, which appear to have been lions couchant There are
remains of the hinge with its pin, showing that it originally had
a high-pitched lid, of which two fragments remain. In the case
itself are three circular perforations, i\ inch in diameter, con-
structed to hold three circular pots about 2 inches deep. Each pot
has had its lid, of which two remain. On the underside of these
lids is a metal hooked prong i£ inch long. These hooks would be
wrapped round with small portions of tow or cotton wool so as to
raise for use a small quantity of the oil. Fragments of some
fibrous material remain at the bottom of each pot.
Another chrismatory was found at an earlier date at St.
CHRISMATORY, ST. MARTIN'S, CANTERBURY
Martin's church, Canterbury, and when exhibited before the British
Archaeological Association in 1844, was supposed to be an ink-
It is a bronze box, 6 inches long, 2 inches broad, and
: inches high. The lid is high-pitched, surmounted by a vertical
ridge, pierced with quatrefoils. The interior arrangement, with
ALTAR AND PROCESSIONAL CROSSES 53
three oil-pots, is like that of the Granborough example, but not
quite so perfect.
A small silver-gilt casket at Godrich Court, bearing the royal
arms, c. 1 300, now empty of its contents, is probably a chrismatory
(Arch&ological Journal, vol. xiii.).
At New College, Oxford, is preserved the so-called chrismatory
of William of Wykeham, though the fragment, which is the lid
of a chrismatory, is really of later date. It is a piece of silver,
3^ inches long by i^ inch broad, and forms three conjoined lids,
on which are the three letters O, C, and V, in characters of the
beginning of the i6th cent. These letters undoubtedly were used
to distinguish between the three oils and their respective uses, and
have generally been taken to be the initials of the words Ordinatio,
Confirmatio, and Unctio ; but it is more probable that O was for
Oleum — that is, the general sacred oil ; C for Chrisma ; and V for
Unctio, or the oil for the sick.
ALTAR AND PROCESSIONAL CROSSES
A cross was not considered to be an essential ornament for the
altar of a mediaeval English church, though it commonly occurred.
It always, in later days, took the form of a crucifix, and frequently
had brackets at the side bearing small figures of St. Mary and St.
John. In the great churches the altar cross was frequently of gold,
and richly jewelled ; it was usually of silver or silver-gilt, though
sometimes of copper or latten in the ordinary parish church.
The cross that the parishioners were bound to provide was one
for processional use. Such a cross, however, not infrequently
served at other times for altar use, being fitted with a foot to stand
in, as well as a staff for carrying it. The use of the processional
cross was of frequent and regular occurrence in the unreformed
Church. In the wardens' accounts of St. Mary-at-Hill, an entry is
made about 1480, "for mendyng of the crosse that is borne aboute
every day ;" and in 1484, a further sum of \2d. was paid "for
mendyng of the dayllye Cross."
Of the altar crosses, which used to adorn almost every altar, not
one is known to remain. There are, however, some five or six
mediaeval processional crosses of English workmanship still to be
seen. Of these, the finest is preserved at St. Oswald's church,
Durham. It dates from the I5th cent., is of white metal, richly
54 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
gilt, and mounted on a modern staff of ebony. The cross, which
bears the crucified Christ and the inscription INRI, is foliated,
and has at each of its four extremities circular medallions bearing
the Evangelistic symbols. There is a fine old processional cross
of brass at Thurnham church, Lanes. (/. d G.'s Sk. Bk. ii. 14); and
another example at St. Oswald's church, Durham. The pulpit-
desk at Claypole, Lines., is supported by the old latten shaft of a
processional cross.
At the St. Albans Exhibition of 1905, three processional crosses
were shown, all of the I5th cent. One of these, the property of
the Society of Antiquaries, is of latten, originally parcel-gilt, with
the Evangelistic symbols at the ends of the arms. The head of the
shaft shows sockets for two branches (now lost) to carry the attendant
Rood figures. The cross itself fits into a socket, to enable it to
be moved to serve as an altar cross. In the second beautiful ex-
ample, in private hands, the crucifix and symbols appear to have
been later additions to a well-designed cross ; Tudor roses are
engraved on the backs of the medallions. The third instance —
presented by Mr. Aymer Vallance to the Victoria and Albert
Museum since the exhibition — consists of the latten shaft of a
cross, with branches bearing small images of the Blessed Virgin
and St. John, but the cross itself is missing.
CROZIERS AND MITRES
The crozier and mitre may be briefly noticed, for though
personal ornaments, they often come under the heading of church
plate.
The pastoral staves or croziers, the attributes, with the mitre,
of bishops and certain abbots, are best studied in the monumental
effigies of the dignitaries of the Church ; but we are fortunate in
still possessing three fine English examples — one illustrating the
early, the second the middle, and the third the latest period of
ecclesiastical art. In all cases the crozier took the form of a staff,
generally of wood, surmounted by a head of metal, which imitated
in form that of a shepherd's crook. As with the other ecclesiastical
metal work, the earlier forms were simple, the later more elaborate
and architectural in character. Of the three that have come down
to us, the earliest, that discovered in a stone coffin at Wells, and
preserved in the cathedral library at that city, is Romanesque in
< 2
Z 0
O V,
CROZIERS AND MITRES 55
character, and apparently belongs to the end of the I2th cent.
The head is of latten, enamelled, and adorned with turquoises and
other semi-precious stones. It forms a graceful curve, within the
hollow of which is a statuette of St. Michael trampling on the
dragon. The design is excellent and the execution vigorous, and
though some of the enamel has perished, the preservation is on
the whole good. The shaft was of wood, and has utterly perished.
Of the croziers of the middle and later periods, that of William
of Wykeham, preserved at New College, Oxford, must have
always been the finest, though it is typical of the class. It dates
from about 1370, is architectural in character, the detail being
Decorated rather than Perpendicular in style, an instance of the
fact so frequently met with that the subordinate arts lagged a
little behind the architectural. It is entirely of silver, gilt and
enamelled, and is nearly 7 feet in length, of which the head takes
up rather more than three. The shaft, which is divided into three
by bands, terminates by an expanded capital of foliage. Upon
this is an octagonal turret of two stages, the lower buttressed and
panelled, the upper of tabernacle work, with figures in the niches.
Above it expands again, and then comes an octagon spire, sur-
rounded by two tiers of canopied niches, the lower with figures,
and from the summit of the spire springs the finial or crook ; this
is crocketed on its outer margin, and divided on each side into
nine compartments, each with a figure standing against a back-
ground of enamel. A kneeling figure within the concavity of the
crook forms a terminal.
The third of the remaining croziers is that of Bishop Fox, of
Winchester, also at Oxford, at Corpus Christi College. This is
of silver, and with later detail resembles in general design that
of Wykeham, though it is less ornate and somewhat smaller ; its
date is c. 1 500.
Coffin croziers of wood are occasionally found. There is
one in the Newcastle Museum, and two at Hereford cathedral.
At St. David's are the remains of a crozier of copper-gilt, ascribed
to Bishop Gervase, 1215-29, and another of like material, sup-
posed to have belonged to Bishop Beck, 1280-93. A bronze
crozier-head is also preserved at the same cathedral, which was
found in the tomb of Bishop Gower, 1328-47. An ivory crozier-
head, c. 1 1 80, was found at Chichester, and a jet crozier-head,
c. 1290, in another bishop's grave of the same cathedral church.
56 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The silver-gilt head of Bishop Wren's crozier, 1638-67, is pre-
served in the chapel of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
At York Minster is a large foreign crozier of silver, 6£ feet
long, which Catharine of Portugal, queen-dowager of Charles II.,
gave to her confessor, Cardinal Smith, who was nominated to the
see of York by James II., in 1687. This crozier was seized by
Lord Danby (afterwards Duke of Leeds), as the Cardinal was going
in procession from the Roman Catholic chapel to the cathedral,
and was by him afterwards presented to the Dean and Chapter.
Under the head of the crook are figures of the Blessed Virgin and
Child ; it also bears the arms of Portugal, and those of the Cardinal,
surmounted by his hat.
The Mitre was originally a head-covering of textile fabric, but
eventually, by the I3th cent, both bishops and abbots had their
" precious " or special mitres of gold or silver plates, garnished with
jewels. In 1306 the prior of Winchester wore a plain mitre in the
presence of the bishop, but in his absence a silver mitre, pearled
and jewelled. The inventory of St. Paul's cathedral in 1295
enters four mitres that had silver-gilt plates. The list of " the
jewels belonging to my Lord of Lincoln's miter," in 1540, would
fill one of these pages.
The enamelled ouches of the head-band, many of the jewels,
the gold crockets, and portions of the ground-work of seed pearls
of the precious mitre of William of Wykeham, made about 1370,
are preserved at New College, Oxford. The silver-gilt mitre of
Bishop Wren (1638-67) is preserved in the chapel of Pembroke
College, Cambridge. It is fitted with a cap of crimson satin lined
with white silk ; the condition of the lining shows that it was worn
and not merely treated as an ornament ; it is uj inches high and
7i inches in diameter.
ALMS DISHES
The alms dish proper, as connected with the altar, is only of post-
Reformation use. It may be well, however, to draw attention to a
few of the earlier and more important examples in precious metal.
At St. George's chapel, Windsor, is a large plain silver-gilt
alms dish, with the Tudor rose on the central boss, of the year
1556; and at Lambeth Palace chapel is another silver-gilt dish
of 1635. At Canterbury cathedral are two silver-gilt alms plates,
1 1 inches in diameter, which are probably of the year 1 562.
SILVER-GILT MITRE OF BISHOP WREN
PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
CUIRBOUILLI CASES 57
At Mortlake, Surrey, is a silver alms basin, 12 inches in
diameter, of the year 1686 ; round the rim is Moretlak Church,
1687.
The church of Wantage, Berks., possesses a very fine alms dish,
with repousse work, of 1661.
At St. Margaret's, Canterbury, are two silver bowls, 7^ inches
in diameter, each having a handle 3! inches long ; they were made
in 1726 for the collecting of alms. One is inscribed with the
Offertory Sentence from St. Matt. v. 16, and the other with the
Sentence from Prov. xix. 17. The shape seems to have been
suggested by the wooden collecting-boxes.
HERALDIC CHURCH PLATE
The custom of engraving the arms of donors on altar plate,
though apparently rarely exercised, was not unknown before the
Reformation. By will of 1378, Sir John Foxley left a chalice to
his parish church cum armis meis. Lady Margaret Hungerford,
who died in 1477, left two pairs of silver-gilt candlesticks to her
charity chapel in Salisbury cathedral which bore her quartered
arms. In the inventory of the Jewel House of Henry VIII. is
found : " Item a chalice, with the princes arms en paten." Several
other instances might be told.
In post-Reformation days, arms and donor inscriptions largely
multiplied on church plate, and, though distasteful to the reverent
mind, have their value and interest for the heraldic student and
genealogist. Every county affords abundant examples. Among
instances of this kind in the one county of Derby, it may be
mentioned that the arms by Pegge are on the Shirley flagon ; the
arms of Harpur and Crewe on the Ticknall patens ; the Curzon
arms on the Kedleston patens ; those of Horton on the Croxall
flagon ; Willoughby on all the Risley plate ; Sacheverell on the
Morley paten ; Benskin on the Alvaston plate ; Gilbert on the
Spondon paten ; Lord Exeter's arms on the noble plate of All
Saints, Derby; and the beautifully quartered arms of Harpur on
the Normanton chalice and paten.
CUIRBOUILLI CASES
In mediaeval days valuable church plate was not infrequently
provided with cases of embossed or stamped cuirbouilli, or boiled
58 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
leather, for their better preservation. A few old examples have
come down to our own times.
The most interesting of these is the leather mitre case of
William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester (1367-1404), ^which
is preserved at New College, Oxford. It is stamped with fleur-de-
tys, and bound with iron straps ; it once contained the richly
jewelled mitre (mitra preciosa) of the founder, of which several
fragments yet remain.
There is another mitre case of similar leather, bound with iron,
at Exeter cathedral.
There are several instances of cuirbouilli chalice cases. At
Cawston, Norfolk, the leather chalice case is stamped with Jhesus
Nazerenus Rex Judeorum. There are others at Moulton,
Saxlingham, Thorpe, and Thompson in the same county ; at
Uldale and Whitbeck, Cumberland ; at Barrowden and Ridlington,
Rutland ; and at Lanivet, Cornwall.
At the Herefordshire church of Pipe and Lyde there is a most
interesting example of a cylindrical case of leather, 8| inches in
height, and a diameter of 6 inches. The top of the cover is
stamped with I.H.S. in black-letter characters ; on the sides of the
case are two fleur-de-lys, a shield with a plain cross, and other
devices. A leather band, but not the original one, goes round the
case. It is well illustrated in the fine volume on Herefordshire
church plate issued in 1903.
There is a somewhat similar ancient case of cuirbouilli in the
church of Swefling, Suffolk, which is supposed to be of Edward I.
date. It is n inches high and 6 inches in diameter. In this
instance it is clearly a bottle-case, for there is an opening at the
top for the bottle-neck. Probably both of these cases were used
for the safe keeping of sacramental wine.
PEWTER
The use of pewter about the altar, particularly in the cruets,
was by no means unknown in pre-Reformation days, but never for
chalice or paten. In the i;th cent, its use for the flagons that
succeeded to the mediaeval and Elizabethan cruets became general.
The reformed Church, however, declared its preference even in
this respect for the purer metal, and never contemplated the un-
happy introduction of pewter for the actual Eucharistic vessels.
CUIRBOUILLI MITRE CASE OF WILLIAM OF WYKKHAM
NEW COLLEGE. OXFORD
PEWTER 59
The twentieth of the canons of 1603 requires that the wine "be
brought to the Communion-table in a clean and sweet standing-pot
or stoop of pewter, if not of purer metal."
In the numerous instances where pewter remains in old
churches, it generally takes the form of flagons or plates. One of
the earliest dated pewter flagons or stoops is at Cerne Abbas,
Dorset, of the year 1630. There is a highly exceptional round-bellied
example of 1635 at Lubenham, Leics. At West ShefFord, Berks.,
there is a pewter tazza, ornamented in low relief, of the year 1621.
The church of Mildenhall, Suffolk, possesses two remarkably fine
pewter dishes, io£ inches in diameter, each having a central boss
with the arms of Charles I. enamelled in colour, and inscribed
C. R. 1648.
The earliest dated instance of a pewter chalice that we have met
with occurs at Osmaston-by-Derby, where there is chalice, flagon,
and alms basin, all of 1629. At Cranoe and Stonton Wyville,
Leics., are sets of pewter chalices, patens, and flagons, of the
year 1699.
In the diocese of Hereford — and we trust nowhere else in
England — there are actually three parish churches using pewter
chalices and patens at the present day (1903) for the Blessed
Sacrament, namely, Aston, Crasswell, and Llangua. There is,
however, something worse than pewter, which is after all an honest
straightforward metal ; electro-plate, which shams to be silver,
O 1 IT
ought always to be banished from altars.
In Mr. Malcolm Bell's Old Pewter (1906), a good example of
a pewter flagon, from the church of Midhurst, Sussex, forms the
frontispiece, and several examples of i8th-cent. English pewter
chalices are supplied. "Patens from a church in Yorkshire, I5th
cent," are also illustrated, but we doubt both date and description.
CHAPTER III
PISCINA-SEDILIA— EASTER SEPULCHRE— LECTERN
THE PISCINA
PISCINA is the name usually given to the water-drain placed
near to an altar. As a rule this shallow stone basin, with a
hole at the bottom to carry off the water into the ground,
is found beneath a niche, moulded according to the period when
it was erected, and placed at a convenient height in the wall to the
south of the altar.
Pope Leo IV., about 850, directed that a place was to be
provided near the altar for the disposal of the water used for the
ablution of the vessels and of the priest's hands after mass. In
the 1 3th cent, the preliminary washing of the priest's hands
before the canon of the mass was enjoined, and hence came about
the two drains and basons, side by side. But in the I4th cent,
the custom became general of the celebrant drinking the ablution ;
hence the reversion to the single drain.
In the remains of English conventual churches, piscinae or
drains have been found in the floor near the altars, as at the
Cistercian abbeys of Fountains, Rievaulx, and Furness, as well as
in the ruins of the churches of the Austin house of Kirkham, and
of the Premonstratensian house of Langdon, Kent. Mr. St. John
Hope is of opinion that such floor drains were also common in
parish churches at an early date, but afterwards disappeared
through constant repaving ; two examples of these floor drains
remain in the parish church of Little Casterton, Rutland, one on
the south side of the high altar, and another at the east end of the
north aisle. It is supposed that these floor piscinae were for the
purpose of pouring out a little of the contents of the altar cruets,
before using them, with the intention of removing any possible
dust or other impurity. Durandus gives a symbolical turn to this
custom, by explaining that it was done to typify that the blood and
water from the side of Christ flowed out upon the ground.
Piscinas of Norman character are not very common. There
60
THE PISCINA
61
are good examples at Towersey, Bucks. ; Crowmarsh and South-
leigh, Oxon. ; Ryarsh, Kent ; Romsey, Hants ; Horbling, Lines. ;
Wynford, Dorset ; Graveley, Herts ; and Scarcliffe, Derbs.
Scarcliffe is an instance, of which there are several, where the
early Norman piscina was not removed when one of later form
was substituted. In this case, the drain itself is in a square stone
projecting from the wall, and above it is a diminutive rounded
niche of 9 inches wide by 7 inches high. At a later date this
piscina was discarded, another one
being constructed in the wall a little
further to the west. In the churches
of Rumboldswyke, Sussex, and
Brad ing, Isle of Wight, there are
early piscina pillars, which are pos-
sibly of pre-Conquest date.
The remains of discarded Norman
piscinae are sometimes the only cer-
tain relics of a church of that period,
as in the case of the I5th-cent. church
of Bicknoller, Somerset, where the
head of a Norman piscina shaft may
be noticed within the later piscina
niche.
In later Norman work a shaft
sometimes projected from the wall
to carry the drain, the capital being
more or less ornamented, as in the
case of Towersey, Bucks., of which an
illustration is given in Parker's Glos-
sary. Several of these occur in churches of the North and East
Ridings, as at Barton-le-Street. An illustration is here given of
a late Norman detached piscina shaft, of a curious geometrical
design, now in the porch of Tollerton church, Notts. It was
recently recovered from a neighbouring shrubbery, where it had
been thrown away. Other Norman piscina shafts may be noticed
at Ashe and Winchfield, Hants, and at Hoathly, Icklesham, and
Woolbeding, Sussex. These shafts are sometimes sunk in the
wall, as at Finchamstead, Berks., and Upton, Bucks.
In the ruins of Kirkstall abbey, Leeds, there are as many as
seven late Norman piscinas in the great conventual church.
TOLLERTON, NOTTS
62 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
An example or two of Early English single piscinas are to be
found in almost every county, often elegantly treated. Instances
may be named at Baulking, Hampstead Norris, White Waltham,
and Uffington, Berks. ; Kirtlington, Oxon. ; Warmington, North-
ants ; Gilston and Ippollitts, Herts ; Radnage, Lee, and Leck-
hampstead, Bucks. ; and Great Shelford, Cambs. Huntingdon-
shire has five examples, Catworth, Covington, Somersham,
Houghton, and Kings Ripton. Bramley, Hants, and Holy
Trinity, Goodramgate, York, are good instances of Early English
piscina shafts ; there is the head of another at Halam, Notts. At
Bent worth and Elvetham,
Hants, are graceful piscina
niches ornamented with the
dog-tooth moulding.
In the first half of the
1 3th cent, the fashion came
into use in some parts of
England of constructing what
is generally termed an angle
BLYFORD, SUFFOLK
piscina niche, which was
formed in the eastern jamb
of the south chancel window
nearest the altar, with a
niche opening (usually tre-
foiled) both to the west and
the south, and often a shaft
between them. One of the
most graceful of these angle
piscinas, here illustrated, occurs at Blyford, Suffolk. In this
immediate district several other examples may be noted, as at
Bramfield, Chediston, Frostenden, Heveningham, South Cove, and
Uggeshall ; in the last case the two openings are very small.
Bedfordshire also affords various instances of these angle piscinas,
and there is a good example at North Moreton, Berks. A par-
ticularly elaborate angle piscina of the I5th cent, may also be
noted at the parish church of Cheltenham.
In the 1 3th cent., as well as in subsequent examples, a stone
shelf was often introduced into the niche over the piscina drain,
for the purpose of placing thereon the cruets, and perhaps the
ciborium for use at mass, thereby serving the purpose of what was
THE PISCINA
afterwards termed the credence table. In various instances this
shelf was of wood, and the grooves into which it fitted may not
infrequently be noticed. Occasionally the original wooden shelf
still remains, as at Ufford, Northants ; Shalbourne, Berks. ; and
Grosmont, Mons.
A remarkable I3th-cent. example is illustrated from Ditchfield,
Wilts. In this case the shelf has three semicircular projections.
The piscina at Swineshead, Hunts, of this century is noteworthy.
Under the eastern jamb shaft of the south window of the chancel is
a small water-drain, the angular
canopy of which serves as a base
to the shaft. In addition to the
one at Swineshead, there are six
other I4th-cent. piscinas in this
county, namely, at Great Paxton,
Spaldwick, Kimbolton, Fen Stan-
ton, Little Stukeley,and Broughton.
At Thorpe Arnold, Leics., the
piscina of the south chantry is of a
style occasionally found in this
district, but very rare elsewhere.
The credence shelf is placed in an
arched recess above that over the
basin, both of them having trefoiled
heads.
The I3th-cent. piscina of Strat-
ford Toney, Wilts., has a Purbeck marble basin, the projecting
corbel of which is carved with snake-like figures ; the arch of the
niche is trefoiled.
In the last half of the I3th cent., and extending into the
beginning of the I4th cent, the custom came into general use in
England of having two basins and drains under the piscina niche.
As a rule, a double piscina may be assigned to the reign of
Edward I. ; but there are a few exceptions, both of earlier and
later date. One of these drains was used for pouring away the
lavabo used after the ceremonial washing of the priest's hands,
and the other for the rinsing of the chalice and paten. The earliest
of these double piscinas that we have noticed is at Doveridge,
Derbs., which is about the beginning of Henry III.'s reign ; it is
illustrated in the third volume of Cox's Derbyshire Churches.
DITCHFIELD, WILTS
64 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
On the south side of the chancel of Rothwell, Northants, are
the remains of an elaborate piscina niche of I4th-cent. date,
wherein is the very exceptional number of three drains or basins.
In the ruins of Salley abbey, W. R. Yorks., there is a similar
triple piscina.
At Grosmont, Mons., is a
beautiful niche with cinquefoil
cuspings and dog-tooth mould-
ing, over a double piscina
drain. In the south wall of
the south chapel is another
beautiful niche of the same
date over a single piscina.
The latter retains its original
wooden credence shelf.
Huntingdonshire has
several double piscinas, each
with a shelf at the back of
the niche, such as those of
Abbots Leigh, Alconbury, St.
Ives, Kimbolton, Somersham,
and Wistow ; the last named
is an unusually late instance.
There are many excellent
instances of double-drained
piscinas in Cambridgeshire ;
as at Histon, where there is one in each transept, and at
Arrington, Bottisham, Bartlow, Coveney, Doddington, Elsworth,
Fen Drayton, Foxton, Kennett, Long Stan ton St. Michael,
Milton, Sutton, Trumpington, and Witcham. Among other
examples, scattered over the whole country, may be men-
tioned those of Hawton, Gedling, West Bridgford, and Bunny,
Notts. ; Porlock and Luccombe, Somerset ; Ickworth, Hargrave,
Mildenhall, and Cowling, Suffolk ; Kingswalden and Digswell,
Herts ; Doveridge, Ilkestone, and Norbury, Derbs. ; Algarkirk,
Corby, Burton Goggles, Skillington, and Wilsford, Lines. ; Buck-
minster and Noseley, Leics. ; Lillingston and Lovell, Oxon. ;
Drayton and White Waltham, Berks. ; Wavendon, Bucks. ;
Crediton, Devon ; Auckland, Durham ; Hawkesbury, Glos. ;
Farningham, Kent ; Hampton Bishop, Herefords. ; Fladbury,
Worcs. ; Bosham and Pyecombe, Sussex ; and Ashwell, Rutland.
HIV)
COWLING, SUFFOLK
THE PISCINA
Among the more noteworthy piscinas of late I3th or I4th-cent.
date, the one at Compton Beauchamp, Berks., which has a drain
shaft, may be mentioned. There is a highly remarkable arrange-
ment of this century in the south aisle of the church of North
Marston, Bucks., where there are two niches having crocketed
canopies over the basons, one on each side of the east window. A
fine piscina niche in the handsome Decorated chancel of Westhall,
Suffolk, has two credence shelves — a most unusual arrangement.
'it.
TRUMPINGTON, CAMBS
NORTH MARSTON, BUCKS.
In Parker's Glossary are two ornamental and effective piscina
niches, both having crocketed canopies, and early in the I4th cent.,
though very different in style, the one at Dorchester, Oxon., and
the other at Great Bedwin, Wilts. Another one of great beauty
of tracery, also figured by Parker, is at Fyfield, Berks.
As examples of I5th-cent. or Perpendicular work, Parker's
Glossary depicts those of Tackley, Oxon., and Ilfracombe, Devon.
Piscina shaft-drains of this period are rare. There is one of much
beauty of design, here illustrated, in the chancel of the out-of-the-
way little church of Treborough, West Somerset ; others may be
noted at Yatton, Somerset, and Cobham, Kent. There is a
single instance of a late wooden piscina shaft in the Beauchamp
F
66 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
chapel, St. Mary's, Warwick. In the chancel of North Marston,
Rncks there is a good and unusual canopied piscina of this later
petd' Acting from the wall. At Blythburgh and Spexhall,
Suffolk, the late piscina niches have cinquefoil heads.
Occasionally, there is a very small niche, in later examples, in
the wall each side of the main niche over the bason which are
clearly intended for the cruets, as at Kirk Hallam, Derbs. At
Barton Notts., the two small niches for the cruets appear in the
back of the larger niche. Over the piscina bason of Southwold,
Suffolk, are two niches, one above the other, whilst a tiny pointed
TREBOROUGH, WEST SOMERSET
CRAWLEY, HANTS
opening communicates with the seats to the west, as shown in the
illustration of the sedilia.
It should be remembered that some of the handsomest piscina
niches are those that are worked continuously in the same design
with the sedilia. Such are of all periods, as is shown in the
beautiful examples of Monyash, Ilkeston, and Sandiacre, Derbs.
(all illustrated under " Sedilia "), or in those of Meesden, Anstey,
Waltham, and Wheathampstead, Herts.
In contrast to these elaborate examples of the treatment of
the piscina niches, it should be mentioned that the exact reverse
SEDILIA 67
occurs in certain instances, particularly in the Midlands, where the
shallow basin and drain occur in the sill of a window, on the
south side of the altar, without any kind of niche or canopy over it.
Instances of this occur at Knipton and Goadby Marwood, Leics. ;
at Crich and Sawley, Derbs. ; at Sibthorpe, Notts. ; and at Salt-
fleetby, Lines. At Lydeard St. Lawrence, Somerset, there is a
piscina in a small square-headed recess immediately below the
easternmost window on the south side of the nave.
A singular place has been found for the piscina drain at
Crawley, Hants. In that case, as shown in the illustration, the
squint opening from the north aisle into the chancel has been used
for the piscina of the side altar.
Now and again a case occurs in which there is an inner small
recess within the piscina niche, usually at the west side, as at
Hempstead, Norfolk, and in the south aisle of Hawton, Notts.
Such recesses were clearly intended for the deposit of the cruets
when not in use.
The most remarkable accompaniment to a piscina yet remains
to be mentioned. At Long Wittenham church, Berks., is the
diminutive figure of a cross-legged knight, fully armed, with shield
and sword, the head on a pillow and the feet on an animal. This
figure, which is only 26 inches long, rests on the slab of the piscina,
with the head towards the east. The head of the niche over this
small effigy and the drain is of trefoil shape, with the figures of two
angels with expanded wings. The only reasonable conjecture about
this very strange position for a human effigy is that it commemo-
rates a knight of local renown who provided this piscina, and who
may in other ways have been a benefactor to the chancel. There
is an illustration of this piscina in the Archceo logical Journal,
ii. 134-
In the twelfth volume of the Proceedings of tJie Cumberland and
Westmoreland A ntiquarian Society, there is a good illustrated paper
on all the mediaeval piscinas of the diocese of Carlisle.
SEDILIA
Sedilia is the name applied to the three stone seats or recessed
canopied stalls not infrequently found near the altar in the south
wall of the chancel. They are of far more exceptional occurrence
in Continental Christendom than in England. The usual number
68 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
is three, and they are intended for the use of the priest, deacon,
and subdeacon at high mass. The earlier examples (and, quite
exceptionally, some of the later ones) are generally graduated in
height, the priest using the one nearest the east, and then the
deacon and subdeacon. When on the same level, they are said to
mark the time when priests acted as assistants of the celebrant.
They occur in the I2th cent. ; those at Earls Barton, Northants,
and Wellingore, Lines., are good examples. In the next cen-
tury they were fairly general. In districts where stone abounded,
much skill and delicacy of treatment were often expended on the
enrichment of the canopy-work of the stalls. As a rule, particularly
in the best examples, a water-drain or piscina, with a more or less
elaborate niche over it, to the immediate east of the seats, formed
part of the design. The three stalls in the earlier examples are
divided by detached shafts or pillars, and generally in later times
by a piece of walling, which is not infrequently pierced with
apertures.
There are detached or isolated sedilia at the cathedral churches
of Exeter and Bristol, at Tewkesbury abbey, and at the collegiate
church of Crediton.
Derbyshire, for a small county, affords a variety of good in-
stances of different periods, from which most of our sedilia illus-
trations are taken. Monyash is the only instance in the county
where the seats are graded ; it is an excellent example of late
Norman or Transition workmanship, and is known from record
evidence to date about 1200. The sedilia of Ilkeston church show
admirable work of the time of Edward I., about 1280-90. At
Sandiacre there are three remarkably fine sedilia with piscina
niche of the same elaborate pattern, about 1340 ; the canopies are
lofty and have cinquefoil featherings, with open tracery above, and
are richly crocketed and finialed. Later in the same century are
the handsome sedilia, with quatrefoil treatment, of Tideswell ;
whilst at Kirk Hallam are effective but shallow canopies of the
1 5th cent.
Two other illustrations are given of somewhat remarkable
late isth-cent. examples. The sedilia of Rotherham, W. R. Yorks.,
have the dividing walls frequently pierced. Southwold, Suffolk, is
of an exceptional plan ; it has a beautiful canopy running con-
tinuously over the table-bench, the seats of which are not divided.
There are one or two other instances of this plan, though not so
SEDILIA
69
MONYASH, DERBS.
ILKESTOJS PERES.
7o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
ornate as that of Southwold. At Spratton, Northants, there is a
stone bench, with room for three persons, under a plain pointed arch.
Instances of a single stone slab or sedile in the structure of
the south wall of the chancel are met with occasionally. Examples
may be mentioned at Luccombe, Queen Camel, and Baltonsborough,
Somerset ; Spennithorne, N. R. Yorks. ; Edlesborough, Lee, and
Wroughton, Wilts. ; Ditchling, Sussex ; Avington and Eaton
Hastings, Berks. ; Broad-Hempston, Devon ; and Barrow and
Chaddesden, Derbs.
At Lenham, Kent, a single seat projects considerably from the
wall, and has stone elbows, but the back is recessed and has a
trefoiled head ; it is illustrated in Parker's Glossary. At Beckley,
Oxon., there is a single stone seat, in the usual position, with one
elbow.
There are also various examples of double sedilia. The most
finished instance that we know of two seats occurs at Whitwell,
Derbs., where there is beautifully ornate work about the middle of
the 1 4th cent. The tabernacle work above the seats is carried to
a considerable height, and is most effective ; the two seats are on
a different level, the eastern seat being a step the higher.
Double sedilia occur at Sedgeberrow and Bricklehampton and
at two other Worcestershire churches ; also at West Bridgeford,
Notts. ; Milton Keynes, Bucks. ; Fen Drayton and Whittlesea,
Cambs. ; Maristow and Yealmpton, Devon ; Pattingham, Staffs. ;
Aid worth, Harwell, Steventon, and Tidmarsh, Berks. ; Mobberley
and West Kirby, Chester ; and Tempsford, Sharnbrook, and
Hockliffe, Beds. ; and a very richly carved example at Winchelsea,
Sussex.
On the other hand, although three sedilia is the normal number,
there are some instances where this number is exceeded. There
are fourfold sedilia at the great churches of Westminster, Durham,
and Gloucester ; also at Luton and Turvey, Beds. ; Maidstone,
All Saints, Kent ; Langley Marsh, Bucks. ; Rothwell, Northants ;
Ottery St. Mary (in the Lady Chapel), Devon ; Stratford-on-
Avon, Warwicks. ; and the Mayor's Chapel, Bristol.
Southwell and Maidstone have each five-stalled sedilia.
At episcopal high mass, one of the additional stalls would be
occupied by the canon with the mitre, or perhaps in other cases by
the master of the ceremonies at great festivals.
In Mr. Prior's admirable work on Gothic Art, attention is
SEDILIA
SANDIACRE, DERBS.
TIDESWELL, DERBS.
72 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
KIRK HALLAM, DERBS
SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK
SEDILIA
73
drawn to " the lordly graces of the cathedral as it were," which are
to be found in the fine I4th-cent. traceries and head-carvings of
some of the sedilia of the south-east of England*, as at Westwell,
Kent. Other good examples of this rich period occur at Great
ROTHERHAM, W. R. YORKS.
Haseley, Oxon. ; Grafton Underwood, Northants ; Hawton and
Car Colston, Notts. ; Shottesbrook, Berks. ; Kidderminster and
Chaddesley Corbett, Worcs. ; and Nantwich, Bunbury, and Malpas.
/"*i *"
Chester.
The instances illustrated in Parker's Glossary are— St. Mary's,
Leicester, enriched Norman ; Wellingore, Lines., Transition
Norman; Uffington, Berks., Early English; Chesterton (with
74 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
ball-flower mouldings), Merton, Oxon., and Willesborough, Kent,
I4th cent. ; and Farnham, Surrey, and St. Mary's, Oxford,
1 5th cent.
It is not uncommon to find a second set of sedilia in the south
aisle. This arrangement is fairly frequent in Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire. In addition to the fine Norman sedilia in the
chancel, St. Mary's church, Leicester, possesses the most beautiful
of Early English examples in its south aisle. The same may
be noted in the south transept of Filey, Yorks. At Medbourne,
Leics., the second series occupies a unique position, namely, at the
south end of the aisle of the south transept.
In some districts, particularly in East Anglia, the sill of the
window in the south wall of the chancel nearest to the east is
lowered, so as to form an inexpensive kind of sedilia bench.
EASTER SEPULCHRES
Every church seems to have been provided with a movable
chest or small receptacle known as the Holy Sepulchre or
Easter Sepulchre, in which on Maundy Thursday was deposited
a consecrated wafer, shut up in a pyx, together with a cross. This
chest was placed on the north side of the chancel, and there con-
stantly watched until an early hour on Easter Sunday, when the
pyx was taken out and replaced upon the altar. The actual
receptacle was usually, if not always, of wood ; an example in
private possession is described by Bloxam, but no other is known,
unless the painted box at Warkleigh, Devon, already described
under " Pyx," is included. A temporary structure of wood,
enriched with hangings, was usually supplied to sustain the
Sepulchre; but a permanent structural recess was not infrequently
provided to enshrine the Sepulchre, and many of these remain
and are now known as Easter Sepulchres. In fact, whenever there
is a sepulchral arch on the north side of the chancel, it is reason-
able to consider it as primarily a canopy for the Easter Sepulchre,
even when it covers an effigy or other sepulchral monument. The
subjoined list, however, only includes those which are marked
out definitely as Easter Sepulchres.
The structural Easter Sepulchre does not appear to have come
into use before the latter half of the 1 3th cent., and the majority
belong to the late Decorated period. They are invariably on the
EASTER SEPULCHRES 75
north side of the chancel, and where this is aisled may be in the
north aisle. The most usual form seems to have been a recess in
the chancel wall, reaching to the floor and covered by a cusped and
crocketed arch. Many, however, are greatly enriched with tracery
and tabernacle work, and with appropriate figure sculpture ; they
were sometimes of towering height, as at Bampton, Oxon., and
Northwold, Norfolk.
Of the sculptured Sepulchres, one of the most beautiful, though
not the most ornate, is that at Lincoln Cathedral. This is in three
divisions, each consisting of a trefoil-headed open niche, canopied
and crocketed, and at the base of each is a figure of a soldier,
finely carved in bold relief ; it dates from the I3th cent.
Most of the sculptured Sepulchres are in Lincolnshire and the
neighbouring counties ; that at Heckington is typical of all. It is
about 10 feet in height by 5 feet 6 inches, and presents a base of four
canopied panels, each occupied by the figure of a sleeping soldier.
The superstructure is treated as a triptych ; the lower portion of
the central division has the recess for the Sepulchre, 2 feet 8 inches
wide by I foot 8 inches in depth, covered by a straight-sided arch
with crockets and finial. The remainder of the middle stage, in all
three divisions, is occupied by a sculptured representation of the
Resurrection. Above the finial of the recess is a figure of the risen
Christ, with angels on either hand, while the lateral divisions show
four female figures and two angelic. This stage is heavily canopied
and pinnacled, and all its flat surfaces covered with foliage carving,
bewildering in its intricacy and richness. In date this composi-
tion belongs to the fully developed Decorated period.
At Hawton, Notts., there is an Easter Sepulchre much resembling
that at Heckington, and of the same date, but richer in detail. It
is considered by some judges to be the most elaborate and beautiful
work pertaining to an Easter Sepulchre in all England, or probably
in all Christendom. It would be quite in vain here to attempt any
real description of the whole masterly piece of sculpture, 17 feet
long by 1 2 feet high, which occupies most of the north wall of the
chancel. The various groups of sculptured figures represent the
sleeping soldiers, the Rising from the Tomb, the visit of the Maries,
and the Ascension. In the too-much-despised Ecclesiastical Court
of the Crystal Palace is a faithful facsimile of this grand work
in plaster.
Two other Notts, examples are worthy of special mention. At
IS
76 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Sibthorpe the Easter Sepulchre, on the north side of the chancel,
also enriched with figure sculpture. Two soldiers are crouching
on each side of the niche for
the Blessed Sacrament ; above,
in the crocketed canopy-work,
is the Risen Lord and two
adoring angels. The sepulchre
at Arnold is a fine piece of
bold carving of early I4th-
cent. date, but unfortunately
much mutilated.
Those at Patrington, Yorks. ;
Northwold, Norfolk ; and Hoi-
combe Burnell, Devon, with
the same general arrangements,
are a century later in date.
The Easter Sepulchre con-
tinued to be provided down to
the date of the Reformation ;
that atTarrant Hinton, Dorset,
is of perceptibly renaissance
character in its details.
In several cases we know
from wills that an enriched
tomb on the north side of the
chancel was specially designed
for the twofold purpose of serving as an individual memorial as
well as for the Sepulchre. Thus Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre,
directed that his tomb should be prepared on the north side of
Hurstmonceaux chapel, "to be there made for the placing of the
Sepulchre of Our Lord, with all fitting furniture thereto, in honour
of the most Blessed Sacrament."
Another form of Easter Sepulchre, which has generally escaped
observation, or, if noticed, is quite wrongly described as " an altar,"
occurs in several West Somerset churches. In this case the
Sepulchre assumes the form of a chest tomb, with panelled work
on the front and at the west end, and usually bearing the symbols
of the Passion. These examples, all of the I5th cent., were
made to stand on the north side of the chancel with one end
(unsculptured) against the east wall. At Porlock there are two
EASTER SEPULCHRE, ARNOLD, NOTTS.
EASTER SEPULCHRES 77
of these Sepulchres, one delicately carved, in its right place, and
another, which was probably ejected in favour of this better one,
now in the porch. Luccombe has one, which used originally to
stand in the north-east of the chancel ; it has been shifted three
times during as many restorations, and is now in a hopelessly
wrong place. Milverton has another in the true place. In
Selworthy churchyard is an ejected Sepulchre of this nature, used
for a tomb inscription at a later date. There is also an Easter
Sepulchre of this description in the church of St. John, Winchester.
It is evident from the Lincolnshire churchwarden returns of
1 566, as to what had become of " monuments of superstition," that
several of the Easter Sepulchres of that county were of wood. At
Burton Goggles and at Beesby the wardens testified to the burning
of the Sepulchres ; at Croxton they entered as to the sepulchre,
" whearof is made a shelfe to set dishes on ; " whilst at Castle
Bytham, they made a communion table of it. One of these wooden
sepulchres (such, doubtless, as the one at Castle Bytham) is now,
alas ! in private hands in the north of Derbyshire, and is said
to have been ignorantly ejected from the church of Hampton,
Worcs. It is of I5th-cent. date, and table form, with panelled
traceried sides ; it is 4 feet 3 inches by 2 feet, and nearly 3 feet high.
A list of Easter Sepulchres
[The asterisk implies definite sculptured treatment.]
Beds. — *Arlesey, Bletsoe, Luton.
Bucks. — Ashendon, Haddenham.
Derbs. — Dovebridge, Staveley (north aisle).
Devon. — West Alvington, Frogmore, Holcombe Burnell, South Pool,
Woodleigh.
Dorset. — Dorchester, St. Peter's, Loders (discovered 1890), Studland,
Tarrant Hinton, c. 1530.
Essex. — Great Leigh, Ramsey, Writtle.
Glos. — Gloucester, St. Mary Crypt.
Hants. — Winchester, St. John.
Herts. — Redbourn, Sandon, Sarratt, Tring.
Leics. — Garthorpe, Lubbenham.
Lines. — Castle Bytham, Covenham St. Mary, *Heckington, Honington,
*Horbling, Irnham, * East Kirkby (with offertory basin), Langtoft,
*Lincoln Cathedral, *Navenby.
Middlesex. — South Mimms.
78 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Norfolk. — Baconthorpe, Blakeney, North Creyke, Kelling, *Northwold,
Raveningham.
Northants. — Cogenhoe, Floore, Grendon, Lutton, Marston, Twywell,
Watford.
Notts.—* Arnold, *Hawton (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk. iv. 40-5), *Sibthorpe.
Oxon. — Aston Rowant, *Bampton, Ducklington, Lewknor, Magdalen
College, Oxford, Stanton Harcourt, Piddington.
Salop. — Bitterley, Wroxeter.
Somerset. — Luccombe, Milverton, Porlock, Sehvorthy.
Suffolk. — Blythburgh, Gorleston, Holbrook, Long Melford.
Surrey. — Cranley, Walton-on-the-Hill.
Sussex. — Alfriston, Bepton, Berwick, Bosham, Broadwater, Catsfield,
Cocking, Denton, Eastbourne, Hamsey, Hastings, St. Clement, Hurst-
monceaux, Lancing, Ore, Slaugham.
Warwicks. — Arley, Bilton, Cubbington, Ladbrooke, Long Itchington,
Warwick, Whitchurch, Withybrook (carved and painted), Wolverton.
Worcs. — Hadsor.
Wilts.— Colerne.
Yorks. — Hovingham (sculptured fragment), *Patrington.
LECTERNS
It was customary in the Middle Ages to have in chancels or
quires a desk or lectern from which the Gospel was read ; these
were usually of wood or metal, and movable, more rarely fixed and
of stone. The practice of the reformed Church has been to bring
them out into the body of the church, and to use them for reading
the Lessons, and it is in the nave, just west of the chancel arch,
that the comparatively few mediaeval specimens which have come
down to us are now to be found.
The movable desks, whether of wood or metal, are of two
forms — the one a simple desk, either single, twofold, or fourfold,
supported on a pillar ; the other, perhaps the more usual form, an
eagle, or rarely a pelican, supporting the book on its outstretched
wings. As a rule the simple desk is the earlier form, the existing
examples belonging to the I3th and I4th cents., while the eagle
lecterns date from the I5th and i6th. The use of the eagle lectern
seems to have revived in the I7th cent, and many examples are of
that period, the best of which are those of the cathedral churches
of Wells (1660), York (1666), and Lincoln (1667).
The finest metal desks are at Merton College, Oxford (engraved
by Bloxam), and at Yeovil ; the best examples of wooden
LECTERNS 79
make are those at Bury and Ramsey, Hunts. ; Detling and
Lenham, Kent ; Lingfield, Surrey ; and Blythburgh, Suffolk. Of
the old metal eagles, the most beautiful is that at King's College,
Cambridge, and other good examples may be found at Cropredy,
Oundle, Southwell (from Newstead priory), Croft, Lines., and
several other places. At St. Stephen's, St. Albans, is a brass eagle
bearing the inscription, Georgius Creichtown Episcopus Dunkeldensis.
It formed part of the plunder of the abbey of Holyrood, and was
brought here by Sir Richard Lee. This Bishop of Dunkeld ruled
from 1527 to 1550. At Norwich cathedral is a good and early
specimen, where the pelican takes the place of the eagle. There
are the remains of an old wooden pelican that formerly served as
a lectern in the church of East Leake, Notts. Wooden eagles are
somewhat less frequent than those of brass ; there is a good one at
Leighton Buzzard, and another instance of the pelican in wood
at Middleton, Hants. The brass lectern of Oxburgh, Norfolk, is
inscribed Orate pro anima Thome Kyppyng quandam rectoris de
Narburgh.
Stone desks are very rare, but examples are found in the chapel
at Wenlock priory, and at Crowle, Worcs. Both are beautifully
carved and of Early English date ; that at Crowle is said to have
been removed from Evesham abbey ; another example occurs at
Norton-by-Evesham. There are later and plainer desks of stone
at Gloucester cathedral and at Chesterblade, Somerset.
Stone Gospel lecterns of a simple character, taking the form of
a small desk projecting from the north wall of the chancel, are also
to be found in a few rare instances, chiefly in Derbyshire, where
they may be seen at Chaddesden, Crich, Etwall, Mickleover,
Taddington, and Spondon.* They also occur at Chipping Warden,
Northants ; at Roos, E. R. Yorks. ; and at Walsoken, Norfolk.
The quires of the larger parish churches, as well as conventual
churches, were also not infrequently supplied with double desks
which stood in the centre, to support the large music-books for
antiphonal singing.
At Blythburgh, Suffolk, is a double wooden lectern of simple
good design, c. 1450, somewhat dilapidated, but sufficiently
substantial to be used for the reading of the Lessons ; it is to be
hoped that no effort will be made to " restore " it. This lectern,
* The Gospel lecterns of Chaddesden and Spondon are illustrated under Al merles in
Chap. IX. »
8o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
being double, could not have been a Gospel lectern for use in the
Mass ; it must have been a quire lectern of the kind just named.
Interesting as this lectern is — it was engraved in Suckling's History
of Suffolk, and has appeared in other books — it is not so unique or
exceptional as is generally represented. There is another double
wooden lectern in East Anglia of I5th-cent. date, in better
preservation and of decidedly superior design — in the church of
Shipdham, Norfolk. The Shipdham example is, however, of some-
what later date, being probably of the reign of Henry VII.
At Bristol cathedral there is a massively constructed desk
mounted on wheels, intended for supporting heavy service-books
and for moving them from side to side of the choir. It is furnished
with a cupboard to contain the books when not in use.
The remains of the early lectern at Peakirk, Northants, are
thus described by Mr. Peers in vol. ii. of the Victoria History
of that county —
" The lectern is a rare and interesting example of the first half of the
1 4th cent. The old revolving desk is unfortunately lost, but the wooden
stem, composed of eight slender filleted shafts with moulded capital and
base, is in fairly good condition, and stands on an original moulded stone
base, an octagon set diagonally on a square. Traces of red paint remain
on the wood."
The following is a list of old lecterns (excepting those just
mentioned in the north chancel walls), arranged under counties : —
Beds. — Leighton Buzzard, wood eagle (i4th cent.).
Berks. — Bledlow, wood eagle; East Hendred, wood; Sparsholt, wood
eagle (i4th cent.).
Bucks. — Cublington (1685); Chilton, stone desk; Eton College, brass;
Ivinghoe.
Cambs.— Cambridge, King's College, brass double desk ; Isleham, eagle ;
Leverington, desk.
Cheshire. — Astbury, wood eagle (Ab. Sq. Sk. Bk. i. 64).
Cornwall. — Phillack, wood eagle.
Dei'on. — Big'oury, wood eagle; Exeter, St. Thomas, wood; Newton
Abbot, brass ; Ottery St. Mary, wood eagle ; Thurleston.
Dorset. — Lyme Regis, double (i7th cent); Wimborne, brass eagle (1623).
Essex. — Littlebury, wood; Newport, wood,
Glos. — Bristol, St. Nicholas, brass eagle (i5th cent.); St. Mary-le-Port,
eagle (1683), removed from cathedral; Chipping Camden, brass-
(post-Reformation); Gloucester, Cathedral; stone desk; Maisey
Hampton (1623), with book chain.
PK1.ICAN LECTERN, EAST LEAKE, NOTIS
LECTERNS 81
Hants. — Middleton, wood eagle; Newchurch, pelican; Southampton
Holy Rood, and St. Michael's ; Winchester, wood eagle.
Herts. — St. Albans, St. Stephen, brass eagle; Aldbury, wooden desk;
Wheathampstead, wood eagle.
Hunts. — Bury, double wooden desk (isth cent.); Little Gidding, brass
eagle; Ramsey, wooden desk (i5th cent).
Kent. — Canterbury Cathedral, brass eagle (i6th cent.) ; Detling, double
wooden desk (i4th cent.); Lenham, wooden desk; Swanscombe,
double wooden lectern.
Lines. — Croft, brass eagle ; Edenham, brass eagle ; Epworth, desk ;
Lincoln Cathedral, brass eagle (1667); Long Sutton, brass eagle
Sp. Card. Sk. Bk. i. 45) ; Messingham, wood ; Swaton, wooden desk.
Middlesex. — St Paul's Cathedral, brass eagle.
Mons. — Llantilio Pertholey, desk.
Norfolk. — East Dereham; East Harling, i4th cent, (recently stolen);
Norwich, Cathedral, brass pelican (i4th cent.), St. Gregory, brass
eagle ; Oxburgh ; Ranworth, wood ; Redenhall ; Shipdham, desk ;
South Burlingham, stone ; Wiggenhall, eagle.
Northants. — Oundle, brass eagle ; Peakirk ; Peterborough Cathedral,
brass eagle.
Notts. — East Leake, wood pelican; Southwell Minster, brass eagle
(from Newstead Priory, see p. 327).
Oxon. — Cropredy, brass eagle ; Oxford, Merton College Chapel, brass desk.
Salop. — Wenlock Priory, Prior's Chapel, stone desk (i3th cent.).
Somerset. — Brent, East, wooden eagle ; Chedzoy, double wooden desk ;
Chesterblade, stone desk; Chewton Mendip, wood (lyth cent.);
Hyam, wooden desk ; Monksilver, wooden eagle ; Wedmore, wooden
desk; Wells Cathedral, brass eagle (1660), wooden desk; Yeovil,
brass desk.
Suffolk. — Blythburgh, wood desk; Bury St. Edmunds, brass; Cavendish, brass
eagle ; Clare, brass eagle ; Hawstead, wood desk ; Hopton-by-Lowes-
toft ; Lavenham ; Leverington, wood eagle ; Lowestoft, brass eagle.
Surrey. — Croydon, brass eagle; Lingfield, double wood desk; Stoke
d'Abernon, eagle, foreign (early i8th cent.).
Sussex. — Old Shoreham, wood (c. 1300).
Warwicks. — Coventry, Holy Trinity, brass eagle.
Wilts. — Chippenham, double desk iron; East Coulston (i7th cent.);
Salisbury, St. Martin, brass eagle.
Wares. — Crowle, stone desk (i3th cent); Norton-by-Evesham, stone.
Yorks. — Harthill; Kirkheaton, double wooden lectern; Laughton-en-le-
Morthen, wood eagle; York, All Saints, St. Crux, double wooden
desk (/. d G. Sk. Bk., ii. 26), Cathedral, brass eagle (1666).
CHAPTER IV
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS
ENGLAND was pre-eminently, above the rest of Western
Christendom, the land where the chancel or rood-screen
most predominated, and whose surviving examples are far
more numerous and beautiful than in other countries. The subject,
therefore, demands special consideration. During the later Middle
Ages almost every church in England was provided with a screen
to separate the chancel or the quire of the clergy from the laity,
and in parish churches this screen supported a towering Rood. In
a few instances the screen was absent, and the Rood was carried by
a simple beam, the rood-beam, but the exceptions were so few
that the screen may be considered a necessary part of the church
furniture ; even the smallest church now remaining, that at Culbone,
has a well- developed chancel screen. At the time of the Reforma-
tion the removal of the Rood was ordered, and invariably carried
out. Its removal usually also involved the destruction of the rood-
loft ; nevertheless the screens were, for the most part, retained, and
although through neglect or wanton destruction they have ever since
been disappearing, yet many hundreds still exist. In addition to
the rood-screens, others, known as parcloses, separated chancel aisles,
where they were present, from the chancels, and most chapels were
also screened.
The earliest screens, of which examples may be seen in the
old Basilican churches of Italy, were quite low; but at a some-
what later period what has been termed by a recent writer " the
mystery type " of screen predominated throughout the whole of
the Orthodox Church and in all the distinct communions of the
Eastern rite. This was the feature which was one of the particular
characteristics of the early Church in Britain, so far as the evidence
of existing fabrics speaks. Their universal use in every church,
however small, was eminently English, and the process of evolution
82
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 83
that brought it about seems to be of Eastern rather than Italian
origin, following primitive customs such as prevail in the Armenian,
Coptic, and Abyssinian churches.
The sanctuary was screened off by at least one partition from
the western or more congregational part of the building. The
small archway in the wall at the east end of the nave communi-
cating with the chancel or sacrarium, was doubtless usually closed
by a curtain or veil in the simple churches of the earlier Saxon
days. Its survival, as recently pointed out by Mr. Aymer Vallance
in his able paper on the screens of Kent, is to be noted in the
invariable mediaeval use in England of the Lenten veil, whereby
the high altar and its surroundings were completely shut off by
a great curtain or sheet of stained (painted) linen, or other
material, during the whole of the forty days. This solemn Lenten
veiling was but the reflection of what had once been the more
primitive method of mysteriously shrouding the place of the Sacra-
mental Presence from the main body of the church all the year
round. A use that had once prevailed unceasingly became rele-
gated to a season of extra solemnity. King Alfred, soon after his
triumph over the Danes in 878, ordained the very heavy fine of
one hundred and twenty shillings for the offence of tearing down
the Lenten veil. A permanent veil must therefore by this date
have become obsolete, and as the veil for constant use disappeared,
a permanent screen, with a convenient door in the centre, took its
place, to prevent undue intrusion into the sanctuary.
As the " mystery " idea of a more or less permanent screen or
curtain, secluding the sanctuary from the general worshippers,
gradually gave way before the more open view of the Western
Church, then so largely prevailing in England, the desire came
about to gain a better sight of the chief altar than would be
afforded through the small, single archway, already partially blocked
at all times (as seems practically certain) by a wooden screen.
Hence originated triple chancel arches, or a western chancel wall
pierced by openings other than the central one. One of the most
interesting of these pierced walls is to be noted in the early
Norman village church of Scawton, N.R. Yorks., on the Hambledon
Hills, where, on the face towards the nave, are two round-headed
recesses (one on each side of the arch), which are pierced at the
back by smaller square squints. There are openings of a similar
character each side of the small chancel arch in the Hampshire
84 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
churches of Ashley and Otterbourne. About a dozen other
examples are extant. Opinions differ, but in each of the three
cases just named it is our belief, after careful examination, that the
openings are later than the arch. In the case of Inworth, Essex,
where the arch, with the general chancel construction, is almost
certainly pre-Norman, the openings each side of the arch are clearly
after-thoughts. Contrariwise, the central and side archways into
the early chancel of Pyecombe, Sussex, are all of the same date.
Remains, it is true, of threefold chancel archways occur in
a few cases among the earliest of our Saxon churches ; but the
idea of triple chancel arches of coeval construction, which are
just occasionally found of later date, doubtless took their rise from
these mere pierced walls. At Westwell, Kent, there is a stone
screen, apparently of Edward I.'s time, of good design and execu-
tion, consisting of three lofty arches supported by slender shafts.
Of this triple arch form there are other but plainer examples at
Wool, Dorset, and Welsh Newton, Mons. Other instances of the
pierced chancel wall are to be noted at Baulking, Berks., and at
Sandridge, Herts. In the latter case, the eastern face of this
chancel screen is richly moulded, whilst the western face is plain ;
Mr. Somers Clarke is probably right in his supposition that orna-
mental wooden screenwork originally stood against the western face.
Now and again, but very rarely, a parish church followed a not
unusual plan of large conventual or minster churches in having
a substantial screen wall with a mere central doorway. This
form, of I4th-cent. date, may be noted at Eastwell, Leics., where
the screen of solid masonry is pierced by a central doorway, which
has on each side a traceried, unglazed window. There is a like
plan in the church of Stockton, Wilts.
Another noteworthy example of the I4th cent., to which we
think the so-often-misused word "unique" can fairly be applied,
occurs at Capel-le-Ferne, near Dover. In this case the wall
between the nave and chancel contains an open arcade of three
small two-centered arches, rising from octagonal shafts. Over the
central arch is another opening, which was doubtless constructed to
contain the Rood and its attendant figures.
Continuing the brief mention of stone chancel screens, the note-
worthy examples of Stebbing and Great Bardfield, both of them in
Essex, should not be overlooked. In these instances, the chancel
arch has been rilled with stone tracery after the fashion of a large
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 85
window. The first of these, of beautiful early I4th-cent. design,
has tracery supported by two clustered columns and like responds.
The mutilated central opening has been restored. The somewhat
similar instance at Great Bardfield is of I5th-cent. date, and is now
complete ; of the three rood statues, the central portion has been
reinstated.
The number of stone chancel screens must at one time have
been very considerable. There are many more yet extant than is
generally believed, as well as a large variety of old stone parcloses
or side screens, as is shown in the subsequent county lists.
A large number of the earlier stone screens disappeared in
favour of wooden successors during the I5th cent, when beautiful
timber screenwork, well coved at the top, to support wide rood-
lofts, became the fashion, and spread from parish to parish. The
beautiful stone screen of Stebbing, Essex, showed obvious signs,
prior to its restoration, of having been rudely cut away to make
room for an elaborate I5th-cent. wooden screen or loft. Evidence
is supplied by pre-Reformation churchwarden accounts of two
Somersetshire cases in which stone screens were cleared away to
make room for their timber successors.
At Tintinhull, in 1451-52, the accounts record the erection
of a new rood-loft and rood, on the breastwork of a previous
stone screen. But the old rood-loft was of wood, for two oak
beams, called " liernes," named as part de veteri rode lofte, were
sold for i8d., as well as six joists for 4^. The carpenter was paid
4OJ. for making the new rood-loft, and 6s. %d. for wainscoting for
the same. At Yatton, a very splendid rood-loft and screen was
completed in 1455-56, in succession, it appears, to one mainly
of stone, for the alere, or gallery, of the old rood-loft was supported
on stone corbels, \2d. being paid for their removal. The new rood-
screen and loft must have been splendidly carved, gilded, and
painted. The carpenter's account alone amounted to £31. Sixty-
nine images were set up about the rood-loft ; they cost £3 IQJ. ^d.,
the setting of them up 4^., and a penny was given as " erneste
peny to the ymage maker " when the covenant was made with him.
Some of these images were probably placed in small niches on the
uprights of the screen. The carpenter's name was Crosse, and it is
interesting to note that the wardens expended 2\d. on " ale gvyn
to Crosse yn certyn tyme's yn hys worke to make hym wel wellede
(well willed)." On another occasion Crosse received a pair of
86 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
gloves (which cost 4^.) as a complimentary fee on finishing a certain
portion of his work.
One of the main reasons for the elaboration and strengthening
of chancel screens, which had their origin, as has been already
noted, from mystical considerations, was that they might serve as
supports for great Roods and their lofts.
The appropriateness of placing the figure of the Redeemer,
with outstretched arms attached to the cross, within or without
the fabric of the church, was recognized at an early date in all
parts of Christendom. But in England, at all events, the placing
of such a Figure (with or without the usual accompaniments of
the Blessed Virgin and the Beloved Disciple on a smaller scale)
in an elevated position at the entrance to the chancel was not
customary in the pre-Norman church. There is more than one
instance in which there was a large Rood over the south or main
entrance of a Saxon church. At Breamore, Hants, there is the out-
line of a life-sized Rood, with SS. Mary and John on the once loth-
cent. external south wall of the church, now covered by a later
porch. At Headbourne Worthy, in the same county, is the great
sculptured Rood against the west end of the original Saxon
church ; this sculpture was evidently considered of great sanctity
in the I5th cent., when a large western annexe was built up to
preserve it from exposure. This annexe was of two stages, the
upper one bearing an altar immediately below the Rood.
It seems impossible to decide when the time came in England
for placing the great Crucifix in that singularly appropriate place,
the entrance to the chancel, so as to rivet the attention of the
congregation, or of the casual worshipper, on the Sacrifice of the
Virgin-Born. Doubtless it was a use that came in by degrees ;
there are evidences of its adoption in the I3th cent, and it probably
occurred in various instances at an earlier date. In the larger
churches, a rood-beam (trades crucifixi) parted off the sanctuary at
the end of the stalls, somewhat after the fashion of the far later
altar rails, and below it, in some cases, a lighter screen than that
at the entrance to the chancel was inserted. An example of this
remains at the cathedral church of St. David's. Such an arrange-
ment occurred, at all events occasionally, in earlier times, in com-
paratively small parish churches ; there are obvious traces of two
screens, or a screen and a once-used rood-beam beyond it, in the
church of Postling, Kent.
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 87
This plan was, however, quite the exception for a parish church,
and did not long prevail. In some cases, especially where the chancel
arch was low, the rood was affixed to a beam placed over the summit
of the arch, with the eastern wall of the nave as the background.
This must have been the case in the early Norman church of
Frindsbury, Kent. An interesting example of not only a rood-
beam but a narrow rood-loft over a low Norman chancel arch
survives in the Derbyshire church of Wingerworth. A strong
timber construction exists just above the archway, which projects
2 feet from 'the wall, serving as the floor of a small rood-loft ;
the front of this woodwork is divided into panels, with floral bosses
at the intersections. From the grooves in the front joist it is
evident that it was originally protected by a panelled railing.
Some forty years ago, when the wall above the loft was plastered,
the outlines of the great rood, with the attendant figures that had
originally stood there, could be plainly perceived. Restoration has,
however, swept away these outlines, and two ugly hatchments
now disfigure the wall space.
In not a few cases a curious result followed from the congre-
gation having become so used to roods (sometimes painted, but
generally wooden figures) placed against the solid background
above the low Norman arches. When, in the I3th and subsequent
centuries, in the course of rebuilding or enlarging the chancels, the
chancel arch was materially raised after a Gothic or pointed form,
it seemed expedient to many to restore the former solid effect of
a background to the rood by filling up the arch aperture above the
new screen with boarding or with lath and plaster. Hence came
about what Mr. Bligh Bond, in his admirable papers on the
Devonshire screens, terms (after the analogy of doorways) a screen
tympanum. In the first half of the last century many of these
tympana or fillings-up remained. Because these tympana in the
Reformation days were generally whitewashed over, and adorned
with royal arms, black-letter texts, or Renaissance patterns,
ignorant "restorers" in the first period of the Gothic revival
thought it was one of their first duties to sweep out these tympana,
believing them to be intrusions of the second half of the i6th
cent. A few valuable examples have been thus cleared out, even
during the last decade.
The highly interesting case of Wenhaston, Suffolk, was dis-
cussed at such length on its recent discovery that only the briefest
88 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
reference need be here made to it. The upper part of the chancel
arch was filled up with a whitewashed boarded partition. This
was taken down in 1892, and the boards placed in the churchyard.
A deluge of rain in the night washed off portions of plaster,
exposing various painted figures. Eventually this proved to be
a remarkable painting of the Doom, interrupted by the outlines
of a great rood, 8 feet high, with the usual figures at the side.
The actual wooden figures or images that stood against the frame-
work would be cast down at the Reformation, and texts of Scripture
had been inscribed after the whole had been well -whitewashed.
Unhappily, by perverse taste, this remarkable and fairly well-
preserved painting has not been replaced in the rebuilt and poorly
designed chancel arch, but has been fixed over a badly lighted
gallery at the west end of the church.
The casual records of chancel arch tympana that have dis-
appeared are not infrequent. The filling up the arch of Hayfield
church, Derbs., retained the actual painting of the rood and
attendant figures down to its destruction in 1818. The tympana
of the churches of Bridestowe and Woodbury, Devon, have recently
been swept away ; one still remains at Raddington, just over the
border in Somersetshire, and others at Holland and Parracombe,
Devon. At Lockington, Leics., over the I5th-cent. chancel screen,
is a great tympanum, with the royal arms (date 1704) on an
unusually large scale, and the Commandments, Our Father, and
Creed below ; it is probably the successor of an earlier
tympanum.
In the Essex church of Stondon Massey there are traces of a
former boarded partition that extended right up to the roof from
the top of the present screen, forming a background to the rood-
loft. At the church of Bradwell-juxta-Coggeshall, the tympanum
still exists. In this case, as in others in Essex, the plain side is
towards the nave, whilst that on which any old ornamental work
remains is towards the east. The reason for this is probably that
at the Reformation, in order to get a better surface for text
painting and royal arms, the boarded tympanum was turned
round. This reversion, undoubtedly, took place at Ludham,
Norfolk, when the side on which the Rood was painted, after a
certain degree of effacement, was turned towards the east, and
the arms of Elizabeth, with Vivat Regina Elizabetha, were painted
on the side towards the people. During a last-century restoration,
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 89
a second reversion brought back the old arrangement high up
above the screen.
One of the most interesting of these tympana arrangements
still surviving is to be seen in the retired village church of Elling-
ham, Hants. Here the space at the back of the rood-loft over the
1 5th-cent. screen is filled up with lath and plaster, and now bears
the Commandments, Creed, and Our Father, painted in black-
letter within renaissance borders ; below them are two texts in
Bishops' Bible version of like Elizabethan date, and also the royal
arms with C.R., 1671, and two texts of the same date as the
arms.
At Pytchley, Northants, a rude restoration of 1843 brought
about the destruction of the chancel screen, and an elaborate
tympanum of spars and plaster above it was pulled down. The
latter was a repainted pre-Reformation structure. The framework
of this tympanum was secured above the tower arch against the
west wall of the nave, where it now remains, embellished with
Fear God, Honour the King, the arms of Charles II., sundry royal
badges, and the names of the two churchwardens for 1661.
In Basingstoke church, Hants, the well-painted arms of
Elizabeth, with date 1576, in an elaborate frame, now over the
tower arch, were formerly on the chancel tympanum. But space
is altogether insufficient to continue any further notes on the
screen tympanum question, a subject which has hitherto been
strangely neglected by the great majority of ecclesiological writers.
Frequent, however, as were the instances of the filling up of the
tops of the lofty chancel arches to supply rood backgrounds, it
cannot be doubted that the normal condition of things in an
English Church, when the days of low chancel arches and of
elaborate screens had set in, was to have three figures standing
up clear over the screen. As Mr. Vallance so well puts it, in his
article in Memorials of Old Kent — " Beyond doubt, the pre-
ference was for detached figures, the Rood, with its flanking images,
reared in majestic isolation, and silhouetted against only the
receding perspective of the quire."
This effect was produced in two ways. The figures either
stood on a rood-beam above the screen level, or else they rose
immediately from the rood-loft on the top of the screen. The
former arrangement was by no means infrequent. In several
churches there are fragments of substantial beam-ends, usually
90 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
sawn off level with the wall masonry, at such an elevation above
the screen level as to show that they are the ends of rood-beams.
Only two or three instances need be named. At Doddington,
Kent, there is a fragment of a carved oak beam of the I3th cent.,
and at Hawton, Notts., remains of the I5th cent. At Tunstead,
Norfolk, there is a fine painted rood-beam, supported by carved
spandrels, considerably above the rood-loft. The beam at Potter
Heigham, in the same county, is 6 feet above the rood-loft, but in
this case the whole space seems to have been filled up tympanum
fashion. Another Norfolk example occurs at Sutton. A beam at
Minster, in Sheppey, is painted with a I3th-cent. pattern. The
screen in Lamarsh church, Essex, is of interest, because of the
projections left on the upright posts in order to support the beam.
The most interesting example remains to be noted. At the
east end of the nave of the church of Old Shoreham, Sussex, over
the Norman archway into the crossing below the central tower, is a
massive moulded beam which probably bore a small Rood ; it bears
the alternate billet moulding, and is of Norman date. At Brinsted
are the sawn-off ends of a rood beam, c. 1260 ; whilst at Bury
in the same county is a rood beam, c. 1200, on a I5th cent,
screen.
The instances where stone corbels that formerly carried the
rood-beam remain are very numerous.
Our remarks throughout this book are chiefly intended to apply
to parish churches, and more particularly is this the case in the
consideration of rood-screens. Nevertheless, it may be well, in
connection with stone screens, to draw attention to some of those
remaining in great monastic or minster churches. In such churches
the arrangement was different, in that the quires of the clergy were
completely shut off by close screens, both at the west and laterally,
and these screens were usually of solid masonry. The earliest, or
at least the most rudimentary division, of these structural screens
between the quire of the monks or canons and the nave of the
people took the form of a wall completely dividing the two. This
arrangement is to be seen at Blyth, Notts., where it dates from
c. 1 200. The wall is here pierced by two doors, one on each side
the nave altar, to which it forms a reredos. This wall has been
covered by a painting of the Doom, of which traces remain.
Next in simplicity, and of all dates, is the screen formed of a
plain wall, 10 to 15 feet in height, pierced by one central or two
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 91
lateral doorways, the former at Malmesbury, the latter at Boxgrove,
Croyland, and Waltham. This was an occasional Cistercian method.
The finest example is Prior d'Estria's beautiful screen at Canter-
bury ; here his actual quire-screen, pierced by a central doorway,
is now concealed by a later addition, but the lateral portions
remain unaltered. This screen is 14 feet in height, and is quite
plain and solid for about 10 feet, forming a backing for the stalls ;
above there is a graceful open arcade of I4th-cent. tracery ; the
date of this screen is 1307.
The structural screen more often, however, took the form of a
more or less solid mass of masonry of considerable depth, pierced
by a central vaulted passage (exceptionally two lateral, as at St.
Albans), and supporting a gallery of some size, to which access was
obtained by a staircase within the screen. To screens of this form
the name Pulpitum was applied, and they are sometimes called
also Jubes, from the first word of the sentence Jube domine
benedicere, " Sir, give me a blessing," as benedictions were some-
times pronounced from this elevation. As in later dates, and
perhaps originally, they supported the organs, they are often known
as organ screens. Screens of this form do not occur before the
Decorated period, to which date the most beautiful specimens
belong. In some of the best examples, as at Southwell and
Exeter in this style, in the Arundel screen at Chichester, removed
but not destroyed, and in the pleasing example in the little village
church of Compton Bassett, Wilts., there is an open arcade in
front of the solid part of the screen, furnishing lateral altar recesses
on either side of the door, and extending the gallery space above.
Of these, the most beautiful is that at Southwell, with its curious
skeleton vaulting and exquisite carving, certainly one of the finest
ever built in this or any country, outrivalling its sister at Lincoln.
Fine examples of solid screens without the arcade are to be
found at Lincoln, of early Decorated style ; and at Wells, later in
the same period ; and at York, Howden, Ripon, and Canterbury of
Perpendicular date. These are all covered with architectural orna-
ment, either niches and tabernacle work or panelling ; the niches at
Canterbury and York retain their statuary, and those at Howden
are now filled with exceptionally fine statues of an earlier date,
brought from another part of the church. The tabernacle work
with which the early screen at Rochester is now covered is entirely
modern ; it was originally quite plain.
92 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
At least in some cases these solid screens were introduced to
strengthen faulty tower arches or piers ; it was certainly so at
Darlington and Wells, and at Chichester the removal of the screen
probably hastened the fall of the centre tower.
Solid lateral screens like those at Canterbury were not
commonly employed except by the Cistercians and Gilbertines,
but they are found at Milton ; while at St. Albans and Rochester
the arches between the quire and its aisles are completely built up.
In the arches of the apse at Norwich there are low screens of
stone, which formed a back for the original stalls of the clergy.
Open-work screens are far more common than solid ones, and
in parish churches they were almost invariably employed. Though
they were deprived of their roods at the Reformation, their actual
destruction was not demanded, and more than a thousand still
exist. They occur chiefly as chancel screens, but there are many
parcloses. Open parcloses are found in several of the great churches
where the quire screens are of stone. Though the wooden screens
differed much in design, yet the general arrangement was the same,
namely, a base, solid and generally divided into panels by uprights
or buttresses, supporting a stage of open-work divided into com-
partments by shafts or mullions, with tracery in the heads of the
divisions, and completed by a more or less enriched beam or cornice.
The centre division, in rood-screens, formed the entrance to the
chancel, and was closed below by doors which completed the base.
The lower stage was often, especially in East Anglia and Devon,
enriched by paintings, for the most part representations of single
figures of saints, prophets, and doctors ; these screens are indicated
in the lists by an asterisk. Apart from the pictures, the whole
screen was frequently, if not usually, enriched with colour, traces
of which are preserved in a large number of examples.
The vast majority of existing screens belong to the Perpen-
dicular period, but examples of the earlier styles are to be found.
The earliest remaining is the wooden railing above the chancel arch
at Compton, Surrey, of late Norman date. Of the Early English
style, examples occur at Kirkstead, Lines. ; Thurcaston, Leics. ;
and Stanton Harcourt, Oxon. They are all of similar design — a
rude solid base and a row of light open arches, supported by circular
shafts with capitals and bases, carrying a plain beam. A very
beautiful early Decorated screen is that at Northfleet, Kent. Later
instances of the period are numerous. Good examples may be
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 93
seen at Caversham Cropredy, and Deddington, Oxon. ; Eding-
thorpe, and Santon Downham, Norfolk ; Merton, Suffolk ; and
Beeby, Leics. Of Perpendicular screenwork, numerous beautiful
examples are to be found in almost every county ; they are
sometimes plain, but generally enriched with buttresses, pinnacles,
niches, and crockets, and their beams are elaborately carved with
foliage, in which the vine has a prominent place.
The screens of the Eastern and Central counties are generally
the more refined and delicate in workmanship, those of the West
the bolder and larger ; in Devon they often extend unbroken the
full width of nave and aisles. A western peculiarity is that the
open stage is treated as a continuous range of windows, generally
of four lights each, as at Dartmouth and Berry Pomeroy; whereas,
in the rest of England each light is treated as a separate com-
position. In East Anglia the use of a double plane of tracery gives
an effect of peculiar richness.
Screens continued to be constructed after the Reformation, and
various post-Reformation screens are included in the following
lists. The most interesting are at Staindrop, Sedgefield, and
Brancepeth, all in Durham — a county peculiarly rich in post-
Reformation woodwork, where Gothic forms are used — and at
Cartmel. The screen at the last-named is Renaissance in character,
and is one of the most beautiful examples of wood carving in
England It is double throughout, and is returned north and south
to form a backing and a continuous canopy for the stalls ; it also
carries a loft or gallery. Other vigorous if rude screens of
Renaissance detail are those of St. John's, Leeds, and at Abbey
Dore.
Rood-screens frequently carried a narrow gallery, the rood-loft,
which has in the large majority of cases perished, the stair by
which it was approached being usually the only evidence of its
former existence. There were three ways in which the loft was
supported. In the first a stout beam was placed parallel to the top
bar of the screen, and about 2 feet in advance of it. On these
two beams a floor rested, and the gallery was protected front and
back by panelling. A very fine example exists at Flamborough,
and another at Hubberholme, a retired village a few miles from
Skipton.
In the second method the screen supported a deep cove, as at
Ludlow, or a semi-vault, as at Berry Pomeroy, both front and back,
94 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
and the expanded top thus formed carried the gallery. It is in
these cases that the loft has been most frequently preserved, pro-
bably because its removal could not be effected without injury to
the screen. Most of the surviving examples are in the county of
Devon.
The least frequently adopted method of supporting the loft was
by means of two parallel screens, from 2 to 3 feet apart, the
space between them being roofed in by planks, which formed a
floor to the rood-loft ; the screen at Edington, Wilts., is of this
kind.
The Roods themselves were so completely destroyed that not one
English example remains in situ, and probably not one in existence,
but at Cullompton the carved Calvary on which the cross stood has
been preserved. It has been carved out of the butts of two oak
trees, and is carved to represent rocks, with skulls and cross
thighbones and shoulder-blades resting upon them.
The Welsh churches are not included in this volume, but an
exception must here be made in favour of the church of Mochdre,
Montgomeryshire, where the old rood figures of our Lord and the
Blessed Virgin were found on the top of the wall-plate during a
restoration in 1867. The figures are now in the Powysland
Museum.
The following is a description of them, taken from a paper by
Archdeacon Thomas on " Montgomeryshire Screens and Rood-
lofts" (Archceologia Cambrensis, Sixth Series, vol. iii. p. 96), where
they will be found illustrated : —
" The cross to which the figure of our Lord was attached is gone, and
the figure itself is somewhat mutilated and decayed. The height of the
figure is 19 inches; the arms and feet are gone. The head, with its crown
of thorns, is bent forward ; the hair full, the brow deeply furrowed, and an
expression of pain rests upon the face. The carving is roughly executed,
but the general effect is expressive and sad. The figure of the Virgin is
i foot 3! inches high, and stands on a pedestal if inch. She is represented
in a long, flowing robe, with a long veil falling down her back, and a cloak
gathered round the shoulders. She appears to have worn a crown, but the
wood is much worm-eaten and decayed, and the hands and nose are gone.
The whole shows remains of colouring in white, gold, and vermilion."
As to the use of the parish rood-screen, it has been confidently
asserted, and is even now frequently repeated, that the chief use of
the loft over the screen was to supply a place from which the
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 95
Gospel might be read. This mistake arose by confusing the
ordinary screen with the pulpitum of a quire proper. It must
always, however, be remembered that the rood-loft, although it
was doubtless suggested by the pulpitum and served some of its
uses, was a distinct arrangement. Broadly speaking, the common
English use of a rood-loft (in addition to giving ready access to
the figures, and for purposes of lighting and garnishing) was that
of a music gallery. The more the matter is studied by searches in
early churchwarden accounts and in mediaeval wills, the more
thoroughly does this statement become substantiated as the main
purpose.
One emphatic and common-sense argument against the Gospel-
reading theory is that the stairways contained in the walls leading
to the rood-loft are, as a rule, so narrow and rough as to make it
almost an impossibility for any one clad in comely church vestments
to make the ascent. There are, perhaps, only some three or four
cases in the whole of England in which the stairway to the loft of a
parish church is of sufficient size to permit the decent ascent of a
vested priest, and in each of such cases there seems to have been a
special reason for its width apart from any consideration pertaining
to the loft itself. At Minehead, Somerset, the very wide and
largely windowed staircase which gives access to the loft was of
such a size to permit of it serving as a lighted beacon for ships
seeking the harbour. Again at Wrotham, Kent, where the stairway
measures 30 inches from the newel to the wall, the steps are
continued to give easy access, after a curious fashion, to the roofs
on both sides of the nave.
The study of the rood-loft stairways all over the country shows
that they are in many cases remarkably worn ; and this to such
an extent that it is by no means uncommon to find them recapped.
At Horning, Norfolk, they are actually recapped with thin slabs of
Purbeck marble. This circumstance proves that the lofts were in
much more general and frequent use than would be the case if
their main function had been to supply a place from which the
Gospel might be read at High Mass.
The instances that occur, which appear at first sight to favour
the Gospel-reading idea, can all, we think, be shown to refer to
minster, conventual, or collegiate churches, where the loft took
the form of the old pulpittim. An Edward VI. inventory of the
church at Wingham, Kent, records particulars of a dispute
96 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
concerning the ownership of a silver-gilt processional cross. A
reference is made as to the clerk returning with the cross in his
hand on the Feast of Corpus Christi, four years before, " when the
priest had read the Gospel in the rood-loft" But Wingham was
no ordinary parish church ; it was a collegiate establishment of a
rector and six canons with full quire offices.
In Fox's Acts and Monuments a very singular story is told as
to the loft of another Kentish church. In the reign of Queen
Mary an officious local justice, who had a spite against the rector
of Smarden, bored holes in the panelling of the rood-loft of that
church in order that he might therefrom, unobserved by the parish
priest and others, command a view of the congregation in the
nave, with a view to the future punishing of any one who com-
ported himself irreverently during Mass. The logic of this case,
as Mr. Vallance points out, is inconsistent with any common use
of the loft by the priest at Mass time, for the rector and the justice
were admittedly on bad terms with each other.
Another of the numerous arguments against the regular
ceremonial use of these lofts is that in at least two cases, one at
Winchester and one in Kent, the old entrance to the rood-loft was
on the outside of the church.
It is true, however, that these lofts were in a few instances used
for a far more definite religious purpose than the mere reading of
the Gospel. It is an undoubted fact that now and again there was
an actual altar and occasional Celebrations within the loft at the
very foot of the Rood. In such cases there was probably some
small convenience for the vesting of the celebrant after he had
gained this elevated position.
In Pugin's Glossary, the case of the church of St. Morrice,
Vienne, is cited, where the parochial altar was in the centre of the
rood-loft. From the traces that yet remain in England, it seems
that such a position was commoner in the smaller churches of
England than on the Continent. Particularly interesting evidences
of the rood-loft altar are to be noted at the church of Little
Hereford, Herefords. In that instance the nave is divided from
the chancel by a very thick wall, pierced by a small pointed
chancel arch without impost. Under it, in the thickness of the
wall, a door opens on to the steps that led to the former rood-loft.
Above the chancel arch is a lofty, pointed recess with a project-
ing sill ; at the south end of this sill is a piscina niche in good
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 97
preservation. The level of the loft altar can still be traced on the
wall by a slightly projecting ledge, and a little above this altar-sill
is another ledge, which seems to have served for lights. Rood-
loft piscinas, which may fairly be taken as evidence of the former
presence of altars in that position, may also be seen at Maxey,
Northants ; Burghill and Wigmore, Herefords. ; Bilton, Chester-
ton, and Church Lawford, Warwicks. ; Horningsea, Cambs. ; Great
Hallingbury, Essex ; South Harting, Petworth, and New Shoreham,
Sussex ; and Oddington, Oxon. There are traces of the rood-altar
slab at Dallingworth, Glos. ; and there are also remains which seem
to betoken the former presence of an altar in like positions in at
least half a dozen other instances.
These examples all occur in connection with parish churches
of our villages ; but it is also well known that there is proof of
several of our cathedral or minster churches having altars on the
pidpitum in like elevated positions. In the case of the cathedral
church of Lichfield, an interesting application was made about the
close of the I5th cent, for a dispensation to move an altar of some
celebrity from off the loft to the ground floor, because there was
some danger of a fall for both celebrant and worshippers if old and
infirm.
The endowment of a rood-loft altar in the parish church of
Grantham is recorded on the Patent Roll of 1349. The entry
records a covenant made by the abbot of Vaudey to pay £4.
yearly, in three equal portions, to three perpetual secular chaplains
to say mass daily, at different hours and altars, for the souls of
two rich wool-staplers, benefactors of the abbey, in Grantham
church. The first of these refers to John Moine and his successors,
who were to celebrate at the altar in solario, that is the rood-loft
gallery, before the great Rood in the midst of the church, after the
first stroke of the bell called " day belle," which seems to have
been rung at 4 a.m.
The lofts of the parish churches at Newark, Notts., Lull ing-
stone, Kent, Dunster, Somerset, and few others, have wide
projections about the centre. These projections are generally
supposed to have been to provide extra space for an organ. It is,
however, quite possible that they were supplied for a diminutive
altar, particularly as in several cases where there is distinct
evidence of the presence of a loft organ, as at Hartland, Devon,
no kind of a projection is to be found.
H
98 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Mr. Micklethwaite, whom we have already quoted, says of
these rood-lofts that " certain parts of the services were sung there,
and it was occupied by the minstrels, vocal and instrumental,
whom it was the custom for well-to-do parishes to hire to sing the
service on High Days. These minstrels sang pricksong, whereas
the custom of the older Collegiate churches was to use only plain-
song in quire." Of St. Mary's church, Sandwich, in the i5th cent.,
"we know," writes Canon Scott Robertson, "that organs were
placed in the rood-loft, and the parish paid various sums to
musical priests for playing these organs." The parish churches of
Louth, Lincoln, and St. Laurence, Reading, may also be mentioned
as yielding definite evidence of organs in the rood-loft.
The last set of pre-Reformation churchwardens' accounts that
have been printed are those of St. Mary-at-Hill, City of London,
which are of the greatest value, and have been ably edited by Mr.
Littlehales. These accounts for 1496-97 contain many details as to
the cost of removing the old rood-loft, and the erection and beauti-
fying of its successor. The entries for painting and carving the
new figures on the loft, and for mending the old Rood, which was
re-used, are of particular interest —
"Item, to Sir John Plomer for makying of the fygyrres of the
Roode. xxd.
" Item, to the karvare for makying of iij dyadems, and of oon of the
Evangelystes, and for mendyng the Roode, the Crosse, the Mary and
John, the Crown of Thorn, with all odyr fawtes. Summa xs.
" Item, paid to undirwood for payntyng and gylding of the Roode, the
Crosse, Mary and John, the iiij Evangelistes and iij dyadems ; with the ij
nobillas that I owe to hym in monye. Summa vli.
" Summa vli xjs. xd."
The carpenter and his man, for ten days' labour, received
6s. %d. The blacksmith was paid 12s. &,d. for 24 pounds of new
iron to lengthen the stay-bar of the rood that passed from wall to
wall, for 20 pounds of new iron for four other stays, for 44 pounds
of iron for the long bolt that came down from the roof, and for
staples and spikes to fasten it to the roof. There was also a pay-
ment of id. " for ij hookes for the lentyn cloth byfor the Roode."
Underwood, the painter, received 6s. %d. for a reward, in addition
to his covenant for £5.
The accounts for the year 1501-2 contain mention of the
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 99
expenditure of a small sum " For makying of a lectorne in the
Roodloft." There is no positive evidence that the lectern on
this particular rood-loft was made for the accommodation of the
organist, or conductor of the music, but such a conclusion from
analogy seems fairly obvious. It is also almost certain that the
organ-blower, to whom there is such frequent reference throughout
the century in these old accounts, was also stationed on the rood-loft.
His usual fee was 2d. a week, and, for the most part, it was only
on Sundays and festivals that the organ was in use. The sum of
\2d. was paid yearly to the organ-maker for the supervision of the
instrument.
At the church of St. Stephen, Walbrook, City of London, an
inventory of the reign of Edward IV., after mentioning that there
was on the rood-loft, in addition to the rood and subsidiary images,
a relic-chest containing many relics, adds —
" Also in the same rode lofte is a payre orgons and a lyd over the keys
with lok and kye, of Borton Wyvis gifte, grocer. Also a stondying lecterne
for to ley on a boke to pleye by. Also a stole to sit on whan he pleythe on
the orgons."
The parish accounts of St. Petrock's, Exeter, for 1472-73,
contain —
" Item, To Walter Abraham for making a seat in the Rodelofte when
playing on the orgonys, vijs."
Space prohibits the quoting of more than one other evidence
of the musical use of these lofts, though much more could be
adduced.
Marten, who lived at the time of the Reformation, in his
graphic description of the exact state of the fine church of Long
Melford, Suffolk, says : —
" There was a fair rood-loft, with the rood, Mary and John on every
side, with a fair pair of organs standing thereby, which loft extended the
breadth of the church ; and on good Friday a priest then standing by the
rood sang the Passion ; the side whereof towards the body of the church,
in twelve partitions in board, was fairly painted with images of the twelve
Apostles."
The singing of the Passion from the loft on Palm Sunday
seems also to be implied from an entry in the accounts of St.
Laurence's, Reading.
ioo ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Attention is sometimes drawn to the many instances, up and
down the country (about thirty all told), in which the lower panels
of the screens have been pierced with small openings. Examples
occur, inter alia, at Mautby, Norfolk ; Handborough, Stanton
Harcourt, and South Leigh, Oxon. ; Guilden Morden, Cambs. ;
Orsett, Bradwell, and Shalford, Essex ; Hessett, Suffolk ; Santon
Downham, Norfolk ; Hawton and Wysall, Notts. ; Burton, Bury,
Bignor, and Rye, Sussex ; and Winteringham, E. R. Yorks.
Many of these little apertures — for in several instances there are
from three or four to a dozen of such holes in the panels of a
single screen — have been cut through with care, and sometimes
assume the form of a small quatrefoil, or of a Latin or Greek
cross. In other instances the holes are of quite a rough descrip-
tion. They vary in size from 8 inches to 2 inches in length, and
from 2i inches to I inch in breadth. For the most part, where
the old levels have been preserved, they are about the height of
the face of an adult kneeling on the western side. The opinion
has been widely expressed that these holes were cut for the con-
venience of the penitent confessing to the priest seated within the
screen. That the chancel screen was the usual place for hearing
confessions in the pre-Reformation Church of England may be
taken as an accepted fact ; but it would certainly be wise to with-
hold any general judgment as to the use of these apertures, which
were apparently an after-thought subsequent to the erection of the
screen. The most that can be safely said as to their confessional
purpose is that this may just possibly have been their use in
certain cases. In other cases it is quite impossible.
Holes of this kind, for whatever purpose, could not possibly
have been of general use. In one of the most populous and
thriving parts of mediaeval England — namely, East Anglia — where
glorious rood-screens abounded more than anywhere else, the lower
panels were, as a rule, enriched with noble paintings of the saints
on costly diapered backgrounds. In Norfolk alone there are extant
at the present day above eighty of these panel-painted screens in
a more or less perfect condition. The same was true of a large
proportion of the beautiful screens of Devonshire.
The juxtaposition of these holes makes it impossible that, in
cases where there are two or three, or more, they could have been
used by several penitents at the same time. If they were for con-
fession, we might naturally expect a single hole in a panel on the
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 101
south side, or one, at most, on each side. Then, again, it must be
remembered that in the large majority of cases there were return-
stalls against the further side of the screen facing the east, and
their position would be most singularly awkward for a priest listen-
ing to a penitent. In fact, if those who favour the confessional
theory would but try on the chancel side to test what possible kind
of position the priest would have to assume to bring his ear near
to the aperture, we believe that little more would be said on the
subject.
If, however, the holes were not made for the purpose of breath-
ing confessions through them — and, surely, the average priest would
have been able to hear the penitent just as well over the rail of
the screen a few inches above these holes — whatever could have
been their object ? At all events, a better surmise is that they
may have been made to enable kneeling people to see the altars
beyond, and more particularly the elevation of the Host ; whilst
the lower openings would serve for children. This would account
for such piercings being frequently found in side screens before
chapel altars, as well as in the main rood-screen. When the
taste and fashion for elaborating not only rood-screens on a more
substantial basis, but also the parclose screens that shut off the
side altars, in the I5th cent., came about, many a worshipper who
had been in the habit of kneeling during Mass at the east end
of the nave or of the aisles, would find his view of the altar cut off
by substantial panelling, unless he was able to take up a position
almost exactly in the centre. It is easy to imagine that in many
of these cases the worshipper would be anxious to obtain an un-
interrupted view, as aforetime, and might therefore obtain sanction
to have these small openings made. We do not venture to dogma-
tize on this matter, but merely to present the view that these
openings were far more probably of a hagioscope than confessional
character.
COUNTY LISTS OF SCREENS
The counties which are most celebrated for the number,
excellence, and variety of their screens are Devonshire, Lincoln-
shire, Norfolk, Somerset, and Suffolk. In the second class may
be placed Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Kent,
Northamptonshire, and Oxfordshire. There is practically nothing
102 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
to record about old screenwork in Cumberland, Northumberland, and
Westmoreland, save the grand example of a pulpitum at Hexham.
In the following lists (for which no completeness or absolute
accuracy are claimed), arranged under counties, the screens are
to be taken as probably I5th cent, or early i6th cent., unless
another century is specified.
t implies that there is a rood-loft, or at least a rood-loft floor.
* implies panels with painted figures.
(p.) implies parclose, or some form of screenwork other than
chancel screen.
Bedfordshire
There is an open stone screen of I5th-cent. date at Blunham
dividing the chancel from the south chapel.
The wooden screenwork of the county is of more than usual
interest and extent. Felmersham has, alas ! of recent years
lost its rood-loft. The screen which used to bear the loft is
in the eastern arch of the central tower, and the loft was for
some time transformed into a ringing stage. This screen, which
is richly painted, is c. 1500, and bears an inscription showing
that it was erected by Richard and Annete King. Tilbrook
(recently transferred to the county of Huntingdon) is another
example of a richly painted screen that retains its rood-loft.
Pertenhall is a fine instance of a richly traceried screen, which
retains much of its original painting and gilding. Portions of a
former beautifully painted rood-screen, with saints on panels, are
now fixed against the north and south walls of the tower. The
lower part of the old rood-screen of Marston Mortaine has painted
panels of saints. Two old figure panels of the former screen
hang in the church of Kempston. Oakley has remains of a once
finely painted screen, and the lower panels with figure paintings
are also extant of the screen of Roxton. The lower stage of the
old rood-screen of Little Barford is decorated with red and white
roses.
The rood-screens of Gravenhurst and Potsgrove are of I4th-
cent. date. The rest of the screenwork of the county, including
several well-carved parclose screens at Luton, Cople, Shillington,
etc., are of the second half of the I5th or early i6th-cent. date.
The rood-screen at Higham Gobion, described by Parker in
1848, disappeared during the "restoration" of 1880.
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 103
Little Barford, Bedford St. Paul's, Bolnhurst, Carlton (part), Clifton *
(parts), Cople (p.), Dean (and p.), Dunstable, Eaton Socon (p.),
Elstow (fragment), Felmersham f, Gravenhurst (i4th), Harrold,
Houghton Conquest (p.), Kempston * (parts), Langford, Leighton
Buzzard (p.), Luton (p.) (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., v. 56, 57), Marston
Mortaine * (base and p.), Milton Ernest (p.), Oakley * (parts), Odell,
Pertenhall f, Potsgrove (i4th), Roxton * (parts), Sharnbrook (p.),
Shillington (p.), Stagsden (part), Stevington (part), Swineshead,
Tempsford, Tilbrook * f (restored), Wootton (restored).
Berkshire
has an interesting piece of screenwork, c. 1360, across the en-
trance to the south transept of the church of Sparsholt ; it con-
sists of a series of slight banded shafts supporting cinquefoil-headed
arches, and is illustrated in Parker's Glossary. At East Hendred
a canopied screen sustains the floor of a rood-loft.
In Parker's Ecclesiastical Topography (1848), it is stated under
Drayton that " the rood-loft, with its groining and painting, is nearly
perfect on both sides, but has a modern front and is used as a
gallery ; " we suppose it disappeared when the chancel was rebuilt
in 1872.
West Challow, Chilton, Little Coxwell, Fyfield (base), Garford (restored),
Hagbournej Hanney, Harwell, East Hendred f, Longworth (Carolean),
Ruscombe, Sparsholt (p., i4th), Sutton Courtney, Warfield (p.).
Buckinghamshire
The most interesting piece of screenwork in this county is the
finely carved I4th-cent coped screen at North Crawley. It is
divided into sixteen compartments, and the panels at the base are
well painted with scroll-bearing saints in good condition. At
Monks Risborough nine of the twelve panels of the base of the old
screen bear painted figures intended for the Prophets. The present
paintings are of rather coarse execution and quaint costume, and
were perhaps retouched during the Laudian period. Hillesden is
a good example of a later rood-loft.
Aldworth (two fragments), Ashendon, Astwood, Aylesbury *, Bow Brickhill,
Burnham (part), Chilton * (pv i4th), North Crawley * f, Cuddington,
Edlesborough, Haddenham (now under tower), Hillesden f, Ilmer,
Langley Marsh, Maids' Moreton, Marston, Monks Risborough*,
Olney, Stoke Hammond, Upton (c. 1300; N. aisle, Wendover (i4th),
Weston Turville (remains, i4th), Wing (p.), High Wycombe.
io4 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Cambridgeshire
The exceptionally fine church of Bottisham is a noble example
of a parish church of early I4th-cent work. There is very little
that is not " Decorated " about it ; but there is a stone rood-screen
of I5th-cent. date ; it consists of three arches, with pierced quatre-
foils in the spandrels ; the east end of both aisles have Decorated
parcloses of richly carved oak. At Harlton there is another I5th-
cent. stone rood-screen, very plain, with newel staircase.
Cambridgeshire is very rich in wooden screenwork, though
some of the examples are a good deal mutilated. The I4th-cent.
rood-loft remains in fine condition at Guilden Morden ; on the
lower panels are painted saints. There are also painted panels
at Cherry Hinton. The coved base of the rood-loft remains at
Over. The rood-screen at Chippenham is a good one of the second
half of the I4th cent. To the same century belong the screens of
Cheveley, Foulmire, Gamlingay, and three or four others. The
screen of Balsham is of the year 1401, and that of Burwell 1464 ;
the remainder are chiefly about the close of the 1 5th cent.
Stone. — Bottisham, Ely (p.), Harlton.
Wood. — Balsham, Barton, Bassingbourne, Bourne, Caldecote; Cam-
bridge, St. Andrew, St. Botolph, King's College (post-Reformation)
Chatteris, Cherry Hinton *, Cheveley (i4th), Chippenham (i4th),
Comberton, Coton, Doddington, Dry Drayton, Ely, Foulmire
(i4th), Foxton, Gamlingay (i4th), Gransden, Guilden Morden *f
(i4th), Haddenham, Haslingfield (i4th), Hauxton (used in pulpit),
Horningsea, Ickleton, Impington, Kenneth (i4th), Kirtling (i4th),
Litlington, Littleport, Lolworth, Meldreth, Oakington *, Over t,
Sawston (p.), Great Shelford (scr. and p.), Little Shelford (remains),
Snail well, Soham, Stow- with Quy, Stretham, Teversham, Triple w
(i4th), Trumpington (restored), West Wickham, Whaddon, Whittle-
sea, Whittlesford (p.), iWilbarton, Willingham, Wood Ditton.
Cheshire
has, perhaps, suffered more severely than any other county from
church rebuilding, and the most destructive forms of so-called
" restoration." It had but little screenwork left within its bounds,
and in two cases where we saw and noted highly interesting old
screenwork in the " sixties," these remains have recently been
" removed " — to use the euphuism employed by a careful guide-
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 105
writer of 1906. These two unhappy removals occurred in the
churches of Bunbury and Daresbury. In the former case the
parcloses of the Calveley and Spurston chapels with painted panels
have disappeared ; in the latter, the remains of a rood-loft and an
excellent carved screen have also vanished. Sir Stephen Glynne
mentions a fine old rood-screen at Runcorn, but it perished in 1848.
In the Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk. for 1872 (i. 36) are details of the oak
screen of Plemstall, c. 1 500.
At Astbury, there is a beautiful screen, c. 1500, with coved
top and rood-loft ; there are scale drawings of it in the Sketch-
book of the Architectural Association (v. 3rd series). There is
another good screen at Mobberley, with part of the rood-loft.
The late screenwork of Northenden is curious and good of its
kind ; the 1st and loth verses of Psalm li. are inscribed. This was
the rood-screen of the old church, and is in the south chapel of its
successor. At Nantwich a dwarf screen of stone is ingeniously
constructed to form part of the same composition as the pulpit
At Malpas, the early i6th-cent. screen of the south or Egerton
chapel is inscribed : " Pray good people for the prosperous estate of
Sir Randulph Brereton, Knyght Baronet, of thys werke edificatour
wyth his wyfe Dame Helenour, and after thys lyfe transitorie to
obteyne eternal felicite. Amen. Amen." The north or Chol-
mondeley chapel is also enclosed ; the screen bears a Latin
inscription asking prayers for the good estate of Richard Chol-
mondeley and Elizabeth his wife, the donors of the screen, 1510.
Astbury t (and p. Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk. i. 56, 57, 61, 65), Cheadle (p.),
Malpas (p.), Mobberley f, Northenden, Peover (1624, Abb. Sq. Sk.
£k.y ii. 34), Siddington, Wilmslow (restored), Woodchurch.
Cornwall
There is not a single old church in the north-east of Cornwall,
and hardly one in the whole county, where the traces of a I5th-
cent. rood-loft are not fairly perceptible ; though it is, alas ! in a
very small minority that the actual screens, or portions of them,
still remain. The ground-plan of a I5th-cent. Cornish church with
double aisles usually has a projecting turret for the rood-loft stairs
in the north wall. These stairs, with a lower and upper door, often
remain, and the low doorways through the north and south arcades
show how access could readily be obtained across the screen of the
north aisle to the rood-loft, and thence to the like screen of the
106 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
south aisle. This can be easily realized by noting the restored
screens of the beautiful church of St. Kew, with which is incorpo-
rated some of the original work. The arrangement in use of the
rood-loft can be wonderfully realized in the admirably restored
screen of Blisland. There are considerable remains of the chancel-
screen at St. Minver, which was unfortunately removed in 1837 to the
tower arch at the west end and repainted after an unhappy fashion.
The design of the carving in the base is exceptional and remark-
ably effective, and is evidently done by the same hand that fur-
nished the screens for St. Kew. At the west end of the north aisle
of the church at St. Breward is a piece of screenwork which may
have been part of the rood-screen. The out-of-the-way church of
Laneast has a good deal of the old screen across the chancel and
the south aisle still remaining.
In other parts of the county, screen fragments can be detected
by the ardent ecclesiologist. Thus, there is a piece of the cornice
of the old rood-screen worked into a pew in the south aisle of
Talland church, whilst at South Petherwin the pulpit and desk are
made out of screen fragments.
A little of the saint-painting on screen panels, once so common,
survives, as on the fine screens of Lanreath. At Gunwalloe, a
grievously drastic restoration of 1860-70 has left four painted
panels of the Evangelists from the old rood-screen, which have
been ridiculously affixed to the north and south doors. There are
also some painted portions left at Poundstock.
The chancel-screen of Probus church is a curious composition,
formed in 1691 out of portions of the old rood-screen and bench
ends. It bears the following inscription : — " Jesus, hear us, Thy
people, & send us grace & good for ever."
Alternan, Blisland f (chiefly modern), St. Breward (portion), Budock *,
St. Buryan (portions), Camborne, St. Columb Major, Cothele
(domestic chapel), Crantock (new, but old fragments), Davidstow *
(p.), St. Enodoc (base), Duloe (p.), St. Germans (portions), Gunwalloe *,
St. Ives, Kilkhampton, St. Kew (restored), Laneast, Lanreath *,
Launcells *, St. Levan (restored), St. Martin-by-Looe (p., Jacobean),
Mawgan-in-Pyder, Mawnan (portion), St. Mellion (base), St. Michael's
Mount, St. Minver, Morwenstow, Mullion (portions), Mylor *, South
Petherwin (portions), Poundstock* (portion), Probus, Quethiock
(remains), St. Ruan Major, Sancreed (portions), Talland (portion,
and p. Jacobean), Tintagel, Tywardreth, St. Winnow.
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 107
Derbyshire
There is a good deal of interest pertaining to the remains of
screenwork in this county.
At Ilkeston a remarkable stone screen divides the chancel from
the nave ; it consists of five cinquefoiled arched compartments,
with pierced quartrefoils in the spandrels, and grey marble shafts
with moulded capitals and bases ; the whole rests upon a low stone
wall or base. This screen has undergone much repair at different
times, but it probably dates from the beginning of the I4th cent.
There is a handsome low stone screen under the chancel arch of
Chelmorton church, which is also I4th cent. ; it probably carried
an upper screen of wood. Fragments of stone screens, all of the
same century, are to be seen at Darley, Monksdale (Tideswell),
and Allestree. There is also a I5th-cent. stone screen, or parclose,
in the south aisle of Darley church. The stone screens at the east
end of the chancels at Tideswell and Sawley have been mentioned
under reredoses.
Wingerworth, the singular instance of a rood-loft over a low
Norman chancel-arch, has been already mentioned in the general
remarks. The rood-screen of Ashover is a good example of late
Perpendicular carving. It bears the impaled arms of Babington
and Fitzherbert. Chesterfield church contains much interesting
screenwork. The boldly carved rood-screen, with angels bearing
the symbols of the Passion, was removed to the chapel of the
north transept during a restoration of 1843. At the same time
the beautiful and elaborate screenwork round the "Fuljambe
quire " was taken down, and its main portions, rich in heraldry,
turned into a reredos. There is another screen in the south
transept, fencing it off from the Fuljambe and Colton chapels ;
it is a good specimen of late Perpendicular work, the upper
portion branching out into a wide coved cornice. The screen
of the old chapel of Brackenfield bears the arms of Willoughby
and Beck. There is a fine piece of screenwork in Bakewell church
dividing the Vernon chapel from the remainder of the south
transept. The beautiful screen of Fenny Bentley, expanded so
as to form a rood-loft, underwent a good deal of restoration in
1850. The fine rood-screen of Elvaston originally had the jambs
of the doorway prolonged into the sides of stalls facing the east ;
but this interesting feature has been cleared away, and the screen
io8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
otherwise spoilt during a recent extravagant " restoration." Crich
church was subjected to a most disastrous restoration in 1861 ;
the ejected rood-screen was given shelter at St. Peter's, Derby.
The handsome screen of dark oak, c. 1500, in Ockbrook church,
came from Wigston Hospital, Leicester, and was put in its present
position in 1810 ; unfortunately it was reversed, and the best
carving now faces the east.
Derbyshire screens suffered severely in the iQth cent. At
Hay field chapel there was a substantial rood-loft with a painting
of the Rood, with St. Mary and St. John, as we know from
a sketch taken of it shortly before the whole building was
demolished in 1815. The rood-screen of Spondon was cleared out'
in 1826. Sad havoc was made of the Kirk Langley ancient wood-
work in 1839, when the rood-screen and two parcloses were taken
to pieces. The screen and rood-loft at Staveley were swept away
about 1850, "to give more light." The massive rood-screen of
Sawley church still remains, but two beautiful I4th-cent. parclose
screens were destroyed in 1838. In quite recent years a most
disastrous mistake was made at the church of Fenny Bentley, when
the highly interesting parclose screen erected round a chantry
altar in 1512, in the south-east angle of the nave, was ejected.
The county also possesses some interesting screenwork of
post-Reformation date. Risley chapel, erected in 1593, has a
substantial curious chancel screen, ornamented with cherubs'
heads. The south aisle of Wilne church was prolonged east-
ward in 1672 to form a memorial chapel to Sir John Willoughby.
Across the archway is a heavy wooden screen with gates bearing
the arms of Willoughby and Hawe, and dated 1624. It is a
marvellous production of thoroughly degraded Renaissance. Amid
the elaborate carvings may be noticed centaurs, satyrs, Hercules
with his club, and a Roman lictor with fasces and axe, all mixed
up with drums, cannons, and muskets! Foremark church, con-
secrated by Bishop Hacket in 1662, has a high oak chancel screen
of singular design ; four sheets of glass are let into as many large
openings.*
Stone. — Allestree (fragment), Chelmorton, Darley (part), Ilkeston, Monks-
dale (part), all i4th.
* The following are the references to screenwork in Cox's Derbyshire Churches :
i. 20, 137-141, 279, 350, 453; ii. 42, 84, 169, 211, 296, 309, 465; iii. 60, 218, 301,
309, 405, 445 ; iv. 63, 200, 208, 262, 272, 296, 373, 390, 411.
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 109
Wood. — Ashbourne (p.), Ashover, Bake well (p.), Brackenfield, Breadsall
(portions), Chaddesden (restored), Chesterfield (and p.), Church
Broughton (parts in reredos), Dale (old infirmary chapel of abbey),
Derby, St. Peter's (from Crich), Elvaston (much spoilt by restoration),
Fenny Bentley f, Foremark (i7th), Haddon chapel (i7th), Kirk
Langley (remains), Melbourne (remains), Muggington (p.), Norbury
(remains), Ockbrook, Risley (lyth), Wilne (and lythp.), Wingerworth f.
Devonshire
is the premier county of England for ecclesiastical screenwork.
Notwithstanding the ignorant and wanton destruction of screens
within the last half century, there are still nearly two hundred
churches where old screenwork is to be found.
To the subject of the screens of this county Mr. Bligh Bond
has given the closest attention ; for the revision of the list of these
screens we are much indebted to his admirable and profusely
illustrated papers in vols. xxxiii. and xxxiv. (1902-3) of the reports
of the Devonshire Association,
In addition to screens and fragments now extant, Mr. Bond has
compiled a list of seventy-six screens which have been removed,
with the date of their removal or destruction. The great majority
of these instances of vandalism or of absurd bigotry occurred in
the i Qth cent., the last instance (Moreton Hampstead) being as
late as 1897. The year 1869 was singularly disastrous to the
beautiful work with which our forefathers had adorned their
sanctuaries. In that one twelvemonth, singularly fine wood
screens were destroyed at the churches of Churston Ferrers,
Alvington West, and Bridestone.
As a rule, in Devonshire as elsewhere, the rood-lofts were pulled
down at the time when the Roods were destroyed in the i6th cent.
There are only two of these old lofts remaining in situ, namely, at
Atherington and Marwood. In the former case the richly carved
early i6th-cent. screen right across the church retains the loft over
the north aisle portion ; in the latter case, where parts of the loft
panels remain, the screen bears the name of John Beapul, who was
rector in the time of Henry VIII. Several other lofts, which were
entire in the first half of last century, and are described by Lysons
or Rickman, have since been destroyed ; among these were those
of Dawlish, Feniton, Halberton, Honiton, and Talaton. In a few
no ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
cases there have been recent restorations of rood-lofts ; the most
successful of these is the one by Mr. Temple Moore (1893) at
Littleham, near Bideford. There are twenty-eight instances in
which the groined or coped tops of the screens still carry the floors
of the old rood-lofts. In all these cases there is much rich carving,
particularly in the cornices, which have generally three rows, and
sometimes four, or even five, of ornate detail. The following are
the more striking examples of the groined screens : Bradninch,
Burrington, Chulmleigh, Cullompton, Dartmouth, Feniton, Hal-
berton, Hartland, Honiton, Kentisbere, Kenton, Lapford, Pay-
hembury, Plymstock, Stokenham, Swymbridge, and Uffculme.
Mr. Bond singles out the screen of Hartland as being "truly
magnificent, a remarkable type, and in very perfect condition," and
comments on its " delicate cresting ; " and in this he is followed
(1907) by Mr. Baring Gould in his Little Guide to the county. It
may therefore be well to quote from a detailed account of ours that
appeared in the Builder in 1902.
The special feature of the church is the singularly handsome
and effective screen which stretches right across the nave and
aisles in a line with the east wall of the small transepts. There
is no chancel arch, a feature very rarely to be met with in churches
of this part of North Devon. When this beautiful screen was
erected, probably in the third quarter of the i$th cent, the arches
of the arcades through which it passes were somewhat altered for
its accommodation. The narrow stairway to the top of the screen
is in the thickness of the wall of the south chancel chapel, and is
still available. The screen is most rich in its details, and has a
groined canopy on each side. The length is 47 feet 8 inches, and
the width on the top is 5 feet 10 inches. The full height is 12 feet;
it is 8 feet to the spring of the canopies, and 10 feet to the centre
of each compartment. There are five traceried openings each
side of the central doorway. The patterns of the carvings of the
different sections of the canopy work are exceedingly varied, no
two being exactly alike. The cornice mouldings, which are of five
orders, are exceedingly rich and minutely executed. The delicacy
of the cresting on the west front (it has gone from the inner side)
is often pointed out as showing the strength of the wood to resist
the effects of time. To our mind it looked suspiciously and
awkwardly perfect, and on mounting the screen the cresting turned
out to be a gilded length of cast-iron work, an abomination of the
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS in
1850 restoration! The cornice is all gilded, but now much dulled
in appearance, and there is a good deal of painting in other parts,
mainly red and white, including some upright mouldings done in
barber-pole work of red and white and black and white. It would
be quite worth while to have the whole repainted with care and
taste. As it is, it is neither one thing nor the other, for the present
amount of painting is poor and patchy in effect and dingy in
appearance. Certain wiseacres might think it rather shocking to
do away with the traces of the " original " painting and gilding, as
it has often been termed. But there is no great antiquity in this
colouring of the Hartland screen. The gilding now apparent has
obviously been poor stuff when first applied, and we may be sure
that no such contrast in colours or such weak tones as now prevail
would have been employed in the days of its first erection. The
parish is fortunate in possessing a book of church accounts extend-
ing from 1597 to 1706. These accounts show that the screen was
twice painted in the I7th cent., at a cost of about ten shillings each
time. They also give the information that "a pair of organs" was
set up on the rood-loft in 1637-8, and that during the Common-
wealth the rood-loft was seated throughout. An organ was again
placed there in 1845, but removed at the restoration a few years
later. All trace of the loft or panelling on the top of the rood-
screen has long since disappeared ; but the great timbers still bear
the holes where the supports were fixed, and the larger openings
on the top of the centre of the western beam show the exact
positions of the rood, flanked by the Mary and John.
There are no instances of early wooden screenwork in the
county, either in the rood-screens or in the numerous parcloses.
The remarkably fine screen of Stoke-in-Teignhead is considered
to be of the time of Richard II. At Ash ton and Halberton
the parcloses are older than the rood-screens. Several of the
later screens show the dawn of the English renaissance, as at
Atherington, Bridford (1508), Lapford, Lustleigh (just after the
Reformation), Marwood, Morchard Bishop, Poltimore, Swymbridge,
and South Pool.
Of later screens there is a good Jacobean example, 1624, at
Washfield. The I7th-cent. chancel screen at Countisbury is ex-
ceptional and interesting. Cruwys Morchard has a noteworthy
classical screen, of Corinthian design, with side parcloses, enclosing
the chancel, of the year 1814.
ii2 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Until comparatively recent years there was a tympanum, or
filling up of the chancel arch, with lath and plaster or panelling,
above the rood-screen of several Devonshire churches. On this
tympanum, as has been already explained, the Rood was usually
painted, or sometimes the Doom ; in post-Reformation days the
royal arms or the Commandments, etc., took the place of the
paintings. The tympanum may still be noticed at Paracombe and
Holland ; it has been restored at Littleham, near Bideford.
As to the painting of the Devonshire screens, an admirable and
nearly exhaustive paper was contributed to Archceologia in 1898
(vol. Ivi. 183-222), by Mr. Keyser, wherein detailed attention is
given to the panel paintings of the saints. This paper was supple-
mented, and to some extent corrected, by a beautiful illustrated
pamphlet by Dom Camm, on the Devonshire screens, issued in
1905. The remains of these figure paintings are numerous and
highly interesting, but the art is, as a rule, inferior to that on the
East Anglian screens. Most of the screens with these panel paint-
ings of saints are met with in the district between Exeter and
Totnes ; but there are a few examples in outlying parts, such as
Bampton and Combe Martin in the north. Though many of these
panels have been lost or destroyed in recent years, there are still
upwards of fifty churches where they may be noted. The best
series are at Ashton, Bradninch, Bridford, Combe Martin, Holne,
Kenn, Kenton, South Milton, Plymtree, Torbryan, Ugborough,
Widecombe-le-Moors, and Wolborough.
In addition to the I4th-cent. stone quire screen of Exeter
cathedral, the church of Totnes has a magnificent stone rood-
screen and parcloses, erected by the Corporation in 1459-60. At
Colyton there is a good mediaeval stone parclose to the south
chapel, and one of Jacobean date to the north chapel. There is a
fine stone screen in the Lady Chapel of Ottery St. Mary. At
Luppit the stone screens were barbarously ejected during a recent
restoration, and are now worked up into the mantelpieces of
neighbouring houses. At Tiverton not only did the Vandals destroy
the fine wooden rood-screen in 1854, but twenty years earlier they
ejected a stone screen "of exquisite details" that enclosed the
Greemony Chapel. A most beautiful and lavishly ornamented
stone parclose in Paignton church has been suffered to remain
though mutilated ; it was sumptuously illustrated and fully described
in Country Life (January 12, 1907).
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 113
Stone. — Awliscombe, Colyton (p.), Culmstock (now reredos), Exeter
cathedral f (i4th), Gittisham (fragment), Hemyock (part), Marldon
(part), Ottery St. Mary f, Paignton (p.), Sourton (fragment), Totnes.
Wood. — Abbotskerswell * (and p.), East Allington (1547), Alphington*
(1478), Alvington (parts at vicarage, and p.), Ashburton (fragments),
Ashprington (part), Ashton*|, Atherington f, Aveton Gifford, Axminster
(p.), Bampton, Berrynarbor, Berry Pomeroy * | (and p.), Beer Ferrers *
(part), Bideford (i7th, tower), Blackawton* (and p.), North Bovey
(and p.), Bovey Tracey * (restored), Bow (and p.), Bradninch * f (and
p.), Bradworthy (parts), Bratton Clovelly (base), Braunton, High Bray,
Bridestowe (base), Bridford * (1500), Broad Hempston (restored),
Broadwood (1529), Broadwood Widger (1529), Brushford, Buckland-
le-Moors *, Buckland Monachorum f, Buckerell (part), East Budleigh,
Burlescombe, Burrington f, Calverleigh, Chagford (part, 1524), Chaw-
leigh (and p.), Cheriton (part), Chivelston *, Christow, Chudleigh *,
Chulmleigh |5 Churchstow (fragments), Churston Ferrers (fragments),
Clawton (fragment), Clayhanger, Clyst St. Lawrence f, Cockington,
Colebrook (p.) (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., viii. 34), Coleridge (and p.),
Combe-in-Teignhead (part), Combe Martin *, Cornworthy, Countis-
bury (i7th), Cruwys Morchard (i8th), Cullompton \ (and p.),
Dartington (parts of old screen in new church), Dartmouth * f,
Denbury, Dittisham *, Dodbrooke * (panels repainted), Down
East, Down St. Mary (parts old), Dunchideock, Ermington
(i7th), Exbourne (1420, restored); Exeter, Cathedral* (several
parcloses), St. Mary Steps* (from St. Mary Major), St. Lawrence
(from cathedral), Vicar's College * ; Exminster (part, and p.),
Feniton * f (and p.), Gidleigh *, Halberton f (i4th, p.), Har-
berton*f, Hartlandf, Hatherleigh (remains), Heanton Punchardon
(restored), Heavitree * (fragments), Little Hempston (and p.),
Hennock *, Holbeton (p.), Holcombe Rogus (parts), Holne *,
Honiton f, North Huish (p.), South Huish * f (now in Bouringsleigh
private chapel), Huntsham, Huxham, Ideford (fragments), Ilsington *
(and p.), Ipplepen * (restored), Kenn * (and p.), Kennerleigh
(fragments), Kentisbere f, Kentisbury (fragments), Kenton * f (and
p.), Kingsbridge (parts, and p.), Kingskerswell (fragments), Kings-
nympton, Kingsteignton * (parts), Lapford f (i6th, and p.), North
Lew (base), Lew Trenchard (parts in new screen), Littleham f (parts
in new screen), Littleham-cum-Exmouth (c. 1400, badly restored),
Lustleigh (early post-Reformation), Malborough (p.), Mamhead *
(part), Manaton *, Marhamchurch (base), Martinhoe (base), Marwood f
(late), Marychurch (parts), Maristow (part), Membury (p.), South
Milton * (and p.), Molland (post-Reformation), North Molton (and
p.), Monkleigh, Morchard Bishop (portion), Moreleigh (parts in
reading desk), Northleigh, Ogwell, Ottery St. Mary (p.), Paracombe,
ii4 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Peter Tavy * (parts), North Petherwin (part, and p.), Peyhem-
bury * f, Pilton (508, and p.), Pinhoe f, Plymstock t, Plymtree
St. John * f. Poltimore (badly restored), South Pool *, Portsmouth*,
Powderham, Rattery (and p.), Rockbeare (parts), Rose Ash (and p.),
Sampford Peverell (fragments), Shebbear (fragment), Sheepstor
(fragments), Sheldon (parts old), Sherford * (and p.), Shute * (portions
in manor house), Silverton (portion, and p.), Slapton (and p.),
Staverton * t (restored), Stockleigh Pomeroy (portion), Stoke Gabriel *,
Stoke-in-Teignhead (Richard II.), Stoke Rivers (parts now in Wem
Gifford church), Stokenham * f (repainted), Sutcombe (base),
Swymbridge f, Talston f (and p.), Tamerton Foliot (parts), North
Tamerton (parts), Tawstock (and p.), Throwleigh * (parts), Thurlestone
(fragments), Torbryan*, Trusham* (restored), Uffculme f, Ugborough *
(and p.), Warkleigh (portion), Washfield (1624), Welcombe, Whimple *
(portion), Widecombe-le-Moors * (base), Willand, Wolborough * (and
p.), Woodbury (modernized).
Dorsetshire
The county is not noted for its screenwork, of which there are
but few remains. Though it cannot be included under "church
furniture," mention should be made of the beautiful oak screen in
the monk's refectory at Milton Abbas, which bears the date 1498,
and the rebus of Abbot Milton, a mill and a tun. Part of the
panels, with painted figures of the Apostles, of the old rood-screen
of this abbey church has found its way to the parish church of
Hilton. The recent transfer of the parish of Trent from Somerset
to Dorset, gives the latter a handsome canopied rood-screen.
The chapel of Ford Abbey has a screen which formed part of
the work of Edmund Prideaux, Attorney- General of the Pro-
tectorate, when he resided here in 1649.
In the Lady Chapel of the Roman Catholic church of Spetis-
bury is a rood-screen that came from Whitford, near Axminster.
On the screen at Milborne, added after the Restoration, is the
following : " Where the word of a king is there is power, and who
may say what doest thou " (Eccl. viii. 4).
Stone.— Batcombe, Bradford Abbas, Cerne Abbas (restored), Thomford,
Wool.
Wood. — Buckland Weston (parts), Ford Abbey chapel (lyth), Hawkchurch,
Hilton *, Milborne, Okeford Fitzpaine (parts), Pulham (parts),
Sherborne (hospital chapel), Spetisbury (R. C. church), West
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 115
Stafford (i7th), Sturminster Marshall, Trent f, Upway, Winterborne
Came, Winterborne Monkton, Winterborne Stickland (parts), Yet-
minster (parts).
Durham
Darlington is the only instance in the county where the rood-
loft, or, rather, its base, is retained. This notable stone screen is
known, from the heraldry that formerly adorned it, to have been
erected towards the close of the I4th cent. It is now a quite plain
screen, 13 feet high, 7 feet across, with a painted central archway,
and occupying the whole of the chancel arch. The old projecting
rood-loft gallery was taken down in 1756.
At Brancepeth there is an interesting screen erected by Bishop
Cosin when rector, between 1626 and 1633. Several pieces of old
I4th-cent. screen work were fixed above the chancel arch. Sedge-
field has a screen of about the same date. The chancel screen,
with returned stalls, of Ryton church, we know from the arms to
have been the work of William James, who was rector from 1617
until the Commonwealth. Merrington has a fourth example of
these remarkable I7th-cent. screens, which were all Gothic in
character; the old church was destroyed in 1850, but the screen
was re-erected in its successor.
Staindrop is the only church of the county which retains a pre-
Reformation rood-screen ; it is of a plain late character. At the
west end of Easington church is a triple canopy that formerly
formed part of the old rood-screen.
The screen in Durham Castle chapel is of Bishop Crewe's time
(1674-1709) ; it was removed here from the cathedral church.
Stone. — Darlington f (Richard II.).
Wood. — Brancepeth, (i) (fragments, I4th), (2) (i7th); Durham Castle
(late , i yth), Easington (fragment), Merrington (xyth), Ryton (i7th),
Sedgefield (lyth), Staindrop.
Essex
One of the chief features of Essex screenwork is the fine stone
screenwork that occupies the whole of the chancel arch of Stebbing.
It is of noble design and workmanship, of the earlier part of the
I4th cent. It is supported by two clustered columns and like
n6 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
responds. There is a good engraving of it in its unrestored con-
dition in Buckler's Essex Ch^lrches. At Great Bardfield is a I5th-
cent stone screen of similar character.
There is a fair amount of good wooden screenwork remaining
of different periods of the I4th cent., as at Little Canfield,
Clavering, Castle Hedingham, Newport, etc. The rood-screens of
Roothing Abbot and North Weald show the best I5th-cent.
carving ; the screen of Yeldham bears the arms of the De Veres
and other families. The remains of the old rood-screen of High
Easter now form the organ screen. Shalford screen retains the
original doors ; there is a rood-beam above it.
Stone. — Great Bardfield (restored), Stebbing (i4th, restored) (Sp. Gard.
Sk. Bk., vii. 69, 70), Waltham.
Wood. — Aveley, Bradfield, Bradwell-juxta-Coggeshall, Bumpstead Steeple
(part), Little Canfield (i4th), Castle Hedingham (i4th), Little
Chesterford, Clavering (i4th), Copford, High Easter (remains),
Elmdon, Finchingfield (and p.), Hadstock (tower), Halstead, Henham-
on-the-Hill (i4th), Little Horkesley (parts), Hythe (part), Inworth,
Latchingdon * (now in Chelmsford Museum), Lamarsh (i4th), Laver
Magdalen (restored), Layer Marney, Margaretting (base, i4th),
Manuden, Newport (i4th), Norton Mandeville, Orsett (i4th), Rickling
(t4th), Roothing Abbots, Shalford, Shenfield, Springfield (parts old),
Stanford-le-Hope (p.), Stondon Massey (i6th), Thurrock Grays,
Upminster (parts old), North Weald, Weathersfield, Wendens Ambo,
Wendon, Wimbish (p., i4th), Witham, Woodham Ferrers (part, i4th),
Yeldham.
Gloucestershire
is not remarkable for the number or the interest of its screens.
In the fine old church at Cirencester, there is a handsome carved
oak screen of early i6th cent, now set up in the Lady chapel to
form a vestry ; it was moved here from the east end of St.
John's chapel. At Fairford, the east ends of both north and south
aisles are enclosed by finely carved screenwork of late I5th-cent.
workmanship. There is a painted tympanum over the screen at
Mitcheldean.
Stone. — Berkeley, Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury (p.).
Wood. — Ashchurch, Aston Somerville, Beverstone (restored), Broadway
(p.), Cirencester (p.), Cranham (restored), D.ymock (fragments of old),
Elmstone (Henry VII.), Fairford (p.), Hailes, Lydiard Tregoze (i7th),
Mitcheldean, Northleach, Notgrove, Winchcombe.
STEBBING, ESSEX
BRAMFORD, SUFFOLK
GREAT UARDF1EI.D, ESSKX
STONE SCREENS
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 117
Hampshire
There is not much screenwork in this county. The I5th-cent.
chancel screen of Silchester is noteworthy for its beautifully pierced
cresting, ornamented with a series of well-carved small angels.
Two rood-screens of South Warnborough and Greywell, that
generally escape all observation, are of considerable interest, as
they both retain their rood-lofts. The screen of South Warn-
borough, c. 1400, is of the unusual height of i<2 feet 4 inches ; it
is coved on the eastern side, and has a width at the top of
7 feet.
The rood-screen and loft of the little church of Greywell, near
Odiham, is of unusual arrangement. Just 6 feet in front of the
small low chancel arch is a good but late screen, having two tiers
of four openings, with traceried heads on each side of the wide
central opening or doorway. From the beam over the top of this
is a platform extending to the east wall of the nave. This formed
a rood-loft, 6 feet 8 inches wide ; it is well panelled beneath, and
the roof over it is also effectively panelled. A well-built projecting
semi-circular turret on the north side of the church contains the easily
ascended stone stairs. But turret and screen appear to be of the
first quarter of the i6th cent. The loft was probably built to hold
" a pair of organs " as well as the Rood. This screen was raised
some 2 feet on a stone base at the time of the restoration of the
church in 1870, and consequently the panelled platform with it.
This alteration was made on account of its inconvenient lowness
and the cutting off of the top of the chancel arch. But it was a
great pity to do this, as up to that date the rood staircase was in
regular use, whilst the loft was fitted with seats, and called the
Men's Gallery, as the men of the small congregation usually sat
there. The raising of the screen has necessitated the closing of
the upper rood-loft door. It is supposed that the space beneath the
loft, between the screen and the wall on each side of the chancel
arch, formed accommodation for two diminutive chapels ; but if so
the altars must have been of exceptionally small proportions.
The upper part of the present quire screen of Romsey abbey
church is part of the discarded screen of early I4th-cent. date that
formerly stood across the entrance to the north transept.
There are a few interesting post-Reformation screens : North
n8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Baddesley, 1608 ; Empshott, 1624 ; and Farnborough, which may
be late Elizabethan. Deane is a noteworthy example of 1818,
when the whole church was rebuilt. At Ellingham, the tympanum
over the I5th-cent. screen, at the back of the rood-loft, has been
already described in the general remarks.
At Newport, I. of Wight, parts of the old screen are worked up
into a reading desk.
Stone. — Christchurch | (Hth), Winchester, Cathedral (p.), St. Cross (p.).
Wood. — Ashe (parts), North Baddesley (Jacobean), Barton Stacey, Buriton
(much restored), Colemore, Deane (1818), Ellingham f, Eversley
(Georgian), Empshott (1624), Farnborough (i7th), Grey well, Hartley
Wespall (modern), Leckford, Maplederwell, Newport * (I. of Wight),
Romsey, Silchester, South Warnborough f, Winchester, Cathedral,
St. John's, (i) (rood-screen), (2) (parclose, i4th).
Herefordshire
The screenwork of this county is not of first importance. At
Aymestrey there is a fine I5th-cent. chancel screen, whilst parcloses
surround the chantry chapels at the east end of each aisle. The
richly carved coped screen of Brinsop was restored in 1897. An
old parclose screen at Eardisland now stands before the organ.
There are also good I5th-cent. rood-screens at Bosbury, Eyton, and
Pipe. The screen of Brinsop church is of late I4th-cent. date ;
whilst those of Pixley and Llandinabo are supposed to go back to
the I3th-cent.
Stone. — Kingsland (p.).
Wood. — Abbey Dore, Aymestrey (and p.), Bosbury, Brinsop (i4th),
Burghill \ (restored), Canon Pyon, Dilwyn (p.), Eardisland (p.),
Eaton Bishop (restored), Eye (p.), Eyton, Foy, Hope Mansell,
Kenderchurch, Kimbolton (tower), Llandinabo (i3th), St. Margaret,
Pixley (isth), Putley (base, lyth), Staunton f, Stoke Lacy, Stretford,
Tedstone Delamere, St. Weonards, Withington.
Hertfordsh ire
has a fair amount of good screenwork, chiefly of the i$th or early
i6th cents., save for two instances of post-Reformation work.
But there is nothing in the county of special note unless Red-
bourn is excepted ; the screen in this case is canopied on both
sides to carry the rood-loft, and such a survival is rare in this part
of England. At Baldock the screen goes right across the whole
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 119
width of the church. Kings Walden is excellently carved and in
good preservation ; Flamstead and Much Hadham are also good
examples. There are a few instances of fine screenwork other
than rood-screens, as at Hitchin, between the chancel and the aisles ;
and at Ware, between the south transept and the Lady chapel.
At Kimpton, the screen now between the south aisle and Dacre
chapel originally served as the rood-screen.
There is a 1/j.th-cent. stone screen at Sandridge, and the
structural I4th-cent. screen at St. Albans Abbey is well known.
There is also a 1 5th-cent. south chapel stone screen at Aldbury.
A large portion of the wooden tympanum of rood-screen
of St. Michael's, St. Albans, is in the vestry ; it is painted with
a Doom.
Aldenham (p.), Ardeley, Aston, Baldock, Bennington, Berkhamstead,
Bishops Stortford, Bygrave, Cheshunt, Cottered, Datchworth,
Flamstead, Gilston (i3th), Graveley, Little Hadham (p.), Much
Hadham, Hitchin (p.), Hunsdon (base), Kelshall *, Kimpton, Kings
Langley (p.), Kingston, Kings Walden, Kimpton (p.), Musden,
Little Munden (p.), Redbourn f, Sandon, Sandridge, Sawbridgeworth,
Shephall, Stevenage, Walden St. Paul's, Walkern, Wallington,
Watford, Watten (p.), Ware (p.), Wheathampstead (post-Reformation),
Wyddial (two Jacobean screens).
Huntingdonshire
There is but little noteworthy screenwork in this small county.
Tilbrook church has a fine rood-screen with a coped top towards
the west, with original balusters of the loft-rail ; it was elaborately
restored in 1867. There is a good rood-screen at Swineshead, a
parish which has been lately transferred to Bedfordshire. The
parclose screens at the east ends of the aisles of Kimbolton are
exceptionally good. The Great Gransden chancel screen has
unhappily been removed to the organ chamber.
Abbotsley (remains), Easton, Great Gransden, Hamerton, Kimbolton (p.),
Molesworth, Old Hurst (restored), Spaldwick (p.), St. Neots (p.),
Swineshead, Tilbrook \ (restored), Upwood (p.), Wiston (p.), Yaxley,
Yelling.
Kent
There is a good deal of interest pertaining to the extant screen-
work of Kent An admirable and well-illustrated article on the
120 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
mediaeval rood-lofts and screens of the county, by Mr. Aymer
Vallance, appeared in Memorials of Old Kent, published at the
beginning of 1907. Of stone chancel screens, in addition to those
of the two cathedral churches of Canterbury and Rochester, those
of the parish churches of Westwell, of the I3th, and Capel-le-
Ferne, of the I4th cent., are noteworthy. Of actual wooden rood-
screens, the earliest is that of Northfleet ; but there is a painted
beam at Minster-in-Sheppey of the first half of the I3th cent,
which was probably a rood-beam. Northfleet screen is of early
I4th-cent date ; the back of the cornice is carved to represent the
heads of our Lord and the twelve apostles. The screens of
Shoreham and Lullingstone are beautifully vaulted, and bear the
base of the old rood-lofts. Stalisfield is a fine example. At
Eastchurch and at Leeds the screens extend completely across
both nave and aisles. The lower part of Kentish screens usually
consists of rectagonal panels, with tracery inserted in the heads.
In two instances in the county there are remains of figure painting,
namely on a parclose screen at St. Laurence's and St. Peter's, both
in Thanet. Mr. Vallance has a sad story to tell of many rood-screens
destroyed during the latter half of last century. There are several
other churches, in addition to those in the subjoined list, "where
portions of the original screenwork have been egregiously worked
up into seats, reredoses, pulpits, or reading-desks." Stone corbels
for carrying the rood-loft occur at Appledore, Capel-le-Ferne,
Chartham, and Milsted. At Eastry, Eynesford, Monkton, Postling,
and Selling are other corbels for the rood-beam or lintel of the
screen. At Fordwich and Ightham are remains of the oak rood-
beam embedded in the masonry. There is a most peculiar
approach to the former rood-loft at Wouldham ; the rood-stairs,
starting in the north wall, turn southwards, and the passage is
carried on a stone bridge, between two flanking walls, breast high,
across the aisle to the north arcade wall. The rood-screen was
extant in 1789, and is described in the Gentleman s Magazine for
that year.
Stone. — Canterbury Cathedral f, Capel-le-Ferne (i4th), Rochester
Cathedral f, Westwell (isth).
Wood. — Appledore, Bapchild, Biddenden (parts), Boughton-under-Blean,
Brasted, Brookland (parts) ; Canterbury, St. Alphege (fragment of loft) ;
Chalk (lyth), Challock (removed to north aisle), Little Chart (p.),
Chislehurst, Cobham (moved), Dodington (parts), Eastchurch (restored),
^:-^
•;£••$£*.
, ,— , . «~* j
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 121
Faversham (parts), Gillingham (p.), Goudhurst (parts), Graveney,
Hackington (restored), Harty, Harrietsham, Headcorn (parts), Herne,
Hernehill, Ightham (p.), Ivychurch (parts), Iwade (moved), Kemsing
(restored), Lamberhurst (p.), Leeds, Lullingstone f> Lydd, Lynsted
(parts), Maidstone (p.), Minster-in-Sheppey (parts), Great Mongeham
(moved), Newchurch (p.), Newenden, Newington (parts), Northfleet
(early i4th), Rodmersham (p.), Old Romney (p.), Ruckinge (p.),
Shoreham f, Smarden (parts), Stalisfield, Swanscombe (moved),
Teynham (parts), Thanet St. Lawrence * (p.), Tong, Upchurch
(p., 1 4th), Westwell (parts), West Wickham, Wingham (parts),
Wrotham.
Lancashire
has but little fine screen work remaining, save the grand screen
at the entrance to the quire of the old collegiate church of
Manchester (/. o G. Sk. Bk., ii. 57-9), and the beautiful late work
in the old priory church of Cartmel. Huyton has a handsome
rood-screen, c. 1460. At Sefton, in addition to the chancel
screen, there is a side screen to the north chapel ; four different
designs of screenwork from this church are figured in Willemin's
Monuments, Paris, 1839.
The old chancel screen of Colne, much mutilated, dates from
1515, when the church was rebuilt.
Cartmel (xyth), Cartmel Fell chapel f, Colne, Farnworth (i7th, under
tower), Goosnargh (p.), Huyton, Lancaster (to the stalls, J. o' G, Sk.
Bk.^ i. 9-13), Manchester f, Middleton, Ribchester (p.), Rochdale,
Sefton, Stidd, Whalley (p.).
Leicestershire
The screenwork of this county does not call for any particular
comment, save in two cases. At Thurcaston is a I3th-cent. screen,
illustrated in Bloxam's Gothic Architecture. This screen is now
under the tower arch, the place of the rood-screen being occupied
by an example of the i$th cent., simple in design, but of excellent
workmanship. Over the Lockington screen is an elaborate filling
up or tympanum of 1704 date. The next most interesting is
the restored rood-screen of Beeby church, which is c. 1360. The
screen at Long Whatton came from Colston Basset, Notts., in
1892, when the latter old church was so shamelessly unroofed and
gutted. At Buckminster is a richly panelled stone staircase for the
rood-stairs, a rare example.
122 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Sfone.—Ayleston (p., dwarf), Eastwell (14*), Frisby (p.), Quorndon
(p., dwarf).
Wood.— Ashfordby, Ashby-Folville (base), Ayleston (p.), Beeby (i4th),
Belton, Braunston, Burton Overy, Claybrook (base), Cosby, Eaton
(i4th), Edmundthorpe, Grimston, Gumley, Hoby, Hungerton (p.),
Keyham, Kibworth (much restored), Kirby Bellars ; Leicester,
St. Mary (p.); Lockington, Long Whatton, Lowesby (remains),
Lubenham (post - Reformation), Normanton - le - Heath (restored),
Queniborough, Rothley, Shearsby, Skeffington j, Stoke Golding,
Thurcaston (isth), Great Wigston.
Lincolnshire
This county is most justly famed for its screens ; those of stone
are briefly enumerated below. Tattershall has a most remarkable
1 5th-cent. stone screen of triple arcades. The central arch opens
into the chancel, but within the two other arches are altar recesses,
each having a pedestal piscina drain on the south side. The loft
above still carries the organ. This screen has an eastern central
projection with stone desk ; Sleaford screen has a western central
projection.
It is exceptionally rich in the number and interest of its
wooden screens. There is an excellent long paper on Lincoln-
shire screens in vol. xx. of the Reports of the Associated Architectural
Societies, by Dr. Mansel Sympson.
In the beautiful little chapel of St. Leonard, Kirkstead, an
adjunct of the former Cistercian abbey, there is a portion of an
early screen with lancet arcading, used as a division between the
seating. This piece of screenwork, of the beginning of Henry III.'s
reign, or possibly of that of John, is second only in age to the late
Norman screen at Compton, Surrey, throughout England. At
Benniworth there are also some portions of a I3th-cent. screen.
Up to 1865 there were two fine chantry screens of I4th-cent. date
in the church of Ingoldmells, when they were barbarously broken
up ; some pieces were used up in the pulpit. The East Kirkby
screen is probably of the reign of Richard III.
At Castle Bytham there is painting on the panels of the
screen-base. In several cases, notably at Alford, there are traces
of the old gilding and colouring.
The little out-of-the-way church of Cotes-by-Stow has an
exceptionally beautiful screen, with the panelled rood-loft complete ;
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 123
it was somewhat restored in 1884. Sleaford is a superb example
of a widely canopied rood-screen. Ewerby, Folkingham, and
Svvineshead are other fine instances of I5th-cent. woodwork. The
grand chancel screen of seven bays at West Theddlethorpe is of
early i6th-cent. date ; there are others, showing the dawn of
Renaissance influence, at the east end of each aisle.
There are two rood-loft staircases at Boston; Sleaford, and
Grantham.
Notwithstanding the large number of extant screens, it is most
melancholy to note when visiting Lincolnshire churches, how many
were broken up even in the last half of the I9th cent., under the
specious guise of restoration.
There are drawings to scale of the Long Bennington screen
in the Sketch-book of the Arch. Assoc. (ist s. ix.) ; and of Addle-
thorpe (vii. 45, 46), and Ewerby (vii. 47) screens in Spring Gardens
Sketch-book.
Stone. — Crowland, West Deeping, Lincoln cathedral f (i4th, also several
p.), Morton (base), Sedgebrook (base), Tattershall f.
Wood. — Addlethorpe (new reredos), Alford, Althorp, Aswardby, Barrow-on-
Humber, Barton-on-Humber, Benniworth (portion, i3th), Billinghay,
Boothby Paynell, Boston (base), Bratoft, Burgh, Cadney (p.), Carlton
Scroop, Carlton South, Claypole, Cockerington South, Coningsby,
Corringham (restored), Cotes-by-Stow f, Croft, Denton, Digby, Ewerby
(and p.), Fishtoft, Flixborough, Folkingham, Frampton, Fristney,
Gedney (restored), Grainsby, Grainthorp (p.), Grimoldby, Great
Gonerby, Hale, Haltham (p.), Haxey, Helpringham, Horncastle
(p.), Ingoldmells (portions, i4th), Keal (under tower), East Kirkby
(late 1 4th), Kirby Laythorpe, Kirkstead chapel (portions, early i3th),
Legbourne, Leverton, Long Bennington, Lusby, Marshchapel, Moulton,
» Osbournby, Partney, Pickworth, East Pinchbeck, Middle Rasen,
Rippingale (canopy only), Saltfleetby, All Saints, Saxilby, Scotter,
Scrivelsby, Silk Willoughby (late i4th), Sleaford |> South Somercotes,
Spalding (restored) ; Stamford, St. John's (p.) ; Stixwold, Swaton
(p.), Swineshead, Tallington (tower arch), West Theddlethorpe, Thorp
St. Peter's, Thurlby-by-Newark, West Torrington, Ulceby (round
organ), Westborough, Welby, Wickenby, Wigtoft, South Willingham
(restored), Winthorpe, Wyberton (restored), Yarborough.
There are also fragments of wood screens at Ancaster, Ashby-
cum-Eenby, Barnetby-le-Wold, Bicker, Butterwick, Epworth, Miningsby,
Quadring, Ropsby, Rowston, North Scarle.
i24 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Middlesex and London
" The almost entire absence of screenwork in the Middlesex
churches," wrote the late Mr. Loftus Brock in 1891, "is very striking."
In a county so destitute of building stone and that had such an
abundance of timber in the old days, this lack is at first sight a
difficulty ; but the probable explanation is that the rapid increase of
population and the smallness of most of the early fabrics led to
such a rebuilding and extending of the churches that almost the
whole of the old fittings disappeared.
London, St. Paul's, St. Margaret Patten, St. Peter Cornhill (all Renaissance);
Westminster Abbey (p.), South Minims (p.), Ruislip (parts).
Monmonth
Though the screenwork in this county is slight in amount it is
of considerable interest, owing to the affinity it shows to the Welsh
work. English Newton has a stone screen of early I4th-cent.
character, consisting of three well-moulded arches, of which that in
the centre is the narrower ; the spandrels are of rough masonry,
and there is no cornice or coping. Usk priory church contains a
stately rood-screen of wood with vaulted cove for the support of
a gallery, and at Abergavenny is a curious parclose screen forming
the backing to the stalls, which is pierced by numerous irregularly
placed traceried openings. The most interesting, however, is the
screen at the little village church of Llangwm Uchaf (restored in
1870) ; it is rich in detail, and preserves in a perfect state its rood-
loft, one of the Welsh type. With this screen should be compared
that at Patricio, near Abergavenny, which, though not actually in
this county, is on its border ; this screen preserves not only its
loft but the altars on either side of the doorway.
Stone. — Welsh Newton.
Wood. — Abergavenny, St. Mary (p.), Holy Trinity; Bettws Newydd,
Kemeys Commander, Llangattock Llingoed, Llangwm Isaf, Llangwm
Uchaf t, Llanvair Kilgeddin, Magor, Uskf.
Norfolk
Stone screenwork is to be noted at Norwich cathedral and at
Wymondham, but one of the special glories of the churches of this
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 125
county is the number of fine wooden rood-screens and fragments of
others that yet remain. The cornices and canopy work are not
nearly so rich as those of the west of England, but the Norfolk
screens are infinitely superior in the beauty and number of those
which have figure painting on the lower panels. It will surprise
many to learn, as is shown in the subjoined list, that upwards
of eighty Norfolk churches still possess painted panels of this
description.
Out of ninety churches specially visited in the district of the
Broads, it was found that twenty-two still retain panels of saintly
figures, namely, Lessingham, Hempstead, Upton, Belaugh, East
Ruston, Potter Heigham, Barton Turf, Ranworth, Trimingham,
Ludham, North Walsham, Trunch, Swafield, Filby, Edingthorpe,
Westwick (poorly restored), Catfield, South Repps, Irstead, Tun-
stead, Ranworth, and Worstead. At Barton Turf there is a screen
with kingly saints to the south chancel chapel as well as the rood-
screen. At Worstead there are not only painted screens at the
east end of the aisles as well as the rood-screen, but also there is
another at the base of the tower arch supporting a western gallery.
The elaborate and memorable screen of Ranworth church, with its
beautiful paintings and parcloses around the two side altars against
the screen, is the finest and most interesting painted example left
in England.* The beautifully painted screen of Strumpshaw
church, which has lately undergone a conservative restoration, has
obvious traces on the diapered panels of the places where the two
side altars formerly stood.
Three of the rood-screens of this district are of greater dignity
in height than the remainder, namely, those of Tunstead, Westwick,
and Swanton Abbot. They differ materially from the others in
having narrower openings with mere tracery cuspings at the apex
of each division ; it seems probable that they are earlier by some
years than the more usual style.
The date of the painted figures on Norfolk screens covers a
period of about a century. In Carthew's History of the Hundred
of Launditch it is stated that the figure-painted screen of Litcham
is about 1430. The Lady chapel screen of St. John Madder-
* A fine folio monograph on Ranworth screen was brought out in 1867 by Mr.
C. J. W. Winter, in connection with the Norfolk Archaeological Society ; and another on
Barton Turf screen in 1869. A small book on the former screen was also issued by
Mr. E. F. Strange in 1902.
126 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
market, Norwich, is about 1450, Burnham Norton screen is dated
1458, Poringland 1473, and Ludham 1493. Dated examples of the
next century are Trunch 1502, Aylsham 1507, Worstead 1512, and
North Burlingham 1528.
The question of the incidence of the saints in these paintings is
far too long for discussion in this place. It is set forth at length
in Mr. G. E. Fox's admirable treatise on the Mediaeval Painting in
Norfolk churches in vol. ii. of the Victoria History of this county.
The apostles largely predominate. The saintly Henry VI. appears
on four of the screens.
It should also be remembered that extraordinary richness
and delicacy of colouring, apart from the figure panels, is the
usual characteristic of the Norfolk (and Suffolk) screens in the
traceries of the upper parts as well as in the spaces of the base
above the panels. The wealth of colour and ornament thus
lavishly used may be gathered from the bare enumeration of the
successive treatment of the mouldings of the lower part of the
screen of Worstead (where the figure panels have been sadly
spoilt by modern treatment) immediately above the panels, a
space less than a foot in width — (i) Blue and gold, in "barber's
pole " design ; (2) gold, with pattern ; (3) green, with cinque-
foils and connecting sprays in gold ; (4) gold, with pattern ;
(5) red, with alternate fleur-de-lis and sprigged roses, scolloped at
the edge with green ; (6) band of inscription, gold centre with
diagonal ribbon strips bearing gold lettering on blue ground, with
edging of red, blue, and gold ; and (7) broad band of plain gold.
The application of gesso-work — a species of thin plaster, readily
stamped with patterns when in a plastic condition — to the richer
examples of screens is well discussed by Mr. Fox. Its use may
be noted at Aylsham, Cawston, Trunch, and Worstead. Mr. Fox
is able to produce sufficient evidence to establish the fact that
" the art of painting in Norfolk throughout the middle ages was
practised by natives of that county with very little influence from
abroad." There are drawings of the screen of Acle (viii. 13, 14),
South Acre (iii. 67, 68), Aylsham (ii. 69), Cawston (vii. 3-6),
Ludham (iv. 68-71), and Watlington (vi. 21), in the Spring
Gardens Sketch-book,
Acle, Castle Acre *, South Acre, Ashmanhaugh, Attleborough *, Aylmer-
ton, Aylsham* (1507), Babingley, Baconthorpe (screen round organ,
formerly rood-screen of Bessingham), Banham, Barnham Broom *,
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 127
Barton Bendish, Barton Turf *, Bedingham, Beeston-next-Sea*, Beeston
Regis, Belaugh *, Billingford, Binham *, Blakeney, Blofield *, Breckles,
Bridgeham, Brisley, Brockdish, Buckenham, New, Burlingham St.
Andrew *, Burlingham St. Edmund, Burlingham St. Peter, Burnham
Norton *, Buxton*, Carbrooke *, Carlton Rode *, Catfield *, Cawston *
(c. 1450), Colkirk, Corpusty, Costessey, Cottishall, Creake, North *
(parts), Creake, South, Cressingham, Great, Crostwight, Denton *
(panels made into a chest), Deopham, Dersingham *, Dickleborough,
Earlham, Edgefield *, Edingthorpe* (i4th), North Elmham %
Elsing *, Emneth (remains), Erpingham, Fakenham, Feltham,
Feltwell, Filby *, Fincham, Foulden, Foxley *, Freethorpe,
Fritton *, Garboldisham, Gateley, Gillingham, Gooderstone *, Graf-
ton, Gressenhall *, Grimstone, Hackford f , Happisburgh, Hardwick,
Harling, East (p.), Harpley (repainted), Hempstead, Hethersett,
Hickling, Hockwold-cum-Witton, Horsey, Horsham St. Faith *
{1528), Houghton-le-dale *, Hunstanton*, Ickburgh, Ingham *
(panels in private possession), Ingworth (lower part), Instead *,
Kenninghall, Knapton, Lessingham *, Litcham * (Henry VI.),
Loddon *, Longham, Ludham* (1493), King's Lynn, South Lynn*,
Marsham*, Martham, Great Massingham, Mattishall*, Mautby,
Merton *, Middleton *, Morston *, Moulton, Mundford, Neatishead *,
Northwold * ; Norwich, St. Gregory *, St. John Maddermarket *, St.
John-at-Sepulchre *, St. John Timberhill (old screen from Horstead),
St. Michael-at-Plea *, St. Paul, St. Peter Mountergate *, St. Simon
and Jude *, St. Swithin * ; Outwell, Oxburgh *, Paston, Great Plum-
stead *, Potter Heigham *, Poringland *, Pulham (base), Pulham
St. Mary Magdalen, Pulham St. Mary Virgin *, Rackheath, South Rain-
ham, Ranworth* (panels hung on vestry walls), South Redenhall*,
Repps *, Ringland *, Rudham,* Rushall, East Ruston *, Salhouse *,
Salle*, Salthouse *, Santon Downham (i4th), Saxthorpe, Seaming*,
Shelfanger, Sheringhamf, Shingham, Small burgh*, Snitterton, Spar-
ham * remains), Sprixworth, Stalham* (preserved at rectory), Stanfield,
Strumpshaw (painted), Suffield *, Sustead, Swaffham, Swafield *,
Swanton Abbot *, Swanton Morley, Swardeston, Taconeston *, Taver-
ham*; Thetford, St. Cuthbert, St. Peter*; Thornham *, Thorpe,
Abbots, Threxton, Thurlton, Tibenham, Tilney All Saints (Jacobean,
1618), Tivetshall, Toft Monks, West Toft, Tottington, Trim-
ingham *, Trunch* (1502), Tuddenham *, Tunstead*f> Upton*,
Upwell, Walcot, Walpole St. Peter*, North Walsham *, South Wai-
sham, New Walsingham, Walsoken, Watlington (p.), Weeting *,
Wellingham* (1532), Wells, Wendling, Wesenham, Weston Longue-
ville *, Westwick *, Wheatacre, Wickmere, Wiggenhall St. Mary
Magdalen *, Wiggenhall St. Mary Virgin * (i4th), Wighton, Wolferton,
Worstead* (1512), Great Wrotham *, Great Yarmouth, Yelverton,
Yetford.
128 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Northamptonshire
The stone chancel screen of Finedon was considerably restored
in 1858, but incorporates part of the old screen of I4th-cent date.
There is a stone screen at Ringstead between north chapel and
chancel. The low stone screen of Sutton was unfortunately
removed in 1867.
Three churches of the county contain some interesting remains
of old wooden screenwork. At Kings Sutton there is a beautiful
rood-screen, in eight divisions, of the I4th cent. There are also
two other rood-screens late in that century at Bozeat and
Harrowden ; in the former case the lower panels used to bear
painted figures, one of which is kept at the vicarage. Middleton
Cheney is a good example of a late 1 5th-cent. screen, but in that
case the cornice only dates from 1865. Bugbrook is richly
canopied. By far the best instance in the county or district of a
screen carrying the base of the rood-loft is at Ashby St. Ledgers.
This well-canopied screen is of delicate and admirable con-
struction, and beautifully carved. The lower panels still show a
good deal of the original painting, chiefly in red and green. The
stairway to the rood-loft on the south side, with the two original
doors, are quite perfect ; the floor of the loft is 5 feet 6 inches wide.
Above the beautifully crested screen of Higham Ferrers is the
rood -beam.
Pytchley underwent a most searching "restoration" in 1843,
when the lower part of the old chancel screen was used in the
making of a reading-desk, and the tympanum frame (which has
been already named) was placed against the west wall of the nave.
There were till quite recently several figure-painted panels of the
old screen kept in the vicarage at Grafton Regis ; but they have
now " disappeared ; " one of the figures bore a head in his hand,
with inscription Sanctus Dionisius. There were also several old
painted panels of the rood-screen in the vicarage at Bozeat ; one
of these now remains, a figure in red with a large star over his head,
supposed to form part of Visit of Magi.
Holdenby church contains a chancel screen of great interest and
fine classical design. It dates from about 1580, when the first
great Renaissance architect, John Thorpe, was building the
magnificent pile of Holdenby House. A fanciful notion has
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 129
obtained some currency that this screen was not designed for the
church, but was moved here when so much of the great house was
pulled down in the i/th cent. The plans, however, of the house
are extant, and there was no such screen, or any space for it, in
any part of the building. The late Mr. Micklethwaite, who paid
two special visits to inspect the screen, was able to point out
several features that established its construction for a church and
not for any house-chapel. The church was beautified in other ways
by Thorpe's workmen, both in wood and stone, but much of this
excellent work was, alas! swept away at a destructive restoration
in 1868. At that time the lofty superstructure of the screen was
pulled down, and now disfigures other parts of the church. The
chancel screen of Marston St. Laurence, dated 1610, was moved
to the west end of the church during the disastrous restoration of
1877.
A very fine classical screen was erected in the rebuilt church of
All Saints, Northampton, in 1676. It was unhappily removed at
the "restoration" of 1865 ; parts of it are now worked up into
the three doorways out of the western vestibule into the church.
Drawings of the Irthlingborough screen appear in the Sketch-
book of the Architectural Association (ist series, vol. ix.).
Great Addington (p.), Little Addington, Apethorpe (screen under tower,
1633), Ashby St. Ledgers, Badby (piece in vestry), Barnack (base,
also p.), Great Billing, Bozeat * (late i4th), Burton Latimer, Bug-
brook, Catesby, Cotterstock, Bedford, Denford (base, and p.), Earls
Barton (restored), Everdon, Evenley, Floore, Geddington (1618 p.),
Hannington, Hargrave, Harrington, Harringworth, Great Harrow-
den (i4th), Little Harrowden, Higham Ferrers (and p. J, rf G. Sk.
£k., iiL 9), Holdenby (Eliz.), Irchester (base, and p.), Irthlingborough
(base and p.), Isham (base), Kings Cliffe (parts in pulpit and reading-
desk), Lilburne, Marston St. Lawrence (1610), Middleton Cheney,
Nassington (parts), Northampton All Saints (xyth, parts), Peakirk
(parts), Peterborough (parts), Polebrook, Rounds (p.), Rushden
(and p.), Sibbertoft (good fragment), Stanford (now in tower arch),
Strixton, Tansor (moved), Warmington (parts), Weston Favell (p.,
end of 1 7th), Wellingborough.
Nottinghamshire
There is not much screenwork in this county. The stone
structural screen at Southwell minster is of I4th-cent. date.
K
i3o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Of wood screens, the best is the very rich canopied rood-screen
at Newark, dating from about 1500. The lofty screen of Strelley
is also canopied. The Staunton screen is dated 1515, and bears
an inscription asking prayers for the donor. Balderton is a good
example, c. 1475. The base of Bingham screen is old, but dis-
figured with inappropriate modern painting. This was a case of
a filled-up tympanum in the arch above the screen up to the date
of the church's restoration, as shown in a sketch taken in 1845,
which is preserved in the church. At the time of the removal of
the filling-up, the tympanum bore the royal arms and the date
1777 ; but there can be little doubt that it had originally a painted
Rood. Lambley is remarkable for having the rood-loft stairs in the
north wall, and a further set of stairs in the south wall, which led
from the rood-loft to the roof. There are some of those small
piercings in the panels on the right-hand side of the screen at
Wysall, which served as " squints " for kneeling worshippers. Blyth
has painted panels in the rood-screen of the parochial nave.
Balderton, Bingham (base), Blyth *, West Bridgeford (foundation), Burton
Joyce, North Collingham, East Drayton, Halloughton, Hawton
(Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk. iv., 40-45), Holme, Kelham, Lambley, East Leake
(fragments), East Markham, Newark f, Nuthall (p., altered to rood-
screen), Ordsall (now under tower), Plumtree (restored), Staunton,
Strelley f, Walkeringham, Winkbury, Woodborough (remains), Wysall.
Oxfordshire
The county is celebrated for having the oldest chancel screen
(Stanton Harcourt) in its original position in England. The old
screen at Thurcaston, Leics., is probably somewhat earlier in the
1 3th cent, than that at Stanton Harcourt, but it has been moved.
This Oxford example has a series of trefoil-headed narrow arches
supported on slender banded shafts ; it is of the latter part of the
reign of Henry III., and its mouldings correspond with those of
the arch in which it is fitted. The Stanton Harcourt screen is
14 feet 7 inches wide and 9 feet 4 inches high ; the hinges, bolt,
and lock of the double doors are original and still perfect. It is
illustrated in Parker's Glossary. At Cropredy are some remains
of a rood-screen of I4th-cent. date, and in the same church
is some I5th-cent. screenwork enclosing a chantry chapel in the
south aisle. There are several other good screens in the county.
SOMERTON, OXFORDSHIRE
CHARLTON-ON-OTMOOR, OXFORDSHIRE
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 131
At Charlton-on-Otmoor, Handborough, and Rollright the coved
work supports the foundation of the rood-loft. At Bloxham,
Handborough, and Swalcliffe there are considerable traces of the
•original colouring. Swinbrook is given in Bury's Ecclesiastical
Woodwork (1847) as a good example of a canopied rood-screen.
Drawings of the Handborough screen appear in the Sketch-
book of the Architectural Association (ist series, vol. viii.).
At Broughton is a stone chancel screen of I4th-cent. date. The
stone screen at North Leigh is modern ; there was a " Grecian
wooden screen " when Parker wrote in 1842, it has been moved
to the N. aisle.
Stone. — Broughton.
Wood. — Adderbury, Great Barford, Bloxham* (restored), Brize Norton
(restored), Charlton-on-Otmoor*, Chinnor, Cropredy (i4th), Cumnor,
Deddington, Dorchester, Ewelme, Handborough f, Lower Heyford,
Langford, South Leigh (restored), Milcombe (restored), Oxford
cathedral (p.), Great Rollright f, Rousham, Shutford, Somerton,
Stanton Harcourt (i3th, Sp. Card. Sk. Bk. ii., 12), Stanton St.
John (p.), Stoke nchurch, Swalcliffe, Sydenham, Warborough, War-
dington, Westcote Barton *, Yarnton (good Jacobean), Yelford.
Rutland
There is but little screenwork remaining among the old churches
•of Rutland. They passed through a period of exceptional neglect,
followed by most drastic " restorations." A writer who contributed
.a series of descriptive church articles to the Stamford Mercury
in 1860-62, reported that the screen of the neglected church
of Bisbrooke " lay on the chancel floor ; " that the screen of Stoke
Dry was much mutilated and broken ; that Belton chancel
screen had " pretty tracery ; " that North Luffenham had " an
original chancel screen of three open panels with tracery above ; "
and that Langham had a I4th-cent. screen. Great Casterton
had at that time a "chancel arch hidden by a tottering singing
gallery," which reads as if it was the remains of a rood-loft ; and
Caldecot had the remains of a screen worked up into a reading-
desk.
The one notable piece of screenwork now surviving is the rood-
screen of Stoke Dry, which is of great interest, though in a
mutilated condition. It is coped with fan tracery on the west side
132 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
for the support of the former loft ; the peculiar feature is that it
has lateral moulded projections at each end, which probably served
to support additional figures to the three that formed the central
Rood.
Caldecot (parts), Egleton, Ketton (parts), South Luffenham (parts),
Lyddington, Stoke Dry|.
Shropshire
The very beautiful screenwork of Tong and Ludlow is known
to be about the middle of the I5th cent. Highley, North Lyd-
bury, and Bettws-y-Crwyn have elaborately carved rood-screens.
At North Lydbury the old structural connection between the
screen and the rood-loft is shown after a curious fashion. In the
place of the rood-loft is a remarkable painting of the Command-
ments, the Creed, and the Our Father in black letter, signed by
"Charles Bright, churchwarden, 1615."
The altar rails of Llanvair Waterdine are made out of curious
carved fragments of a late mediaeval rood-screen. The carving
includes a remarkable inscription in fifty-seven letters, which has
hitherto eluded the attempts at deciphering of the most skilled
palaeographists.
On the north side of Adderley church (rebuilt in 1801) is a
singularly fine piece of late Jacobean screenwork, removed from
the former church. It is illustrated in Mr. Cranage's great work on
the churches of the county.
Adderley (i7th), Bitterleyf (remains), Bettwys-y-Crwyn, Cleobury
Mortimer (p.), Ditton Priors (part), Easthope, Ellesmere, Ford,
Hughleyf, Kinlet, Ludlow |, Llanvair Waterdine (parts), North
Lydbury, Munslow, Neen Savage (restored), Shifnall, Tasley, Tong.
Somersetshire
though quite overshadowed in the number of its screens by the
adjacent county of Devon, has a variety of beautiful examples,
chiefly in West Somerset, between Taunton and Minehead.
In stonework there is a good I5th-cent. rood-screen at
Brimpton.
Though there is no old rood-loft remaining in the county, there
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 133
are several good groined or coped screens that carry the floor of
the loft. A particularly fine example of such screens is the richly
carved and gilded rood-screen of Banwell ; it was erected about
1522 ; the churchwardens' accounts have many particulars as to its
cost. At Lydeard St. Laurence some early Jacobean painting of
arms and royal symbols has been introduced into a late I5th-cent.
screen. It may be well to cite a passage from a series of articles
contributed to the Athenaum in September, 1906, as to the
churches of the Hundred of Carhampton.
A particular feature of the isth-cent. or Perpendicular archi-
tecture of the churches of West Somerset, which also prevails
generally in Cornwall and Devon, is the frequent absence of both
chancel arches and nave clerestories. The absence of chancel
arches led to the greater elaboration of rood-screens. Well-carved
screens, to judge from fragments of about 1450, which ran across
the churches of Luccombe, Selworthy, and Porlock, were pulled
down during the respective refittings of those buildings in the first
half of the iQth cent. The Luccombe screen was removed in 1840,
the best parts being used as a reredos and for the front of a west
gallery. In a recent admirable restoration of this church most of
these fragments have been used in a low screen. At the little
church of Culbone the screen across the chancel arch still remains ;
it is of somewhat rude but effective design, and has large quatrefoils
at the head of each of the eight openings, four on each side of the
doorway.
There is, however, a most remarkable group of screens in five
adjacent parishes of this Hundred, all c. 1500, and obviously
executed by the same set of craftsmen. They had not received
the attention they deserve, and are to be found in the churches of
Dunster, Minehead, Carhampton, Timberscombe, and Withycombe.
The last two of these, being in small churches in villages off main
roads, are almost unknown. They have a character of their own,
differing much from the fine screens of South Devon, but having
a considerable resemblance to the well-known example in Hartland
church, North Devon. All of these screens are about 1 1 feet high,
but vary greatly in length, in proportion to the width of the church
— from Dunster, with fourteen bays or compartments, seven on
each side of the central doorway, stretching across the nave and
both aisles, to Withycombe, with only two compartments on each
side of the doorway, across the east end of the nave of this small
i34 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
church, which has a width of only 18 feet 6 inches. These screens
are coved or canopied on each side, so as to allow of a considerable
width for the rood-loft above them. At Minehead the top of the
screen is about 8 feet in width, and at Withycombe it is 5 feet
8 inches. The beautiful tracery of four divisions in each com-
partment is similar in each instance, and there is also a close
likeness in the enriched lines of finely carved cornices that project
above the coving on the western side. These screens were stripped
of their roods at the time of the Reformation, and the protecting
panels of the rood-lofts have also disappeared, but otherwise they
are in good condition.
The exact date of the finest of the series, that of Dunster, is
known, and it was probably the harbinger of the rest. A dispute
arose towards the close of the I5th cent, between the Benedictine
prior of Dunster and the parochial vicar of the town as to the use
of the respective portions of the church. The dispute was settled
in 1499 by the Abbot of Glastonbury as arbitrator, when it was
decided that the parishioners, who seem previously to have used
the crossing under the tower as a chancel, were to be strictly
confined to the nave. The handsome rood-screen was then put up
across the nave and its aisles in the unusual position of two bays
from the east, in order to secure a proper chancel or presbytery for
the use of the parish.
The Minehead screen, across the nave and south aisle, has
eleven compartments, including the two that form the entrances to
the chapel and north aisle. The churchwardens' accounts show
that the loft was reused and fitted with seats in 1630. These seats
remained on this wide loft and were used by school children, both
boys and girls, up to the restoration of the church in 1887-9.
The screen at Carhampton underwent slight repair and a
complete painting and gilding at the time when the church was
considerably restored in 1862-3. There is not, of course, the
shadow of a doubt that all these screens were originally beautifully
painted and gilded ; but the attempt to reproduce the old effect at
Carhampton is somewhat of a failure, though laudable enough for
the time at which it was made. Too much white has been used,
and the colours are too crudely tinted.
But if the repainting of the Carhampton screen cannot be
regarded with satisfaction, the extraordinary and incongruous
shades with which some one has seen fit to smear the beautiful old
WITHYCOMBE, SOMERSET
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 135
screen of Timberscombe must certainly be viewed with general
distaste.
The screen of the little church of Withycombe is unspoilt by
modern colouring, but the compartment adjoining the south wall has
been stripped of all its tracery in order to make an easy thorough-
fare from the chancel seats into the adjoining pulpit in the nave.
Local gossip says that this ruthless deed was perpetrated for the
convenience of a former minister of unusual dimensions.
The chancel screen at Alford is of an early type, and not in its
original position. The Bridgwater parclose screen is of an early
and massive character ; it was formerly across the chancel. The
much-discussed cornice of the Norton Fitzwarren rood-screen, with
quaint carvings illustrative of a local dragon legend, was inserted at
a last-century restoration. The Curry Rivel screen, which is early
and somewhat rude in execution, is believed to be unique in its
arrangement ; the loft groining is supported on shafts standing out
clear in front of the main mullions. Low Ham chancel screen is a
very curious Carolean imitation of Gothic. The sister screens of
North Newton and Thurloxton are of heavy Laudian type, richly
carved, and with open arcades.
At Castle Cary, the old rood-screen has been restored and now
encloses the vestry. At Combe St. Nicholas the rood-screen has
been taken down and placed behind the stalls. In 1849, the rood-
screen of the church at Fitzhead was taken down and re-erected
at the west end ; but it has recently been replaced in its original
position. The tympanum, or filling up at the back of the rood-loft,
may still be noticed at Raddington. On the north wall of the
tower of Winsham church is a remarkable early painting of the
Crucifixion on canvas, which originally formed the tympanum at
the back of the rood-loft. Our Lord hangs between the two
thieves, and the two Marys are below the central cross ; it is
illustrated in vol. xxiii. (1900) of the Bristol and Gloiicester
Archaological Society's Transactions.
Croscombe has an exceptionally fine early i/th-cent. screen.
The screen at Elworthy is of Laudian date, and inscribed — "O
Lord, prepare our arts to praye. Anno Domi 1632."
Stone. — Backwell (p.), Brimpton (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk. viii., 28), Dundon
Compton (base), Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Tintinhull (base), Wells f.
Alford, Long Ashton (and p.), Backwell, Banwellf (1522), Bicknollerf,
Bishops Lydeardf, Bridgwater (p.), Brimpton, Brushford (i4th),
I
136 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Burrington (and p.), Queen Camel f, Cannington (base), Carhampton f ,
Castle Gary (part), Cheddar, North Cheriton (restored), Chew Magna,
Churchstanton (fragments), Combe St. Nicholas (p.), Compton Martin
(p.), Congresbury, Croscombe (i8th), Crowcombef, Culbone, Curry
Rivel (early), St. Decumen, Dunsterf (and p.), El worthy (1632),
Fitzheadf, Halse (restored), High Hamf, Low Ham (i7th), Kelston,
Keynsham (p., 15th and i7th), Kingsbury Episcopi (restored
1843), Limington (fragments), Luccombe (parts), Lydeard St.
Laurence, Mere, Middlezoy, Milborne Port f, Minehead f, North
Newton (1637), Norton Fitzwarren f, Norton St. Philip (p.), Nunney,
Nynehead (restored), Oare (chiefly modern), West Pennard, Pilton,
Porlock (fragments), Priddy (i7th), Raddington, Long Sutton f,
Thurloxton (i7th), Timberscombe f, Trent t, Trull f, Wellow, White-
stanton, Winsham (tower), Withycombe f, Wrington.
Staffordshire
The extant church screenwork of this county is comparatively
unimportant. Blore, however, has a rood-screen and parclose of
much interest. The rood-screens of both Blithfield and Enville
have been considerably restored. The east ends of both the aisles
of Hamstall Ridware are enclosed with old screens ; the one on
the south side is the earliest. There is much new screenwork in
Staffordshire, both in wood and stone. At Penkridge are remark-
able church gates and grills of wrought-iron work ; they are of
Dutch workmanship, dated 1778, and were brought here from
Cape Town.
Blithfield (restored), Blore, Enville (restored, Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk. iv., 31),
Hamstall Ridware (p.), Salt, Sandon, Swinnerton, Tettenhall (p.),
Trentham (i?th), Waterfall (i7th), Wolverhampton (p.).
Suffolk
It is only at Long Melford and Bramford that there is any
stone screenwork in this county. In the latter case there is a fine
stone chancel screen of three arches, dating from early in the
1 4th cent.
Suffolk is not quite so rich in wood screenwork as Norfolk, but
there are a few beautiful painted examples, and many others of
merit. Somerleyton and Sotterley have good painted panels of
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 137
apostles and saints. The Woodbridge screens form a continuous
stretch across nave and aisles. Barking, Belton, and Grundisburgh
are fine instances. Withersfield has much better carving on the
east than on the west front. Hawstead is noteworthy for having
the old sanctus bell attached to it ; an arrangement which also
occurs at Salhouse and Seaming, Norfolk. In some instances
parts of the old rood-screen are preserved in more recent furniture,
as is the case with the altar rails at Blakenham. At Kedington
the chancel screen is dated 1619.
The Hundred of Blything, however, has the best of the Suffolk
screen work. It possesses one glorious old screen at South wold,
another of almost equal value at Bramfield, a third, of much merit,
at Westhall, as well as several, of which the greater part or good
fragments remain. To take the latter first, the remains of the
Blythburgh screens are well worth notice ; the base of one half
of the rood-screen is in position at South Cove ; there are two good
painted panels of the old screen (St. John the Evangelist and St.
Mary Magdalen) preserved in the vestry door of Sotherton church,
and there is much left of a good old rood-screen at Rumburgh.
The Westhall screen is remarkable for the fairly good and un-
restored state of preservation of the series of saints on the panels
of the base ; they are eight in number on each side, and merit far
closer attention than they have yet received. The Bramfield screen
is of great beauty and in remarkable preservation, and worth a
special pilgrimage ; the village lies two and a half miles south of
Halesworth. The coved canopy- work that supported the rood-loft
remains on each side ; it projects from the screen on the west side
30 inches, and 27 inches on the east side. There are abundant
remains of the original delicate painting on the screen itself, as well
as on the saint-bearing panels of the base. The diminutive figures
of angels among the divisions of the canopy-work on the south side
of the front of the screen (they are absent from the north side)
probably indicate the presence here of an altar to St. Michael and
the Angel Host.
The glories of the painted Southwold screens, stretching across
the whole width of the church, have been too often described to
need more than mention. But a word of protest must be entered
against the cool assumption that the merchant princes of this part
of England had to import artificers across the seas to carve and
paint in these beautiful churches — and yet the run of guide-book
i38 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
writers will persist in propagating this very unpatriotic and baseless
notion. The best short handbook to the church (written by
Mr. C. R. B. Barrett) says of the screen that it is "a worthy
monument of the skilled foreign artists by whom it must have
been executed." Mr. G. E. Fox, however, conclusively showed
the falsity of this idea in an address delivered in this church a few
years ago to the Archaeological Institute, when he gave the names
of the probable local artists.
The fairly good and interesting screen of Cratfield church has,
of late, been rendered ridiculous by being moved — or rather the
mover of it has made himself ridiculous — from the chancel archway
to the filled-up archway leading into the tower at the west end of
the nave.
Stone. — Bramford, Long Melford (p.).
Wood. — Alpheton, Athelington, Bacton (p.), Badley, Bard well, Barking,
Barnardiston, Barningham, Barrow, Barsham (Jacobean), Great Barton
(p.), Bedfield *, Belton, Billingford, Great Blakenham (remains),
Blundeston *, Blythburgh (p.), Bramfield * |, Brandon (base), Brockley,
Burgate, Burstall (i4th), Cavendish, Cavenham (i4th), Cockfield,
Coddenham * (remains), Combs, Great Cornard (base), South Cove *
(base), Cowling, Cratfield, Greeting St. Mary, Dennington, Ellough,
South Elmham All Saints, Eriswell, Eye *, Fakenham, Flempton,
Framlingham, Freckenham, Gisleham *, Gorleston St. Andrew,
Grundisburgh, Hargrave, Harleston, Hawkedon, Hawstead, Hessett,
Hitcham *, Hunston, Icklingham ; Ipswich, St. Mary-le-Tower, St.
Matthew; Kedington (1619), Kersey*, Langham, Lavenham (p.),
Laxfield, Lidgate, Mellis, Mettingham, Mickfield, Mildenhall, Moulton,
Newbourne, Nowton, Pakefield, Pakenham, Parham *, Playford,
Poslingford, Rattlesden, Ringsfield *, Risby, Rumburgh (remains),
Sibton, Somerleyton *, Sotherton * (two panels), Sotterley *, South-
wold *, Stanton *, Earl Stonham, Stowlangloft ; Sudbury, All Saints
(p.), St. Peter (p.) ; Thrandeston, Thurlow, Troston, Ufford *,
Walsham-le-Willows, Walton, Wattisfield, Great Wenham, Westhall *,
Wingfield *, Withersfield.Woodbridge *, Woolpit*, Yaxley *, Yoxford.
Surrey'
This county has comparatively little screenwork left in its
churches. Surrey has, however, the distinction of owning the
oldest piece of screenwork in this country. It occurs in the
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 139
remarkable church of Compton, where there is a low screen of
late Norman character, c. 1180, consisting of a series of small
octagonal shafts with carved capitals supporting plain semicircular
arches. It forms the front of the upper chapel over the groined
eastern section of the chancel, and is more of the nature of a pro-
tective balustrade than a screen. The screens of Beddington,
Cranleigh, and Farnham appear to be of late I4th-cent. date. The
remainder are chiefly of the latter part of the I5th cent. The
screens of Charlwood and Chelsham are early i6th cent. ; the latter
of these has remarkable balustrade-like shafts supporting the upper
tracery. At Compton a handsome Jacobean screen has been moved
to the west end of the church.
The Norman screen at Compton is illustrated in Parker's
Glossary, and that of Chelsham in Mr. Johnston's article on
Ecclesiastical Architecture in vol. ii. of the Victoria History of
Surrey.
Alfold, Beddington (i4th), Great Bookham, Charlwood, Chelsham,
Chepstead, Compton (two), Cranleigh (i4th), Elstead, Farnham
(i4th), Gatton, Godalming, Hascombe, Horley, Home, Horsell,
West Horsley, Leigh, Lingfield, Merstham, Nutfield, Reigate, Send,
Shere, Thursley, Wanborough, Witley.
Sussex
The particular feature of the screens of this county is the
unusually large proportion of workmanship extant prior to the
1 5th cent. The tracery of the screen of Old Shoreham is of
Edward I.'s time, and those of Bignor, Chichester hospital (very
fine), Eastbourne, Etchingham, Henfield, Playden, Poynings,
Rodmell, and West Thorney are of different periods of the I4th
cent. In quite recent years the rood-screens of Rustington and
Worth disappeared during " restoration."
Stone. — Arundel (shrine), Boxgrove, Chichester cathedral.
Wood. — Appledram (portions), Ardingley, Berwick, • Boxgrove (p.) ;
Brighton, St. Nicholas f ; Burton f, Bury, Chichester hospital (i4th),
Climping (p.), Eastbourne (i4th), Etchingham, Fletching, Henfield
(p., i4th), Mayfield (portions), Ovingdean, Patcham (i4th), Penhurst,
Playden (p., i4th), Poynings (p., late i4th), Rodmell (p., i4th),
Rotherfield (p.), Rye (p.), Old Shoreham (Edward I., and isth),
Steyning (now in vicarage), West Tarring (p.), Thakeham (p.), West
Thorney (p., i4th), Warnham (i7th), Westham.
140 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Warwickshire
The rood-screen of Long Itchington is a fine and rare example
of I4th-cent. wood carving ; whilst the next-century screens and
lofts at Knowle and Wormleighton are exceptionally good. At
Wootton Wawen, on each side of the site of the former rood-screen,
are parcloses, which formerly enclosed chantry altars.
Stone. — Bickenhill ; Warwick, St. Mary (p.).
Wood. — Beaudesert (i4th, Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., vii., 47), Berkswell (p.) ;
Coventry, St. Michael; Henley-in-Arden, Long Itchington (i4th),
Knowle * f, Lap worth, Merevale, Middleton, Oxhill, Pack wood,
Rowington (p.), Shotteswell (i4th), Stratford, Wolfhamcote (p., Sp.
Gard. Sk. JBk., vi., 22), Wolverton (restored), Wootton Wawen (p.),
Wormleighton.
Wiltshire
There are some good examples of mediaeval screenwork among
the comparatively few instances in this county. The rood-loft
remains over excellent carving both at Amesbury and Edington.
There is also admirable workmanship to be noticed in the screens
of Compton Bassett, Cliffe Pypard, and Mere.
In stone screenwork Wiltshire is rich. The late I5th-cent.
stone rood-screen of Malmesbury Abbey is 1 1 feet 6 inches high ;
it has a central doorway now blocked, and the embattled cornice
is enriched with the royal arms and badges of Henry VI. The
finest of all stone screens in parish churches is to be found at
Compton Bassett, near Calne (illustrated in Weale's Quarterly
Papers, vol. Hi.). This is an example of the enriched work of the
latter half of the i$th cent, at its best. The chancel arch is
enclosed by an openwork screen of stone, and 3 feet 6 inches in
front of this is a lofty arcade of three four-centred arches, rising
to the height of 12 feet. The arches are delicately cusped, the
spandrels and cornice richly carved, and the piers adorned with
niches, now empty. The two planes are connected by a panelled
vault of stone ; the rood-loft which this carries is a restoration.
Heytesbury has a fine stone screen to the north transept, with
a gallery or loft above supported by fan-vaulting. Of the other
instances of parochial stone rood-screens, that of Yatton Keynell
shows the best workmanship. Stockton can scarcely be called a
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS 141
screen, for the chancel is divided from the nave by a solid wall,
pierced by a low doorway and two hagioscopes.
Stone. — Great Chalfield, Charlton, Compton Bassett f, Corsham (p.)?
Heytesbury (p.), Highway, Hilmarton, Malmesbury, Salisbury
(fragment), Yatton Keynell.
Wood. — Avebury \ (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., vii., 51, 52), Great Bedwyn,
Berwick, Bassett, Bremhill, Christian Malford (p.), Cliflfe Pypard,
Coombe Bissett (restored), Corston, Edington f, West Harnham (p.,
Jacobean), Hullavington, Kingston Deverill, Lyneham, Mere f,
Oaksey.
Worcestershire
has a few good rood-screens, notably at Blockley, Little Malvern,
Shelsley Walsh, and Upton Snodsbury. The front of the rood-loft
of Strensham, containing the painted figures of twenty four saints,
now forms the front of a west gallery.
The rood-screen at Sedgeberrow is of most unusual design ;
the lower part is stone and the upper part is of lofty open tracery ;
it was renewed some years ago by Mr. Butterfield.
The rood-beam remains at Little Malvern and Shelsley Walsh.
Alfrick (base), Besford |, Birts Morton (base), Blockley, Bredon, Castle
Morton, Harvington, Leigh |, Huddington (lyth), Great Malvern (p.),
Middle Littleton (base), North Littleton (parts), Little Malvem,
Pendock (parts), Pershore (p.), Ripple (parts), Salwarpe (p.), Sedge-
berrow (restored), Shelsley Walsh, Strensham *, Upton Snodsbury,
Wickhamford (base), Worcester cathedral (p.).
Yorkshire
was at one time singularly rich in rood-screens that had sur-
vived the iconoclasm of the i6th and i/th cents. ; their general
demolition dates from the Georgian era, when the various
archdeacons ordered their demolition without any warrant of
legality. Dr. Heneage Bering, dean of Ripon, and archdeacon
of the East Riding, personally inspected the Holderness churches
between 1720 and 1725, and in all cases ordered "the partition or
screen betwixt the body of the church and chancel to be taken
down, from the balk or beam downwards as far as the Cancelli or
tops of the pews, and the king's arms to be sett up in some more
convenient place." A few parishes were bold enough to resist. In
the deanery of Buckrose, Winteringham only disobeyed. In 1737,
Dr. Osbaldeston, dean of York, visited the churches of the Chapter's
142 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Peculiar and swept away eight chancel screens. Dr. Blake, arch-
deacon of York, was equally unscrupulous, about the same period,
in the destruction of the screens within his jurisdiction. The
marvel is that so many yet remain up and down this great shire.*
In the East Riding there is a I4th-cent. chancel screen at
Patrington, and later examples at Winestead, Ganton, Skipwith,
Swine, Watton, and Flamborough, and there are screen fragments
at Burnby, Hayton, Sutton, and Welwick. At Watton, where there
is no chancel arch, the late I5th-cent. screen is carried up after a
curious fashion to the ceiling. The front of the rood-loft of the
singularly fine screen at Flamborough is beautiful even in its
mutilated condition ; it has thirteen (originally fifteen) canopied
niches ; there are considerable traces of the former rich colouring,
vermilion, blue, and gold. Parclose screenwork may be noticed
at Winteringham, Hemingborough, Kirk Ella, Swine, Flamborough,
and Holy Trinity, Hull.
There are also some interesting remains of screenwork in the
North Riding, though there are very few instances, such as Crayke
and Wenley, where the rood-screen is in situ. At Aysgarth there
is a noble coved screen carrying the base of the rood-loft, which
was moved here from Jervaulx abbey ; it has been repainted and
regilded. This screen stood in its proper place between nave and
chancel, but at a modern restoration its story was falsified by being
moved to the south side of the chancel. On the north side of the
chancel is a modern screen crowned by an ancient beam. The
beam is inscribed, A. S. Abas anno Dm. 1536. The initials
stand for Adam Sedburgh, the last abbot of Jervaulx, and the date
is the year when he was done to death for his share in the Pilgrim-
age of Grace. At Thirsk, Cattarick, Easby, and Grinton there
are some excellent old parclose screens. The south aisle of Hornby
church is separated from the south chancel chapel by a screen, on
the inner side of which are five painted panels. Stonegrave affords
a good example of a i/th-cent. chancel screen.
There is but little old screenwork left in the West Riding.
At Silkstone is a late I4th-cent. rood-screen, and there is a good
one of late i$th cent, at Kildwick. But by far the most interesting
is the elaborate screen of the remote little church of Hubberholme,
which still carries its rood-loft. It was erected in 1558, just at
the close of Mary's reign.
* The Chancel Screens of Yorkshire, by C. B. Norcliffe. Yorks. Archil. Soc. 1882.
FLAMBOROUGH, YORKS
HUBBKRHOLME, YORKS
SCREENS AND ROOD-LOFTS
The church of Great Mitton, on the verge of Lancashire, has a
noteworthy chancel screen ; it bears an imperfect inscription stating
that it was erected in the time of William Staynford, abbot.
Staynford was abbot of Cockersand in 1393. The upper part has
been repaired after an extraordinary fashion ; several parts have
been reproduced in cast iron. In the same church there is a side
screen between the chancel and the north chapel.
Stone. — Howdenf, Methley, Riponf, York cathedral f.
Wood. — Almondbury (1522), Aysgarth, Barnborough, Barnby (i4th),
Bedale (p.) ; Beverley, Minster (p.), St. Mary ; Bolton Abbey, Burnby
(fragment), Compsall f, Catterick (p.), Crayke, Croft (p.), Easby (p.),
Ecclesfield, Fishlake, Flamborough f, Ganton *, Grinton (p.), Halifax,
Hatfieldf, Hemingborough (p.), Hornby*, Hubberholme f (1558);
Hull, Holy Trinity (fragment) ; Kildwick, Kirk Ella (p.), Kirk Sandal
(p.), Leake (parts), Great Mitton (and p.), Melton-on-the-Hill, Pat-
rington, Richmond, Romaldkirk (parts), Rotherham, Selby (p.),
Silkstone (late i4th), Silton, Skipton, Sprotborough, Stonegrave
(xyth), Sutton-in-Holderness (fragment), Swine, Thirsk (p.), Wake-
field (post-Reformation, Abb. Sq. Sk. J5k., iii., 53), Welwick (frag-
ment), Wensley (Sj>. Gard. Sk. Bk., iii., 72), Whenby, Winestead
6TONE SCREEN, CHELMORTON, DERBS.
CHAPTER V
PULPITS AND HOUR GLASSES
PULPITS *
ALTHOUGH pulpits were used in the refectories of monas-
teries from an early date, they do not seem to have been
introduced into churches until the I4th cent., and almost
all the Gothic pulpits now existing belong to the Perpendicular
period. Their material is always stone or wood ; not a single
example of a metal pulpit, not unfrequent on the Continent, is
found in England. Metal pulpits were not, however, unknown in
England, as is shown by the following extract from the Rites of
Durham : —
" Adjoyninge unto the lower parte of the great wyndow in the weste
end of the gallerie, was a faire iron Pulpitt, with barsse of iron for one to
hould them by going up the stepes unto the pulpett, where one of the
Mouncks did cume every holyday & Sunday to preach, at one of the
clock in the afternoone."
About a third of those which have survived are of stone, but
it is probable that most of the stone pulpits have been preserved,
while an enormous majority of the wooden ones have perished.
The stone pulpits are usually of some fine-grained, easily
worked, white stone, such as clunch or Painswick stone, and they
occur chiefly in districts where such stone was easily procurable,
as in Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Devon. Some of the best
examples, however, are elsewhere, as at Nantwich, Coventry, and
Wolverhampton. They are usually polygonal, and attached to a
pier, and have their faces adorned with tracery. Some resemble
refectory pulpits, bracketed out from a niche in a wall whose
* The only work on old English pulpits is that by T. T. Dollman, entitled
Examples of Ancient Pulpits (1849). A second series was projected, but neTer issued.
144
PULPITS
thickness contains the staircase by which they are entered. Such are
the pulpits at Chipping Sodbury, Glos., and at Nailsea and Weston-
in-Gordano, Somerset. At Buckminster, near Melton Mowbray,
there is a singular octagonal tower of stone standing free in front
of the chancel arch, which perhaps served among other purposes
as a pulpit. That at Nantwich is an ambo combined with, and
projecting from, the dwarf screen of stone which protects the
chancel of that church. The pulpit at Wolverhampton, the most
effective of all, has a good stone staircase guarded by a large
seated figure of a lion.
All pre-Reformation wooden pulpits, except that of Mellor, are
much alike, and they are distributed
over the whole country. Each con-
sisted of an octagonal or hexagonal
" tub " with panelled sides, supported
by a slender shaft with miniature
buttresses and panelling. Unfortu-
nately many have been cut down in
recent years and placed on stone
bases. They are frequently deco-
rated with colour and gilding, and
some, especially in Norfolk, have
panels with painted figures generally
representing the Evangelists or the
Doctors of the church, similar in
character to the screen panels. At
Castleacre the pulpit has painted
panels of the Four Doctors ; but in
this case it has evidently been made
up from the remains of the screen.
The I5th-cent sexagonal pulpit of the once grand collegiate
church of Fotheringhay is of particular and exceptional interest.
It rises from a slender stem, and is set against a pier of the
north arcade. Over it is a hexagonal fan-vaulted canopy, and on
the panelled back are the arms and supporters of Edward IV.
Over this original canopy there used to be a later one of i/th-cent.
date and arabesque design, as shown in illustrations. The body of
the pulpit has two tiers of panels, the lower one of linen-fold design
and the upper one with cinquefoiled bends and carved spandrels.
There are various pulpits of Elizabethan or Jacobean date ;
ST. PAUL'S, TRURO
146 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
they are always of wood, but there is a very simple and elegant
stone pulpit at Wells cathedral, which is one of the earliest
specimens of Renaissance art in England. It was erected to the
memory of Bishop Knight, who died in 1537.
Pulpitum in mediaeval documents usually means the rood-
screen, but this is not invariably the case. One of the earliest
instances wherein the word has the ordinary modern meaning
occurs in the Chronicle of Jocelyn, wherein he tells us that
Sampson, the great Abbot of St. Edmunds, who ruled from 1 182 to
121 1, was wont to preach to the people in English, and for this
reason caused a pulpit (pulpitunt) to be
made in the church.
Occasionally there is evidence that
the rood-loft, facing the nave, was used
as a pulpit or stage from which to address
the congregation.
Now and again there seems to have
been an adjunct to the rood-screen for
preaching, the rood-loft stairs being used
for the purpose of reaching it. At
Walpole St. Andrew, Norfolk, there is a
most interesting and exceptional feature
of this character in the shape of a large
stone iSth-cent. bracket immediately
above the lower doorway leading to the
rood-loft. In this case there can be but
little doubt that the bracket supported a
small wooden pulpit.
It should also be remembered that
early pulpits were frequently movable, and placed in the nave or
elsewhere when required. This was the case at Bury St. Edmunds,
where a movable pulpit was kept in the chapter-house. One of
this character is still preserved at Hereford cathedral, and there
was another at Norwich cathedral until recent years. There is one
at the present day at King's College Chapel, Cambridge. They
were in common use on the Continent, and are still occasionally
found in use.
John Wesley was no antiquary, and when visiting Sheffield
imagined that a most ancient use was a novelty. In his Journal,
under date August 15, 1781, there is the following entry : —
WALPOLE ST. ANDREW,
NORFOLK
PULPITS
" I went to Sheffield ; in the afternoon I took a view of the chapel
lately built by the Duke of Norfolk ... it is a stone building, an octagon,
about eighty feet in diameter. . . . The pulpit is movable; it rolls upon
wheels, and is shifted once a quarter, that all the pews may face it in their
turns ; I presume the first contrivance of the kind in Europe." *
The oldest pulpit now in use in England is that of Mellor,
Derbs. This ancient pulpit, of hexagonal form, is cut out of a solid
block of oak. It is 4 feet 8 inches
high and 2 feet 8 inches in
diameter at the top. The panels
are ornamented with tracery, the
style of which, as shown in the
illustration, gives it a late I4th-
cent. date. The central band of
carving has the appearance of being
later or altered work. This pulpit,
long disused, has of late been re-
stored to its proper place, but
unfortunately it has been badly
repaired with soft wood, and an
unsightly and unsuitable cornice
added at the top.
In connection with this pulpit
it is not a little remarkable, con-
sidering its age and singularity '"
that it is the only known one in
England with which any particular
pre-Reformation incident is con-
nected. Among Sir George O. Wombwell's MSS., at Newburgh
Priory, are various papers relative to prolonged lawsuits between
Robert Pilkington and John Ainsworth, in 1496-8, as to the
ejection of some tenants on the ground of wood trespass.
Amongst them is a memorandum as to the falling of a large
number of valuable trees in Mellor township by " Sir Perys Legh
Knyght," including " an aspe (aspen) to make arowys of won the
fayrest that tyme in all Derbyschyre." This was done on Thursday
in Whitsun week, 1498, and " on the Sunday afore midsumer day
* In the church of Helmsley, Yorks., a movable pulpit is now placed in the nave for
Lent and other occasional sermons, as the regular pulpit is so far off from most of the
seats.
MELLOR, DERI5S.
148 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
<the Knight sent his servant to Mellur chapel, & causyd the prest
to say in pylpyd after the prayers . . . that the said Knyght was
nolle aggreyed with the partese for the said trees that he had fallen
in Mellur," and protested that he had done no wrong to Robert
Pilkington. "Then the said Robert herd tell of this sclanndur &
saying in Mellur chapel aforesaid & was sore asstoynd & grevyd
there with & come to the same chapell ye Sonday next after
saynt Peter day then next ensewyng, & when the prest had
bedyn the pryers in the pylpyt the said Robert stole up in the
chaunsell & speke on loude that all the pepull myght here hym
& prayed them all to here hym recorde anothere tyme what his
saynges was at that tyme." Pilkington then proceeded to set forth
at length his version of the tree felling ; but with the strife itself
we have here no concern (Hist. MSS. Corn. Reports, 1903).
It is but seldom that inscriptions are found on early pulpits,
but we are able to cite two examples.
Round the upper part of the beautiful painted pulpit of South
Burlingham, Norfolk, of 1 5th-cent date, is this text in black letter
from the Vulgate — Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major
Johanne Baptista.
The pulpit of Heighington church, Durham, of early i6th-cent.
date, is octagonal with linen-fold panels having traceried heads.
Round the cornice is inscribed in raised black letter, Orate p dibs
Alexandri flettchar et agnetis uxoris sue. It is the only pre-
Reformation pulpit in the diocese.
The following is a list of pre-Reformation pulpits, arranged
under counties * : —
BEDS.— Stone. St. Paul's, Bedford.
Wood. Dean (panelled), Flitwick.
BERKS. — Stone. Childrey.
Wood. Hagbourn.
BUCKS. — Wood. Bow Brickhill, Ellesborough (fine isth-cent. pulpit
canopy).
CAMBS. — Stone. Witchara.
Wood. — Elsworth, Fulbourne (i4th cent., "carved oak, curious"),
Fen Ditton, Haslingfield (c. 1500), Harston, Landbeach (" very fine"),
Willingham (pentagonal).
* No such list has hitherto been attempted, and we cannot expect that it is perfect
or exhaustive. It may be assumed that these pulpits are iSth or early l6th cent., unless
stated to the contrary.
PULPITS 149
CHESHIRE. — Stone. Nantwich.
CORNWALL.— Stone. Egloshayle (modernized).
Wood. Bodmin, Camborne (symbols of Passion), Fowey, St. Feock
Launceston, Padstow (painted), Tamerton.
DERBS. — Wood. Mellor (out of solid oak), Breadsall (old bench ends).
DEVON. — Stone. Bovey Tracey, Chittlehampton, Dartmouth (richly coloured,
wooden ornaments, temp. Charles I.), Dittisham, Harberton, South
Molton, Paignton, Pilton, Swimbridge, Totnes.
Wood. East Allington, Bigbury, Bridford, Chivelston, Cockington,
Cornwood, Halberton, Holne (heraldic) Ipplepen, Kenton, North
Molton, Stoke Nectan, Thurleston, Tor Bryan, Witheridge.
DORSET. — Stone. Frampton (c. 1450, figures in three of the compartments).
Wood. Afipuddle (1547), Cranbourne, Litton Cheney (old panels),
Stourton Caundle, Whitchurch, Winterbourne.
DURHAM. — Wood. Heighington (early i5th cent.), Witton (mediaeval
shaft).
ESSEX. — Wood. Heydon, Thaxted, Wendon.
GLOS. — Stone. Ashton (i4th cent), St. Briavels, North Cerney (i4th cent.),
Chedsworth, Chipping Sodbury, Cirencester (c. 1420), Elkstone,
Hawkesbury, North Leach, Stanton (i4th), Staunton All Saints,
Thornbury, Winchconsbe.
Wood. Brockworth, Cold Aston (with canopy), Gloucester, St.
Mary-de-Lode, Mitcheldean, Titchcombe (i4th cent.).
HANTS.— Stone. Chale (I. of Wight), East Meon, Shorwell (I. of Wight).
Wood. Dummer (c. 1450, canopy 1620), Hambledon, Winchester
cathedral (Prior Silkstede, 1498-1524).
HEREFORDS. — Stone. Staunton.
HERTS. — Wood. Knebworth, King's Langley, Wheathampstead.
HUNTS. — Wood. Catworth, Orton, Waterville (i6th Renaissance).
KENT. — Wood. Boughton Malherb (linen-fold panels), Hollingbourne,
Sutton-at-Hone (linen-fold panels).
LANGS. — Wood. Overton, Sefton.
LEICS. — Wood. North Kilworth, Leicester, All Saints, Lutterworth,
Muston, Tugby.
LINCS. — Wood. Claypole, Cotes-by-Stow, Partney, Tattershall.
NORFOLK. — Wood. Beeston (linen-fold), Bressingham, Burlingham St.
Edmund (painted), Burnham Norton (the Four Doctors, panel painted),
Castleacre (painted), Catton (base i5th cent.), South Creyke,
Dersingham, Filby, Hensham (1480), Horsham (painted), Irstead
(linen-fold), Litcham, Neatishead (linen-fold), Necton; Norwich, St.
Mary and Coslany; Snittesham, West Somerton, Great Sparham,
Thurning, North Walsham, Walsingham.
NORTHUMBERLAND. — Wood. Jarrow-on-Tyne (late i4th cent.).
NORTHANTS. — Wood. Brigstock, Fotheringay (with canopy), Hannington
150 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
(i4th cent.), Irthlingborough, Kings Cliffe (panels from Fotheringay),
Middleton Cheney, Newton Bromswold, Oundle (painted, metal stars
on the panels, late i4th cent.), Rushden, Warmington (painted, figures
renewed), Woodford.
NOTTS. — Wood. Strelley, Wysall (discarded).
OXFORD. — Stone. Black Bourton, Coombe (c. 1370) ; Oxford, St. Peter
(c. 1400), Magdalen College (exterior).
Wood. Bicester (lower part i5th cent.), Burford, Handborough
(c. 1460), Sandford (stone base), Swinbrook, Great Tew, Widford,
Wolvercot (destroyed).
SOMERSET. — Stone. Banwell, Barwick, Bleadon, St. Catherine's, Charle-
combe, Cheddar (richly coloured), Chesterblade, Compton Bishop,
Glastonbury, Hutton, Kewstoke, Kingsbury Episcopi, Loxton, Meare,
Nailsea, Shepton Mallet, Stogumber, Wells cathedral, Wick, Worle,
Wrington.
Wood. Bridgwater, Castle Gary, Crowcombe, St. Decumans,
Locking, Long Sutton, Meare, North Petherton, Queens Camel,
Selworthy, Stoke St. Gregory, Treborough, Trull.
STAFFS. — Stone. St. Peter's, Wolverhampton.
SUFFOLK. — Wood. Aldborough, Cockfield (base i5th cent., rest Jacobean),
Gazeley, Hawstead, Southwold (painted), Stoke-by-Clare, Sudbury,
All Saints (Richard II.), Theberton (late i5th cent.), Tuddenham.
SURREY. — Wood. Beddington, Charlwood, Crowhurst (all linen-fold
pattern, and possibly Elizabethan), Cranley (old screen), Nutfield
(late Tudor).
SUSSEX. — Stone. Arundel (with canopy), Clymping.
Wood. Goring, Rye, both c. 1540.
WARWICKS. — Stone. Coventry, Holy Trinity (c. 1470) ; Rowington.
Wood. Aston Cantlow, Coventry, St. Michael, Wootton Wawen ;
Henley-in-Arden and Southam are formed from fragments of old
screens.
WILTS. — Stone. Berwick St. John, Limpley Stoke.
Wood. Kingston, West Potterne.
WORCS. — Stone. Worcester cathedral.
Wood. Badsey (1529), Grafton Flyford, Mid-Littleton, South
Littleton (old i5th-cent. pieces), Lulsley, Overbury, Wickhamford
(i5th cent., in later casing).
YORKS. — Stone. Beverley.
Wood. Great Mitton.
There are only two known pulpits of Edward VI. 's reign,
namely, Affpuddle, Dorset, 1547, and Chedzoy, Somerset, 1551.
The number of Elizabethan pulpits is not large, and the
majority of them are undated. Among good specimens may be
PULPITS 151
mentioned those at Welcombe, North Devon, and the one at
Sutcombe in the same district, unfortunately discarded ; also those
at Kidlington and Bucknell, Oxon. Some of the Elizabethan
pulpits are dated, as Bungay, Suffolk, 1558 ; Knebworth, Herts,
1567; Lenham, Kent, 15/4; Worth, Sussex, 1577 (a German
pulpit) ; Rothersthorpe, Northants, 1 579.
At Fordington, Dorset, the stone pulpit is dated 1592. At
Hutton Rudley, N. R. Yorks., there is a handsome pulpit of
English marquetry bearing the name and date T. Milner 1594.
It is small wonder that so few pulpits were provided in
Elizabeth's long reign of nearly half a century. The reason is that
there was so little use for them ; there was probably no reign, from
the Conquest to the present day, when there was such a minimum
of preaching as in that of Elizabeth. The queen's injunctions of
1559 imply that a licensed preacher ought to preach in every parish
church four times a year ; otherwise a homily was to be read on
Sundays. The Universities and the Bishops had power of licensing
preachers, but they used it very sparingly, being alarmed lest the
preaching should have either a Puritanical or a Romeward tendency.
Lord Keeper Bacon, in 1578, wrote in terms of the greatest
severity to Bishop Scambler of Peterborough : " Beholde in every
Dioces the want of preachers, nay the greate discouragement that
preachers find at yor hands . . . the chiefs places want preachers
& the ministers for the most parte be numete." A full clergy
list for the diocese of Lichfield, drawn up in the last year of
Elizabeth, is among the Lichfield capitular muniments. The total
of benefices was 461, and the total of the clergy 433. Out of the
clergy total, less than a tenth, viz. 42, were licensed to preach.
It must not, however, be forgotten that Elizabeth's praise is
loudly proclaimed on the well-carved pulpit of Odstock, Wilts. ; it
is dated 1580, and inscribed —
" God bless and save our royal queen,
The like on earth was never seen."
With the accession of James I. came a great change. The
pulpits of Basing, Hants ; Cerne, Abbas, and Abbotsbury, Dorset ;
and Axminster, Devon, are all good examples early in this reign.
There are the remains of a singularly interesting Jacobean
pulpit, unhappily discarded, in the church of Hartland, North
Devon. The five panels bear the respective words, God save Kinge
James Fines. The meaning of the last word has been much
152 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
discussed, but has hitherto escaped any satisfactory solution. That
fines is a misreading for finis, implying either the end of the
inscription or of King James, is the usual one given in guide
books ; but it is too trivial to be worth contradicting. " Fines,"
spelt in various ways, is a surname not unknown in Devonshire ;
possibly it may have been the name of some church official or other
donor, or even of the wood-carver. Probably the date of the
Hartland pulpit is 1603, when the canon was issued ordering a
pulpit to be placed in every church where one was lacking. After
that year pulpits, dated and undated, the latter much predomi-
nating, quickly multiplied.
An undated Jacobean pulpit of good arabesque work at
Huntington, N. R. Yorks., has this striking text round the base —
Wfiere there is no vision the people perish (Prov. xxix. 18).
Among the earlier dated pulpits of the i/th cent, the following
may be named : —
1 60 1. Fowey, Cornwall
1604. Sopley, Hants.
1606. Middlezoy, Somerset
1607. Bourton on Dunsmore,
Warwicks.
1608. Kingstone, Sussex.
1611. Cley, Norfolk.
„ Stadhampton, Oxon.
„ Hillfarrance, Somerset.
„ Weston-on-Trent, Derbs.
,, Wednesbury, Staffs.
1612. Patrington, Vorks.
„ Chipping Campden, Glos.
(Architectural Sketch-book ,
3rd s., vol. x.).
„ Kirby Lonsdale, Westmore-
land.
„ Shawbury, Salop.
1614. Dent, Yorks.
1615. Somerton, Somerset
1616. Byfleet, Surrey.
„ Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oxon.
„ Stonham Aspall, Suffolk.
1 6 1 6. Salford Priors, Warwicks.
„ Croscombe, Somerset
1618. Geddington, Northants.
„ Kittisford, Somerset.
„ West Pennard, Somerset.
„ Pilton, Somerset.
1619. Lancaster, St. Mary.
„ Great Ashfield, Suffolk.
1620. Lewes, St. Anne, Sussex.
„ Hunsdon, Herts.
1623. Burgh, Lines.
1624. Bristol cathedral (stone).
„ East Dean, Sussex.
„ Peover, Cheshire.
„ Rodburgh, Glos.
1625. Breaston, Derbs.
„ Edington, Wilts, (most effec-
tive ; Architectural Sketch-
book, vol. ii., 3rd series).
'„ Huish Episcopi, Somerset
„ Alford, Somerset.
1626. Alne, N. R. Yorks.
A considerable number of undated Jacobean pulpits, mostly
early in the reign, are scattered throughout nearly each county.
PULPITS 153
They are numerous in Nottinghamshire, where the examples at
Syerston and Barton-in-Fabis are good and undoubtedly early.
Those of Granby and Owthorpe, in the same county, may also be
mentioned.
The Laudian revival of comeliness of worship brought about
the introduction of a variety of well-carved handsome pulpits.
There is a stone pulpit, dated 1634, at Brough, Westmoreland. Two
particularly good wooden examples, evidently the work of the
same craftsman, are to be found at the adjacent churches of
Odiham and Winchfield ; the latter of these bears the date 1634.
There is also a further good Hampshire pulpit, of the same date,
with a sounding-board and back-piece, at the church of Sherborne
St. John. Another good instance, drawn in the Sketch-book of
the Architectural Association (vol. v., 3rd series), is at the church of
All Saints, York.
Some of the Carolean pulpits are of admirable but simple
design and execution. There are two beautiful pulpits, closely
resembling each other and bearing the same date, 1637, in the
Suffolk churches of Chediston and Rumburgh, both in the Hundred
of Blythburgh. The former of these was actually ejected from
a neighbouring church by ignorant authorities during a recent
" restoration," as " inharmonious with its surroundings." Fortu-
nately the rural dean recognized its comeliness and intrinsic value
(which is very considerable), rescued it out of a loft, and eventually
placed it in Chediston church.
Among other dated pulpits of Charles I.'s reign, all of merit,
may be mentioned Babcary, Somerset, 1632 ; Sutton Mandeville,
Wilts., 1631 ; Butlers Marston, Warw., 1632 ; Astley Abbots,
Salop., and Boscombe, Wilts., 1633 ; Cliffe-at-Hoo, Kent, Halsham,
Yorks., Clovelly, Devon, and Sedgebrook, Lanes., 1634 ; Sevenoaks,
Kent, 1635 ; Liskeard, Cornwall, Necton, Norfolk, Sawley, Derbs.,
and Maismore, Glos., 1636 ; and Crayke, N. R. Yorks., 1637.
The rebuilt church of Wangford, Suffolk, contains, in its present
pulpit and reading-desk, some remarkably fine examples of foreign
inlaid woodwork of the I7th cent. These two pieces of church
furniture are formed out of the pulpit which used to stand in the
private chapel of old Henham Hall, which was burnt down in 1773.
The following pulpits of the I7th cent, bear inscriptions : —
Fincham, Norfolk. Sounding-board of old pulpit, now a vestry
table, bears — Gregory e Watson servant to the Right Worshipful
154 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Sir Francis Gawdy, Knight, made this at his own charge Anno
Dni. 1604.
On the margin of the sounding-board of the pulpit of Lyme
Regis, Dorset, is — To God's Glory, Richard Harvey of London
mercer and merchant-adventurer built this anno 1613. Faith is by
hearing.
At Brean, Somerset — George Gudrid gave this 1620.
The pulpit of All Saints, Hereford, bears the date 1621, and is
a rich example of the period. Round the edge of the sounding-
board is inscribed — Howe beauty ful are the feete of them that bring
glad tidings of peace. The Churchwarden Accounts show that this
pulpit cost the parish £7.
Baxter's pulpit at Kidderminster, formerly in the parish church,
but now in the Unitarian chapel, has on the panels — Alice Dawkt
widow gave this ; on the front of the preacher's desk — Praise the
Lord ; round the sounding-board — O give thanks unto the Lord
and call upon His name declare His worship among the people ; and
at the back of the pulpit — Anno 1621.
North Elmham, Norfolk. Pulpit, dated 1626, inscribed — Verbum
Dei manet in (Zternum.
The pulpit of St. Teath, Cornwall, bears the arms of Carminowe,
the date 1630. The inscribed motto of that family is of special
interest, as it is the only remnant left in the churches of that county
of its ancient tongue ; the words are, Cala Rag withlow, " A straw
for a tale-bearer."
On the panels of the pulpit of Broadwas, Worcs. — William
Noxon & Roger Prince C. W. 1632, and round the sounding-
board the same text as at Suckley.
The pulpit at Caerwent, Mons., bears the date 1632 ; a rough
representation on its centre panel of Llandaff cathedral ; the arms
of Sir Charles Williams, of Llangibby ; and the inscription — Woe
is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.
On the pulpit of St. Helen's, Sefton, Lanes., is the following : —
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, bttt whoso confesseth &
forsaketh them shall have mercie ; happy is the man. Anno Domini,
1633. Round the sounding-board is this couplet —
My sonne feare thou the Lord 6° the King,
And medle not with them that are given to change.
The pulpit and canopy of Maghull church, Lanes., are good
PULPITS 155
examples of Stuart work. The pulpit bears the date 1635, and
the inscription — He that covereth his sinne shall not prosper. But
whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall Jtave mercie, happy is
the man.
The pulpit of Newport, I. of Wight, is of the year 1636. It is
quite a work of art, and splendidly carved throughout. Round the
canopied sounding-board, in open-work capitals, is the inscription —
Cry alotid and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. On the
support of the canopy or pulpit-back is a goat, the rebus of one
Thomas Caper, the sculptor.
The beautiful Carolean pulpit of Crayke, N. R. Yorks., bears
the date 1637, and on the sounding-board — Skew me Thy ways
O Lord and teach me Thy paths.
The pulpit of Hope, Derbs., is inscribed — Thos. Booking, Teacher.
The Churchwardens this year Michael Woodhead, Jarvis Hallam,
John Haye, 1652.
Above the late Elizabethan pulpit of Silchester, Hants, is a
curious dome-shaped canopy of enriched carving ; round the rim
runs the inscription in capitals — The Guifte of James Hore, Gent.,
1659.
Carlton Husthwaite, N. R. Yorks. — Feed my Lambes, 1678.
The following old pulpit inscriptions are undated : —
Surmounting the pulpit of Aldborough church, Yorks., is a
cornice bearing the words — Pasce oves, pasce agnos.
On the sounding-board of Utterby, Lines. — Quoties conscendo
animo contimesco.
Hingham, Norfolk — Necessity is laid upon, yea woe is me if I
preach not the Gospel.
The pulpit of Swarby, Lines., has the following couplet : —
O God my Saviour be my sped
To preach thy word men's soulls to fed.
At Suckley, Worcs., the sounding-board of the pulpit bears —
Blessed are they that hear the worde of God and keepe it.
Prestbury, Chester, early Jocobean — A ttendite Dominus
alloq'itr.
Timsbury, Hants, Jacobean — Woe is unto me if I preach
not ye gospel.
The pulpit of Giggleswick, Yorks., bears the names and badges
of the Twelve Tribes, and on the reading desk, Hear is the
156 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Standardes of the Israelites when the to Canan cam agenest the
Cananites (1680).
A fair number of well-carved Queen Anne and early Georgian
pulpits are to be met with in different parts of the country. It
must here suffice to name two good instances, namely, Great
Torrington, North Devon, and Wolverton, Hants ; in the latter
case, dating 1717, there is also a good reredos and reading-desk of
the same period.
Mahogany — it is difficult to explain the objection — seems par-
ticularly unsuitable for church use. The wood came into use for
English furniture early in the i8th cent., but was a long time in
making its way. There are a very few mahogany pulpits in
English churches. Among them may be mentioned the one at
Kinoulton, Notts. — a church rebuilt in brick on a mean scale by the
Earl of Gainsborough in 1793 — another at Hayfield, Derbs., where
the church was rebuilt and refitted in 1818, and a third at St.
Margaret's, Lynn.
At Blid worth, Notts., is a handsome early i8th-cent. pulpit of
Italian plaster — a work of art of its kind and of distinct value. It
was foolishly discarded during recent years from Southwell Minster,
when it was fortunately secured by the Rev. R. H. Whitworth, the
vicar of Blidworth.
There is a Nottinghamshire story of the present fairly roomy
pulpit of Kirklington church — a village between Blidworth and
Southwell — believed in the village and neighbourhood, which tells
of the strangest use, we should imagine, to which a pulpit had ever
been assigned. In the pulpit sides are some holes filled up with
more recent wood. The explanation is that a sporting rector of
the beginning of the iQth cent, used to have this pulpit, which was
loose from its base, carried down on week days to a swamp in the
parish frequented by wild duck, where it served as a screen for the
parson when firing at the birds through the holes made for that
purpose.
HOUR GLASSES AND HOUR GLASS STANDS
It is usual to state that hour glass stands as associated with
pulpits did not exist until after the Reformation ; but this is not
quite correct. In Allen's History of Lambeth it is stated that a new
pulpit was placed in the parish church in 1522, and in it was fixed
HOUR GLASSES AND STANDS
157
an hour glass. In the churchwardens' accounts of this parish
there are two entries of later date respecting this hour glass.
In 1579, is. ^d. was paid for "the frame in which the hour
standeth," and in 1616, 6s. 6d. was "payed for the hour glass."
Elizabethan churchwarden accounts, as well as those of the i/th
cent, abound in references to the hour glass, which was evidently
at that time the usual adjunct of the pulpit both in town and
country. A single instance must suffice. At St. Catherine's,
HOUR GLASS AND STAND, BLOX-
WORTH, DORSET
PILTON, N. DEVON
Aldgate, under 1 564, this entry occurs — " Paid for an hour glass
that hangeth by the pulpit, where the preacher doth make a sermon,
that he may know how the hour passeth away, one shilling."
The instance of Pilton, North Devon, is supposed to establish
the fact of the pre-Reformation use of the hour glass, for a man's
158 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
arm cut out of sheet iron and gilded is attached to this late 1 5th-
cent. pulpit, for the purpose of holding the glass ; but this arrange-
ment can scarcely be held to be coeval with the workmanship of
the pulpit. There used to be a similar arm on the pulpit of
Tawstock, North Devon. There is a dated example at Leigh,
Kent, which is figured in Parker's Glossary. The year is 15 7 ;
unfortunately the third numeral is missing. Most of the other
examples have no special characteristics to fix the date of their
stands, but they are all probably post-Reformation. There is a
good dated example at Cliffe, Kent, 1636. In this case the stand
is on a wooden bracket against the wall by the side of the pulpit.
The following is a list of stands that now survive, some of
which are of good design, whilst others are purely utilitarian. In
six or seven cases the glass itself is extant.
St. Albans, St. Michael's, Herts
(elaborate brass work).
Amberley, Sussex.
Ashby Folville, Leics.
Barnardiston, Suffolk.
Beckley, Oxon.
Belton, Lines.
Billingford, Norfolk.
Binfield, Berks (arms of Smiths and
Farriers companies, and date
1628).
Bishampton, Worcs.
Bletchingley, Surrey.
Bloxworth, Dorset (glass).
Boarhunt, Hants.
Bradestone, Norfolk.
Bristol, St. John Baptist (glass).
Burlingham St. Edmund, Norfolk.
Catfield, Norfolk.
Chelvey, Somerset.
Chesham Bois, Bucks.
Cliffe, Kent (1636).
Cowden, Kent.
Compton Bassett, Wilts.
Edingthorpe, Norfolk.
Edlesborough, Bucks.
Great Doddington, Northants.
Hameringham, Lines.
Hammoon, Dorset (glass).
Hemsted, Kent.
Henley, Oxon.
Houghton, Sussex.
Hurst, Bucks. (1636: on the stem
of the bracket, "As this glass
runneth so man's life passeth ").
Ingatestone, Essex (late i;th
cent.).
Inglesham, Wilts.
Kedington, Suffolk.
Keyingham, E. R. Yorks.
Leigh, Kent.
Lessingham, Norfolk.
Ledham, Norfolk.
Lezant, Cornwall.
Loddington, Northants.
London, St. Albans, Wood Street
(glass).
Nassington, Northants.
Norwich, St. Mary Coslaney (glass).
South Ockendon, Essex.
Little Oakley, Northants.
Oddingley, Worcs.
Odell, Beds.
Offenham, Worcs.
HOUR GLASSES AND STANDS 159
Pilton, Devon (glass). Stoke-sub-Hamden, Somerset.
Polebrook, Northants. Strixton, Northants.
Puxton, Somerset. Sutton, Norfolk.
Sacombe, Herts, (in vestry). Walpole St. Andrew, Norfolk.
Salhouse, Norfolk. Weston Favell, Northants (illustrated
Scalby, N. R. Yorks. in Sketch-book of Architectural
Selworthy, Somerset. Association, vol. iv.).
Shelsley-Beauchamp, Worcs. Wiggenhall, Norfolk.
Shorwell, I. of Wight. Wolvercote, Oxon.
Stalham, Norfolk. Yarmouth, I. of Wight.
Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey. Yaxley, Suffolk.
At Wyverstone, Suffolk, the hour glass remains in its wooden
stand, but there is no bracket for it in the pulpit.
When the Chapel Royal, Savoy, was restored in 1867, an
eighteen-minute pulpit-glass was placed in the building ; it was
considered to be a protest on the part of Queen Victoria against
long sermons.
CHAPTER VI
FONTS— FONT COVERS— HOLY WATER STOUPS
FONTS
A VALUABLE work by Mr. Clement F. Rogers was
published at the Clarendon Press in 1903, on Baptism
and Christian Archaeology. The result of an exhaustive
and scholarly investigation into the question of the original method
of administering this sacrament in the early centuries of the
Christian era was a great surprise to the writer himself, as well as
to many other students.
The conclusion to which Mr. Rogers came, after a thorough
examination of all the known pictorial and written records on the
subject, was — to put it in the briefest possible form — that Baptism
by affusion and not by submersion was the almost universal
practice of Primitive times. In fact, no other method but affusion
seems to have been adopted until the general introduction of
infant Baptism made submersion possible. Such a statement, we
are well aware, is in direct contradiction to those that are generally
made by the greater number of archaeologists, but there can be no
doubt whatever that they have been misled in judgment through
lack of proper research until this remarkable book of Mr. Rogers's,
whose arguments cannot be gainsaid, was published.
Mr. Rogers has compiled a useful table of early fonts of the
3rd to the 8th cents., giving the shape, diameter, and depth of
those which are still extant in Italy, Egypt, Africa, Assyria, and
the East. The actual illustrations of the use of baptismal fonts, as
opposed to a large baptistry, fountain, or bath, are very numerous.
The early fonts may be divided into two types. In the East
they are generally small square or circular basons, but occasionally
elongated on four sides, and so make the shape of a Greek cross.
In the West they are for the most part octagonal or circular,
160
FONTS 161
forming a wide shallow bason. Their normal depth is under 3
feet, so that the average depth of water would have been about
2 feet ; in some cases the utmost capacity of the bason was only
15 inches. Mr. Rogers considers that the various types. were
developed from the small baths of domestic use, in which baptism
was administered in pre-Constantinian times.
In England the use of a baptistry separate from the church
never prevailed. In Cornwall there are a few interesting instances
still extant of Holy Springs, possibly used as baptistries, and pro-
tected by chapels ; and the same are to be found in Monmouth-
shire as well as in Wales. But the almost invariable rule in these
islands seems to have been to place a font in the body of the
church ; at all events this custom was universal amongst us in
post-Conquest days. It is, perhaps, well to here caution the
careless against believing that the so-called Baptistry, an octagonal
building on the north side of Canterbury cathedral, was ever
designed for any such purpose.
It is also a misnomer to speak of the beautiful I4th-cent. stone
erection over the font at Luton, Beds., as a baptistry. That
graceful edifice is merely an unusual form of font-cover, or screen
encircling the font, leaving just sufficient space for the celebrant
to administer the rite. It may be compared with the richly
ornamented early i6th-cent. structure of timber which surmounts
the font at Trunch, Norfolk ; the canopy in this case is supported
on six shafts that stand at a little distance from the font itself.
The font itself was as a rule of stone, and it was usually lined
with lead, save in some of those instances where an impervious
stone, such as granite or Purbeck marble, was used.
Wooden fonts were occasionally in use in early days, but they
were always considered irregular, and in later times uncanonical.
When the visitors of the peculiar jurisdiction of St. Paul's cathedral
made a tour of their Essex churches in 1297, they inquired as to
the material of the font ; in a single case, namely, that of West
Lee, they found that the font was one of wood. There is a wooden
font at Efenechtyd in Denbigh, hewn out of a solid block, now in
use, and it is said that the fonts of Marks Tey, Essex, and of Ash
and Chobham, Surrey, are also of wood. Three or four wooden
fonts which were extant about the middle of last century, have
since then appropriately disappeared.
A very old lead-lined oak font was still in use in the church of
M
162 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Downton, Herefords., through the greater part of last century. It
has now disappeared, and is said to have been sold to a collector of
old oak by a recent incumbent !
A wooden font, which used to be in the church of St. Peter-
in-the-East, Oxford, is now in the private chapel of Lord Zouch,
at Parham House, Sussex. The sculptor of the elaborate and
beautiful carving is supposed to be Grinling Gibbons, as he
executed one like it in stone for the church of St. James, Piccadilly.
The fine Decorated font at Noseley, Leics., has its shaft enclosed
in an open-work wooden base, apparently coeval with the font
itself.
A curious custom prevailed in England in post- Reformation
days, chiefly at the beginning of the Jacobean period, of enclosing
the font in ornamented or plainly panelled woodwork. Occasionally
this was done in combination with a font cover, of which method a
splendid example survives in the church of Swimbridge, North
Devon, where there is not only a grand font cover rising from the
wooden font case, but the whole is surmounted by an elaborate and
tasteful canopy springing from one of the pillars. Until recently
there was a i6th-cent. example of wooden casing at Radbourne,
Derbs. For the most part these mere wooden casements were,
appropriately enough, removed when church restoration became
general during the iQth cent, and frequently handsome fonts came
to light beneath the panelling. In some districts this odd custom
prevailed to a great extent. Thus in Kent, Sir Stephen Glynne's
notes, taken between 1830 and 1860, mention the following as
those cased in wood : Canterbury St. Margaret, Chilham, Elham,
Lenham, Minster - in - Thanet, Monkton, Newington - by - Hythe,
Swanscombe, and Westwell. At Selworthy church, West Somerset,
the round Norman font is still encased in octagonal linen-fold
panels ; there are also wooden casings to the Essex fonts of
Stebbing and Thaxted, and to that of Stanford in the Vale, Berks.
At Beetham, Westmoreland, the font is in an oak case, dated 1636.
The use of metal for fonts was not prohibited, though rarely
used in England, save in lead.
There are some very fine examples of brass or bronze fonts, of
different periods, on the Continent. In Holyrood chapel there was
a brass font wherein the royal children of Scotland were baptized.
In 1544 it was carried off by Sir Richard Lea and presented to
the abbey church of St. Albans ; but it was afterwards destroyed
FONTS 163
by the Roundheads. There is a single brass font now in an
English church, namely, at Little Gidding, Hunts, the gift of
^Nicholas Ferrar in the i/th cent. : "A new font was also provided,
the leg, laver, and cover all of brass, handsomely and expensively
wrought and carved" (Peckard's Memoirs of N. Ferrar, 1/8).
The silver-gilt font kept with the regalia in the Tower, and used
at royal baptisms, was made for Charles II. It measures, with
the cover, 37^ inches in height, and the diameter of the bowl is
17! inches. It is highly ornamented, and the cover is surmounted
by a group representing St. Philip baptizing the Eunuch. A
silver parcel-gilt font used for a like purpose used to be preserved
in the cathedral church of Canterbury ; it is described in the Jewel
Book of Henry VIII. as "a fonte chased with men beasts &
fowles half gilt with a cover gilte pois together cciiij^j oz."
There are a variety of leaden fonts in England of different
periods. More or less incorrect lists have been given from time
to time, but in 1900 the subject was authoritatively treated and
illustrated by Dr. Fryer in vol. Ivii. of the Archceological Journal.
They number twenty-seven. Eight occur in Gloucestershire, three
each in Kent and Sussex, two each in Oxfordshire and Hereford-
shire, and one apiece in the counties of Derby, Dorset, Hants,
Lincoln, Norfolk, and Surrey. In Gloucestershire there are six
tub-shape fonts of lead, all made from the same mould. They
occur at Frampton-on- Severn, Lancaut, Oxenhall, Sandhurst,
Siston, and Tidenham. The effective decoration on these fonts
is in high relief; it comprises a band of foliage at the top and
bottom, and between them an arcade with alternate figures and
scroll-work.
At St. Mary's, Wareham, Dorset, occurs the only example of a
hexagonal leaden font ; it has a double arcading on each face, with
a figure under each arcade.
The circular fonts of Warborough, Oxon., and Long Wittenham,
Berks., are nearly identical ; they have arcading with figures at the
base, and a variety of geometrical rounded patterns above.
In three instances of circular leaden fonts, all beautifully
wrought, there are full-face figures under round-headed arcades ;
eleven in the case of Dorchester, Oxon. ; six at Walton-on-the-Hill,
Surrey ; and twenty at Ashover, Derbs. The last of these is in
reality a stone font encased in a leaden covering.
The twelve fonts just considered have been supposed by some
1 64 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
good judges, such as Professor Freeman, to be of Saxon date, but
a careful examination of the details of the ornament make it more
probable that they pertain to the Norman period.
At Burghill, Herefords., the well-moulded rim of a Norman
leaden font has been welded to a new bowl. The small tub font
at Woolstone, Berks., is rudely marked. Dr. Fryer's suggestion
that the designer was endeavouring to reproduce the form of an
earlier timber Saxon church is ingenious but not probable.
The recently discovered leaden bowl of the font of Barnetby-le-
Wold, Lines., is ornamented with three bands of scroll-work. The
designs on those of Edburton and Pyecombe approach the close
of the Norman style. The highly remarkable leaden font of
Brookland, Kent, has figures symbolical of the months, as well as
the signs of the Zodiac and other designs ; it is fully described and
illustrated in the Archceological Journal for 1849. The Childrey,
Berks., example, with twelve bishops in relief round the bowl, is
also Norman.
There is a leaden bowl of I3th-cent. date at Wychling, Kent,
and another of the same period at Brundall, Norfolk. An heraldic
one of the middle of the I4th cent, occurs at Parham, Sussex.
The small leaden font of Down Hatherley, Glos., has Tudor
rosettes and other ornaments ; its date is c. 1500.
The curious tub-shaped leaden bowl of Tangley, Hants, must
be of Jacobean date ; it is ornamented with roses, crowned thistles,
and fleur-de-lis. The fonts of Eythorne, Kent, Slimbridge, Glos.,
and Aston Ingham, Herefords., are also i/th cent.; they are
respectively dated 1628, 1664, and 1689.
At Stratford, Essex, and at Potter Heigham, the pre-Reforma-
tion fonts are of brickwork ; in both cases they are of course lined
with lead. At Potter Heigham quite a graceful result has been
produced by the use in certain parts of specially moulded bricks
of the local clay. Sir Stephen Glynne, in his notes on Kent
churches, writing in 1859, says of Kennardington, "The font is of
brick." The font of the church of Chignal Smealy, Essex, is also
of brick.
Fonts were ordered to have covers and to be kept locked for
the double purpose of cleanliness and for checking the use of the
water for superstitious purposes. The Bishop of Exeter, in
1287, ordered that each parish church was to be furnished with a
baptisterium lapideum bene seratum. Archbishop Winchelsea, in
FONTS 165
his visitation of 1305, inquired whether there was a fontem cum
serura. A provincial English synod, held in 1236, provided that
the water was to be changed every seven days. The rubric of the
first English Prayer-book provided for the change being made
once every month ; the Scottish book, of 1604, ordered the fort-
nightly renewal of the water ; but by the present rubric there is
to be a fresh supply at every baptism.
As to the shape of English fonts, the very numerous Norman
examples are of three shapes — (i) "Tub" fonts, i.e. without any
base or support ; (2) chalice or cup shape, consisting of base shaft
and bowl ; and (3) a bowl supported on several shafts, usually a
central one and four at the angles. The respective age of these
three styles usually follows the arrangement just given. Each of
these three styles may also be subdivided into instances in which
the interior of the bowl is either round or square. The interior of
the bowl, in the vast majority of cases, is circular. Occasionally,
as in a few Norman fonts of North Somerset, the interior is square.
In three instances, namely, at Wellow, Somerset, Lenton, Notts.,
and St. Mary's, Stafford, the interior of the bowl is foliated ; and at
Lanteglos, Cornwall, and Yate, Glos., it is octagonal.
The outer octagonal shape came into use in a few late instances
in Norman days, and is also found occasionally in the I3th cent.
Fonts subsequent to the time of Henry III. are almost always
octagon in shape ; but there are a few square I4th-cent. fonts, as at
Newick, Sussex; and of the I5th, as at Bradfield, Suffolk, and
Lindfield, Sussex. There are a very few English fonts of heptagon
shape — Chaddesden, Derbs. ; Elmswell, Suffolk ; Ipsley, Warw. ;
and Bowden Magna, Leics. About a score are hexagon ; as at
Faringdon, Berks.; K egworth, Leics. ; Outwell, Norfolk; Rolvenden,
Kent ; Sleaford, Lines., etc. At Hollington, Sussex, is an example
of a pentagon font. The fonts of Westwell and Broadwell, Oxon.,
have basins, which are quatrefoiled both externally and internally.
Both Mr. Parker and Mr. Bloxam were in the habit of saying
that they were not aware of a single instance of the survival of a
pre-Conquest font. We believe this is still the opinion of several
expert ecclesiologists, such as Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, and it was
a view that was likewise upheld by the late Mr. Micklethwaite.
It requires, therefore, some boldness to assert that Saxon fonts do
remain in England ; but this we are convinced is the fact. It
would, indeed, be marvellous if this was not the case, as there are
i66 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
so many substantial remnants of Saxon church fabrics. Stone fonts,
which are by their very nature of a fairly indestructible character,
were, beyond doubt, used by Saxon Christians.
In two cases the pre-Norman characters used in font inscriptions
prove their Saxon date. The inscription on the circular font of
Little Billing, Northants, engraved by Paley, runs round about a
third of the circumference of the bowl, with two horizontal lines of
Anglo-Saxon lettering ; it reads as follows : —
Wigberhtus artifex atquc cementarius hunc fabricavit,
Quisquis suum venit mergere corpus procul dubio capiat.
" Wigbert the artificer and mason made this (font),
Whoever comes hither to dip his body, let him take it (Baptism) without doubt."
There is one other font, namely, that of Potterne, Wilts., with an
inscription in similar angular pre-Norman capitals. In this case
the inscription is the appropriate first verse of Ps. xlii. : — Cicut
cervus desiderat adfonUs, aquarum ita desiderat anima mea ad te Ds.
Amen. This font, of tub shape, was discovered in 1872, buried,
4 feet below its successor.
Competent authorities pronounce the old font at Bosbury,
Herefords., found in 1844, 2 feet below its Early English successor,
to be of pre-Norman date.
In the church of South Hayling, Hants, is a small font of
Anglo-Saxon knot- work, fully described by Mr. Romilly Allen in
vol. ii. of the Victoria County History of Hants.
There seems no reason whatever to doubt that the font of the
Saxon church of Deerhurst, Glos., is at least as old as the date of
the later Saxon chapel — shown by its dedication stone to be of the
year 1053 — and possibly pertains to the much older church. It is
cylindrical, and covered with peculiar spiral ornaments. The whole
question as to this font and the probable early date of one or two
other fonts similarly ornamented, is ably discussed by Mr. Hudd in
vol. xi. of the Gloucester and Bristol Archceological Societies Trans-
action.
The font at Bridekirk, Cumberland, with a runic inscription,
was long supposed to be of very early date, but the best experts
seem now agreed that the runes are of the I2th cent.
The massive tub font, 3 feet in diameter, of the Saxon church
of Boarhunt, Hants, may be clearly accepted as of the same date
as the fabric.
FONTS
167
The oldest of the two fonts in the church of Bowes, N. R. Yorks.,
has a circular bason supported by a Roman altar. There cannot be
much doubt but that this bowl is of pre-Norman date. The bowl
of the font at Romaldkirk in the same Riding is similarly
ornamented.
The lower part of the historic font of St. Martin's, Canterbury,
whatever may have been its original use, is of pre-Norman design.
It is also the opinion of several com-
petent writers that various of the earlier
examples of plain rude fonts are just as
likely to be Saxon as Norman. It would
be too long a question to attempt any dis-
cussion of such cases in these pages, for
each instance requires to be discussed on
its own merits.
A few of our English fonts are of much
interest in their origin, having been, in
whole or in part, formed of Roman ma-
terial. At Wroxeter, Salop., and again at
West Mersea, Essex, where the church
stands on the site of a Roman villa, the
shafts of the fonts are formed of the drums
of Roman columns. At Chollerton and Haydon, Northumberland,
and at Great Salkeld, Cumberland, the fonts themselves are said
to be hollowed out of Roman altars.
In two or three other cases it is found that the font, if not of
pre-Norman date, has been made of Saxon materials. The most
noted case of this is the richly sculptured font of Wilne, Derbs.,
which is constructed out of a reversed section of an early Saxon
pillar cross.
The font of Dolton, Devon, is constructed from two pieces of
highly ornamented pre-Norman cross shafts. At Melbury Bubb,
Dorset, the font is formed out of a section of a cylindrical Saxon
cross, as at Wilne.
There is one most interesting and beautiful group of early fonts
of which the font of Winchester cathedral is the most conspicuous
example. The excellent material from which they are formed has
resulted in a remarkable degree of preservation. The stone is a
black or bluish-black marble that has been proved to come from
the Tournay quarries in Hainault, Belgium, and there, in all
ST. MARTIN'S, CANTER-
BURY
1 68 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
probability, they were carved before they crossed the seas. There
are seven examples of this group of imported fonts now in England,
namely, those at Winchester cathedral, at East Meon, at St. Mary,
Bourne, and at St. Michael's, Southampton, all in Hants ; at
Lincoln cathedral and at Thornton Curtis, Lines. ; and at St.
Peter's, Ipswich. There used to be another Hampshire example,
namely, at Romsey abbey church ; but being in poor condition, it
was broken up and thrown away at a needless restoration about
1850. They are all alike in form and general outline, and consist
of a bowl round on the inside and square on the outside ; a stem
composed of a central shaft, with four smaller shafts at the angles ;
and a base which is square like the bowl. They vary in height
from 3 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 6 inches, and the diameter of the
bowl outside varies from 3 feet 3 inches to 3 feet 7 inches. The
sides of the square of the bowl are boldly though somewhat rudely
carved in each instance ; that of Winchester with the legends of St.
Nicholas ; that of East Meon with the story of Adam and Eve ;
that of Southampton with the evangelistic symbols ; and the
remainder with birds, beasts, and mystical creatures. Their date
is of the last half of the I2th cent. The history and details of this
group of fonts was well elucidated by Dean Kitchin and Mr. J.
Romilly Allen in vol. 1. of the Journal of the British Archceological
Association.
About the middle of the i$th cent, the singularly happy and
beautifully executed idea of depicting the Seven Sacraments of the
Church, on the vessel dedicated to the initial Sacrament, occurred
to the designers of the more elaborate English font. It is
exceedingly probable that not a few of the fonts thus embellished
were destroyed by Puritan violence, to whom such subjects would
be eminently distasteful, but there are at present existing in England
twenty-nine examples, which are thus distributed —
Badingham, Suffolk. Great Glemham, Suffolk.
Binham Abbey, Norfolk. Gorleston, Suffolk.
Blythburgh, Suffolk. Gresham, Norfolk.
Brooke, Norfolk. Laxfield, Suffolk.
Burgh-next-to-Aylsham, Norfolk. Loddon, Norfolk.
Cley, Norfolk. Marsham, Norfolk.
Cratfield, Suffolk. Martham, Norfolk.
East Derebam, Norfolk. Melton, Suffolk.
Farningham, Kent. Nettlecombe, Somerset.
HOLY OKDERS. WEST LYNN, NORFOLK
FONT PANELS
FONTS 169
Norwich cathedral, Norfolk. Westhall, Suffolk.
Sail, Norfolk. West Lynn, Norfolk.
South wold, Suffolk. Weston, Suffolk.
Stoley, Norfolk. Great Witchingham, Norfolk.
Little Walsingham, Norfolk. Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Walsoken, Norfolk.
The steps upon which these fonts stand are in some cases elaborate
and beautiful, those of Little Walsingham being the most intricate
in design. There can be no doubt that they would originally in
each case be crowned with lofty tabernacled covers. The pedestals
are usually adorned with eight figures in niches, and the bases
further enriched with small representations of the four Evangelists
and their symbols.
All their bowls are octagonal, and consequently some other
subject had to be designed for the eighth panel. In nine cases
the Crucifixion forms the subject in the eighth compartment, in
seven instances the Baptism of our Lord, and on three fonts the
Last Judgment. There is a single example of each of the following
subjects : the Communion of the People, the Assumption, the
Virgin and Child, the Holy Trinity, Our Lord in Glory, and the
Martyrdom of St. Andrew at the church of St. Andrew, Melton.
The eighth panel at Farningham shows a figure kneeling before a
crucifix, which is probably intended for the donor of the font. In
the three remaining cases the eighth compartment is either blank
or hopelessly defaced.
Most, if not all, of these fonts were originally elaborately coloured.
Obvious traces of colour remain at Badingham, East Dereham,
Nettlecombe, and West Lynn, whilst at Westhall and Great
Witchingham the gilding is quite brilliant, and the red, blue,
green, and black paint comparatively fresh. The details of the
small groups of figures illustrating the Seven Sacraments are of
much ecclesiological interest, and have been fully dealt with and
illustrated by Dr. Alfred C. Fryer in the Archaeological Journal
(vol. lix., March, 1902).
Heraldry sometimes obtrudes itself on a font. Notwithstanding
its apparent inappropriateness in connection with the administration
of the initial Sacrament, its presence is of interest in suggesting the
donor and date of the font. Heraldry is to be noticed on the
I4th-cent. leaden font of Parham, Surrey, and on three or four
others of that period. At Shelfanger, Norfolk, the arms and
i;o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
initials of Adam Bosville, who died in 1360, appear on the font ;
but heraldic fonts are chiefly of the next century. A particularly
interesting heraldic font, giving all the alliances of the old family
of Holdenby, stood in the church of Holdenby, Northants, until
a " restoration " in the " seventies," when it was broken up and
buried beneath its modern successor !
The arms of Archbishop Arundel (1397-1414) appear on the
font of Sittingbourne, Kent, and those of the last abbot of Whalley
on Padiham font, Lanes.
The following is an alphabetical list of heraldic fonts ; it makes
no pretensions to be exhaustive. Unless otherwise distinguished,
the fonts are all of the Perpendicular period.
Ackworth, Yorks. Market Bosworth, Leics. (i4th).
Alnham, Northumberland (1664). Millom, Cumberland.
Aylsham, Norfolk (shaft).
Barrow, Suffolk.
Breedon, Leics.
Burgate, Suffolk.
Burwash, Sussex.
Catterick, Yorks.
Little Cornard, Suffolk.
Coventry, H. Trinity, Warwicks.
Crosthwaite, Cumberland (i4th).
Dalton-in-Furness, Lanes.
Drayton Parsloe, Bucks.
Dunsford, Devon.
Eakring, Notts. (1674).
East Ham, Essex.
Fakenham, Norfolk.
Featherstone, Yorks.
Finchingfield, Essex (i4th).
Harington, Lines.
Haslingden, Lanes.
Herne, Kent.
Howell, Lines.
Hoxne, Suffolk.
Ingram, Northumberland (1664).
Ketteringham, Norfolk.
Kettleburgh, Suffolk.
Kilkhampton, Cornwall.
Mitcham, Surrey.
Mortlake, Surrey.
Mountfield, Sussex.
North Bradley, Wilts.
Padiham, Lanes.
Parham, Sussex (i4th).
Priston, Somerset.
Rackheath Magna, Norfolk (i6th).
Risley, Derbs.
Rolvenden, Kent (i4th).
St. Goran, Cornwall.
Sandwich, Kent.
Sedgefield, Durham.
Shelfanger, Norfolk.
Sittingbourne, Kent.
South Kilvington, Yorks.
Staindrop, Durham.
Stanton Harcourt, Oxon.
Stidd, Lanes.
Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk.
Ufford, Suffolk.
West Deeping, Lines. (i3th).
Winterborne Whitchurch, Dorset.
Wiston, Sussex.
Woodchurch, Cheshire.
Wybunbury, Cheshire.
Lesbury, Northumberland.
There are a few mediaeval fonts which are noteworthy through
having projections from the bowl. These projections have given
FONTS 171
rise to a diversity of would-be explanations of their use and origin,
which are mostly futile. There are five distinct English instances,
and the same explanation cannot apply to them all.
The most interesting of these, and the one which has given rise
to a great variety of conjectures, is that of Youlgreave, Derbs. This
late Norman font, which has been frequently illustrated, possesses
other noteworthy features ; the best account and pictures of it are
those given by Mr. Le Blanc Smith in vol. xxvi. of the Derbyshire
Archaeological Journal. The projection in this case takes the form
of a rounded bason or stoup, a little below the level of the font rim ;
it has an interior width of 9^ inches, and an interior depth of 6£
inches. There can be little doubt that the use of this hollowed
adjunct to the font was in connection with baptism by affusion.
The usual old rubrics of the baptismal office of the Western Church
ordained that when the infant was baptized by affusion, the surplus
water was not to be allowed to return into the font or compartment
of the font wherein was the consecrated water, but that a vessel was
to be provided to receive the water running off the head of the
recipient. The advantage of this can be readily understood when
it is recollected that the hallowed water used to remain in the font
for a long period. This is the explanation of the bequests of
silver basons for the fonts that are occasionally met with in English
mediaeval wills. The general modern Roman use is to have the
font divided into two parts for this purpose, each with its own
drain running into the earth. In cases where this is not provided,
it is usual for a server to hold a bason beneath the child's head.
In several churches of Brittany and Normandy, as well as in the
museums of Rouen and other towns in the north of France, are
early fonts with side projections for this purpose. But in all these
cases such projections have wide circular basons at the top and are
continued down to the base of the font or floor level, being pro-
vided with a drain communicating with the soil or ground beneath.
There is no drain to the font stoup at Youlgreave, and in this case
it would serve to hold a movable bason, which would be carried
into the churchyard and there emptied.
Odiham, Hants, possesses a remarkable font, temp. Henry III.,
to which attention has often been directed. Round the circular
bowl runs the inscription from the Vulgate, with the usual con-
tractions— Auxilium meum a Domino qui fecit celum et terram
(Ps. cxxi. 2). The lettering is in raised letters of a bold and
172 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
slightly ornamental style of " black letter ; " this kind of text is
very exceptional for I3th-cent. work, and the suggestion that the
lettering was done at a later date may possibly be correct. The
character and method of this inscription is unique in English fonts,
but its special peculiarity remains to be noticed. From the upper
part of the bowl there is a bracket-like projection, in the top of
which is an oblong hollow measuring 5 inches by 3^ inches. This
hollow has sloping sides, and is if inches deep. At each end is a
circular hole which is carried through the stonework at an acute
angle, terminating in similar small holes lower down on the outer
surface of the bracket. There have been various surmises as to
the original use or intention of this bracket. Of late years it has
been generally maintained that it was to serve for baptism by
affusion, after the same fashion as the attached stoup of Youlgreave.
But the small, oblong hollow is obviously quite unfitted for any
such purpose, and if a little water is poured in, it trickles down the
outside of the font in two directions, after a fashion that would
make its retention in any vessel placed on the ground an im-
possibility. It is just possible that the Odiham projection may
have served to affix a movable bracket upon which a bason could
rest ; but this is improbable, for in that case the holes in the hollow
would have been straight so as to readily permit of the fixing and
unfixing of such a convenience. This bracket could have had no
connection with the chrysmatory for the holy oils used at baptism
for the mediaeval chrysmatory was of very small dimensions, and
held in the hand of a server. On the whole by far the most likely
use for this bracket was to serve as a support for the hinges of a
font-cover of unusual solidity of structure.
The I4th-cent. font of Pitsford, Northants, is well engraved by
Paley. This font has a plain, solid, three-sided ledge projecting
immediately from the rim of the octagonal font, and pierced with
several small circular holes. It is probable that these holes and the
ledge were intended to sustain a movable rest of wood or metal
for the support of the affusion bason, or (which is more unlikely)
for a bracket to hold the office book.
At St. Michael's, Sutton Bonnington, Notts., is a fourth of these
fonts with projections cut out of the solid stone. This well-finished
I4th-cent. octagonal font has its original step and priest's stone.
It stands 4 feet high, and has a diameter of 2 feet 6 inches. There
are three projecting brackets ; the one on the celebrant's left has a
FONTS
173
ST. MICHAEL'S, SUTTON BONNINGTON,
NOTTS.
flat surface level with the font rim 9 inches by 8 inches ; the two
smaller ones, on the east and south sides of the font, are 6 inches
across. On the larger bracket would rest the affusion bowl in the
proper place, for the infant's head would rest on the priest's left
arm, whilst the two other pro-
jections might be convenient
for the salt and candle, which
were accessories of the full
Western rite of baptism.
The font of Rainham, Es-
sex, has a circular Norman
bowl with a shaft of later date.
On one side there is a small
semicircular projection, level
with the rim of the font,
standing out a little distance ;
whilst on the opposite side is
a small portion of another
similar projection, most of
which has been broken away.
The I3th-cent. font of Raunds, Northants, has a carved ram's
head projecting from the rim, the top of which, when perfect, may
possibly have served as a rest. Several other of our old fonts show
marks or traces whence original projections seem to have been
broken off.
With regard to post- Reformation fonts, there are just a few
dated examples of the long reign of Elizabeth. Such are Ellesmere,
Salop., 1569, and Edlington, Staffs., 1590. Much honour was done
to the fonts in the way of more or less comely covers during the
time of James I., but very few were then constructed. The font of
Whixall, Salop., bears the date 1608. At Byford, Herefords., is a
font of the time of Charles I., dated 1638, and there is another of
the following year at Rackheath Magna, Norfolk.
When the Puritans gained the ascendancy during the Common-
wealth, the use of fonts was forbidden ; their place was to be taken
by a mere bason. Where churchwarden accounts of this period
are extant, reference is often made to this mean change. Thus at
Wilmslow, Chester, the lead lining of the old font was sold for
3-r. ; and in 1647 "iron work to sett the bason in" cost 5-r., whilst
2s. Sd. was paid for " a pewter bason for to baptize in." The same
174 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
parish accounts show that 17 s. 8dl was spent on a new font in 1660,
and 9.?. on a cover in 1661.
The churchwarden accounts of Aldwincle St. Peter's, Northants,
show that a bason was bought for 6d. in 1655, and in 1657 the
churchwardens "sould the ffont for iijj. v]d" In 1662 they had to
spend £1 los. 2d. in setting it up again.
The dated fonts of the early days of the Restoration of both
the Church and the Monarchy are numerous. Those of the year
1662 naturally predominate, as that was the time when loyalty to
the Prayer-book, by those holding benefices, was made obligatory.
The following list includes many dated Restoration fonts to
be found in different parts of the kingdom, but it is probably
less than a quarter of the whole number : —
1660. Ashburnham, Sussex.
„ West Hampnett, Sussex.
„ Stedham, Sussex.
„ Edwalton, Notts.
„ Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Notts.
„ Wysall, Notts.
„ Flinton, Notts.
„ Flawborough, Notts.
„ North Winfield, Derbs.
1 66 r. Probus, Cornwall.
,, Lurgashall, Sussex.
„ Wakefield, W. R. Yorks.
„ Ormskirk, Lanes.
„ Pleasley, Derbs.
„ North Chapel, Sussex.
1662. Cropwell, Notts.
„ East Bridgford, Notts.
„ Sibthorp, Notts.
„ Whatton, Notts.
„ Shelford, Notts.
1662. Orston, Notts.
„ Tithby, Notts.
„ Scarrington, Notts.
„ Distington, Cumberland.
„ Ecclesfield, W. R. Yorks.
„ Sandal, W. R. Yorks.
„ Burneston, E. R. Yorks.
„ Ainderby Steeple, E. R. Yorks.
„ Northallerton, E. R. Yorks.
„ Wensley, E. R. Yorks.
„ Great Harwood, Lanes.
„ Wirksworth, Derbs.
„ Findern, Derbs.
„ Skirbeck, Lines.
„ Astbury, Cheshire.
1663. Marske, E. R. Yorks.
„ Bunbury, Cheshire.
„ Ripple, Kent.
„ Ackworth, W. R. Yorks.
There are also one or two dated fonts of the years 1664-5.
Some of these fonts are of rude workmanship, but others,
notably a Nottinghamshire group, of very similar design, display
decided merit. The most striking Restoration font in England is
the one in Orston church, Notts., which is a fine piece of carving,
partly after a mediaeval model, but at the same time showing con-
siderable originality. The arrangement of the three tulips —
probably emblematic of the Trinity — is, we should think, unique.
FONTS
175
Another Restoration font which we also consider worth illustrating
is that of Wirksworth, Derbs. In this case, although the true prin-
ciples of design are set at defiance by a medley of varied orna-
ments, the result is not unpleasant, for it is quite obvious that the
sculptor did the very best of which he was capable to adorn the
House of God. These fonts are mostly octagonal, but those of
Lurgashall and North Chapel, Sussex, are square and of local
Petworth marble.
In a few instances the date 1660 or 1662, accompanied by
URSTON, NOTTS.
churchwarden initials, are to be found on far older fonts, signalizing
the date when they were brought back into the church after Puritan
ejection. This is the case with the Norman font of Parwich,
Derbs., and with the 1 5th-cent. font of Church Langton, Leics.
Some later fonts of the same century are also dated. Thus
1674 appears on the font of Eakring, Notts. ; 1681 at Stoke
Albany, Northants ; and 1686 on those of Pickhill, E. R. Yorks.,
and Lupton, Westmoreland.
The use of anything save a proper font for baptism was for-
bidden by Elizabeth in 1584, and is strictly prohibited by the
reformed Canon of the Church of England ; but the use of mere
basons by the Puritans obtained such a hold that this irreverent
176 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
custom is even yet in use in a few out-of-the-way parishes, where
small bowls of various kinds are introduced into the font to save
the trouble of heavier water-carrying. Only a few years ago a
shallow Wedgwood saucer, with a cover, the whole precisely like a
muffin dish, was specially made for the purpose ; but it is very rarely
now seen. Just now and again such font basons were of costly
material.
At Audlem, Chester, there is a silver font bowl thus inscribed —
\ -
WIRKSWORTH, DERBS.
For the more decent celebration of the Holy Sacrament of Baptism in
the Parish Church of Audlem. This Bason is humbly dedicated to
tJu Font there by Ann Evans, widow of Wm. Evans M.A., xxxv
years master of the Free School of the said Parish, out of her
regard to her said late Husband's intentions, tho not reqtiired by
his will, 1744.
In Sir Stephen Glynne's notes on Kent churches, taken about
1835, occurs the following entry under Cranbrook : —
FONTS 177
" On the south side of the nave is what is scarce to be found in any
other church — a square baptistery of stone for the purpose of immersing
such Baptists as desire to enter the communion of the church; it was
erected in 1725 by the Revd. John Johnson, Vicar, and resembles a bath
with a descent of several steps. It is said only to have been used twice."
The subject of font inscription is sufficiently interesting to call
for special treatment, particularly as several of them are difficult to
decipher. The appropriate Greek palindromical lines which read
the same either way —
NI¥ON ANOMHMA MH MONAN OFIN
(" Wash my sin and not my face only ")
appear on many fonts. Such are Worlingworth, Suffolk ; Dedham,
Hadleigh, and Harlow, Essex; Higham, Longley Castle (private
chapel), Knapton (font cover), Norfolk ; Kinnerley (a fragment),
and Melverley, Salop. ; Melton Mowbray, Leics. ; Nottingham, St.
Mary's; and Sandbach, Chester (1667). The same also appears
on the more recent fonts of Leominster ; of St. Martin's, Ludgate,
London ; and of Dulwich College chapel.
At Hook Norton, Oxon., is a font with the names of Sagittarius,
Adam, and Eve inscribed. The lead font of Brookland, Kent, has
the names of the months and of the signs of the Zodiac. The
Norman font of Stoneleigh, Warwicks., has the names of the
Twelve Apostles ; and that of Stanton Fitzwarren, Wilts., the
names of the depicted Virtues and Vices.
The fonts of Severnstoke, Worcs., and of Rushton All Saints,
Northants, have the whole alphabet inscribed on the margin of the
flat part of the top of the bowl. These alphabets were probably
used by the parish priest or chaplain for what we should now call
" Sunday-school " purposes.
The following collection of inscriptions on English fonts and
font-covers are arranged in alphabetical order. The inscriptions on
the pre-Norman fonts of Little Billing and Potterne have already
been given.
The font at Acle, Norfolk, retained until time of " restoration "
a great deal of its original colouring and gilding ; round the base
is this inscription — Orate pro animabtts qui istum fontem in honore
dei fieri fecerunt, Anno dni Millimo cccc decimo.
W
i;8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Adderley, Salop., I2th-cent. sculpture.
Hie male primus homo
Fruitur cum conjuge pomo.
(" Here wickedly the first man enjoys the apple with his wife.")
Ackworth, Yorks. Baptisterium bello phanaticorum dirntum
denuo erectum Tho: Bradley D.D. rector e, H.A., T.C. gardianis,
1663.
St. Anthony-in-Kerrier, Cornwall, the font has the inscription —
Ecce karissimi de deo vero baptizabuntur spiritu sancto, with the
initials Q.P., B.M., B.V., and P.R. in pairs, between four shield-
bearing angels.
The cover of the Early English font at Bentworth, Hants, is of
a curious gabled shape with a terminal ball, and round the edge
appears in large capitals, I am geven bi Martha Hunt. Anno 1605.
Beverley St. Mary's, Yorks. Pray for the soules of Wyllm
Feryjfaxe draper and his wyvis whiche made this Font of his p'per
castes the X day of Marche ye y ere of our Lord MDXXX.
The font of Blythburgh, Suffolk, is raised upon three high
octagonal stone steps, inscribed with — Orate pro aiabs Johne Masin
et Katerine uxoris ejus . . . (remainder quite illegible, but probably
merely stating that John and Katherine gave the font).
Bolton-juxta-Bowland, Yorks. This octagon font of grey
marble has a shield of arms on each face, namely, Tempest,
Hamerton, Pudsay and Layton, Pudsay, Banks, Pudsay, Tunstall,
and Percy. On a fillet of brass let into the marble is the inscrip-
tion— Orate p} aiabu' Dni Radulphi Pudsay Milif et Dne Edwne
uxor ejus ac Dni Will Pudsay filii eoru quond rector htif ecclie.
William Pudsay was rector of Bolton from 1448 to 1507.
Bootle, Cumberland. The I4th-cent. font bears — In nomine
patri, et filii et spirif s~a~ctf a.
Bourne, Lines. Sup oine noni I. H. C. est nom qde.
Bradley, Lines., I4th cent.
Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Criede,
Leren ye chyld yt es nede.
Bridekirk, Cumberland. This famous I2th-cent. font is finely
sculptured. On the south front is a remarkable inscription which
long exercised the ingenuity of antiquaries. The difficulty was
supposed to be solved in the i8th cent, when a communication
FONTS 179
was made to the Society of Antiquaries (Archaologiat ii. 132)
interpreting the words to mean — " Here Skard was converted and
to this man's example were the Danes brought " ! But the
inscription, in the light of later scholarship, really reads —
Rikarth he me iwrokte
&> to this merthe gernr me brokte.
That is —
" Richard he me wrought
And to this beauty carefully me brought."
The letters show, says Professor Stephen, " a strange intermixture
of old Northern and Scandinavian and old English staves and bind-
Runes." The dialect is also mixed, early North English with a
touch of Scandinavian. Its date is probably of the I2th cent. ;
Professor Stephen suggests that Richard who carved the font may
have been the architect of that name who was master of the works
to Bishop Pudsey during the improvements at Norham Castle,
A.D. 1 1 50-70. The font is rectangular ; all four sides are elabor-
ately sculptured. On the face with the inscription, Richard is
represented working at the foliage.
Bubwith, E. R. Yorks. Round the bowl is inscribed — Fans de
bubird.
Burgate, Suffolk. On the upper step — [Orate pro animabus]
Wilfmi Burgate militis et dne Elionere uxoris eius qui istum fontem
fieri fecerunt. Sir W. Burgate died in 1409.
Canterbury, Cathedral church. On the i/th-cent. elaborate
font-cover are a series of texts, etc. (see Dr. Cox's Canterbury,
187, 1 88).
At Castor near Norwich, the font has this inscription round the
base — Orate /' fratribus et sororibus ac benef toribus gilde sci iohis
baptiste de castre.
Catterack, E. R. Yorks., has round the shaft the words Clar
Fon, for "clean fountain."
Chelmorton, Derbs. The greatest puzzle among English font
inscriptions is at the church of St. John Baptist, Chelmorton. It
is an octagon I5th-cent. font, bearing a small letter or design on
each face. The first and third of these figures seem to be sword-
hilts, and are conjectured to be emblems of martyrdom, whilst the
O between them may stand for a circle, an emblem of the Holy
Trinity. The late Mr. Greaves, Q.C., in a learned article in the
Derbyshire Arch&ological Journal (vol. i., 1879), supposes that the
i8o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
other letters are initials for " Salus ex baptismate Sancti Johannis
martyris " — that is, " Salvation (is) from the baptism of St. John
the Martyr." This explanation is, however, more ingenious than
convincing, and it is more likely that the letters have some con-
nection with the name or names of the donor.
The font of Chillingham, Northumberland, moved here from
Ancroft church, has inscribed on the bowl — God bless this Church
M
D j X7 An Domi. 1070.
/c. w .
The octagon font of Chipping, Lanes., bears at the base the
initial letters of the Latin version of the Hail Mary.
Covenham St. Bartholomew, Lines. This I5th-cent. octagon
font has the initials W. A. on one of the panels ; supposed to
stand for William Askew, the donor.
The font of Cranstock, Cornwall, bears the date inscription of
An & M°CCCC Ixxiiif.
Crosthwaite, Cumberland. The font, of latter part of I4th cent.,
is an octagon. The four principal faces of the bowl bear shields,
the other four ornamental devices of masks and foliage. On the
chamfered edge below the panels is a black letter inscription which
is a good deal mutilated. Shield one bears emblems of Holy
Trinity, and below it .$[«//.] see : trinitatis ; shield two a lily pot
and Scut: m'rts : del; shield of England and France, and Sc : reg1
A nglie ; shield of symbols, of the Passion, and Sc : dni : Xpi. The
words below the four other panels beg for prayer for a former vicar,
who probably bequeathed money for the making of this font —
Orate : p : dia : dni : Thorn : deskhede : olim : ecclesie : kuius :
vicarii.
The church of Darsham, Suffolk, has a characteristic East
Anglian font of octagonal design. Lions appear on the alternate
panels, between the symbol of the Trinity, the arms of the Con-
fessor, the three crowns of East Anglia, and the symbols of the
Passion. Round the circular step on which the font stands is the
following legend, now much worn, but cited as given in Suckling's
History of Suffolk (1848) — Orate pro anima Dni Galfri Symond,
rectoris de Bradwell, qui istum fontem fieri fecit in honore Dei.
Geoffrey Symonds, a native of this village, was rector of Bradwell,
1404.
Dorton, Bucks. The font cover is inscribed — A gifte to butyfie
the House of God. Thomas Harenson, A.D, 1631.
FONTS 181
The octagon font of Dunsby, Lines., has a most puzzling inscrip-
tion on its panels. On one panel are five small circles, the centre
one containing the letter i, which seems to be intended to be used
in reiteration with the surrounding consonants ; probably it stands
for In prinicipio. On other panels are the monograms of Jesus and
Christ, and the words baptista and Maria.
The font of East Ham, Essex, is a white marble bason of
singularly bad proportions, bearing the quartered arms of Higham,
and this inscription round the rim — The gift of Sr Richard
Heigham, Knight, to this parish of Eastham, A° Dni, 1639.
The octagonal font of Elmswell, Suffolk (D.), is a fine one,
supported on four eagles ; five of the panels are charged with the
letters H., E., D., G., F. consecutively, probably the name of the
donor.
Featherstone, Yorks. Joke's de Baghill et Katerina uxsor ejus.
Gaywood, Norfolk. A font of Gothic design, but of post-Refor-
mation date. On four of the eight sides are these inscriptions —
Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit salvus erit,
Christum induistis quot quot baptizati estis.
Voce pater natus corpore flamen ave. Mat. 3.
I am thy God and the God of thy seede. Gen.
Goodmanham, Yorks., temp. Henry VIII.
Wyht owt \_doubte d\ll may be saved
Of yor charete pra for them yt y is font mayd.
Robert clevying p son.
Robert Appilton.
Ave maria gra plena dns tecu bhdicta tu in mu.
lade help. Iks.
Robert Clevying was rector from 1522 to 1565.
On the eighth panel of the Seven Sacraments font at Gorleston,
Suffolk, is a representation of the Last Judgment, and over it the
partially defaced legend, Surgite mortui venite adjudicium.
Great Green ford, Middlesex, has a font thus inscribed — Ex
dono domince Franciscce Coston, viduce, nuper defuncta, 1638.
Haltwhistle, Northumberland. On the upper edge of the
hexagon bowl is cut R. P. July the 27 th 1676. Robert Priest man
was vicar at that date ; but the font is pre- Reformation, and the
inscription can only refer to its restoration.
The handsome font of Hessett, Suffolk, has a " kneeling stone "
to the west of the plinth. Upon the three sides is the following
i82 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
inscription : Orate pro animabs rti hoo et augnetis uxis ejus q istum
fontem fieri feccrtmt. The will of Robert Hoo was proved in 1510 ;
in it he mentions " myn wyf Augnes."
The font of St. Mary's, Ipswich, bears the words Sal et Saliva.
In the old rite of baptism, as still used by the Western Church
under the Roman obedience, salt, over which an exorcism is used,
is placed in the mouth of the child with an appropriate prayer ;
and the ears and nostrils are touched with saliva.
St. I ves, Cornwall, 1 5th cent. Omnes baptizate gentes.
Keysoe, Beds., I3th cent. The only Norman-French font
inscription —
Trestui ke par hici passerui
Pur le alme Ward prieu
Ke Deu par sa grace
Verrey merci liface. Am.
(" Pause, whoever passes by this spot, and pray for the soul of Warel, that God by
His grace may grant him true mercy. Amen.")
Kelling, Norfolk. Remains of inscription for souls of . . . de
Kelling and Beatrice his wife.
Kilvington, E. R. Yorks. At the base — Dominus Thomas le
Scrape et Elizabeth iixor ejus.
Kirton, Lines. Round the base of this font is the inscription —
Orate pro aia Alaric Burton qui fontem istum fieri fecit A.D.
MCCCL V.
Landewednack, Cornwall. This font, c. 1400, bears the in-
scription— Ric. Bolham me fecit. Bolham was a former rector.
An exceptional inscription is on the elaborately decorated early
Norman font of Lullington, Somerset ; it bears the following in
Roman letters : In Hoc Fontu sacro pereunt delicto lavacro. Traces
of a further inscription on the edge are now indecipherable.
Maidstone, All Saints, Kent. The i/th-cent. font bears the
royal arms and also those of the family of Aston. Over the
former are the words, Feare God, Honour ye King.
The single circular step on which the font at Middleton,
Suffolk, rests, bears a much-worn black-letter inscription. Recent
careful rubbings have resulted in bringing to light an interesting
English distich —
Cryst mote us spede
And helps alle at nede.
Newark, Notts. Round the base — Carne rei nati sunt hoc in
FONTS 183
Deo fonte renati. The word " Deo " is in different characters, and
probably a later insertion. On a pillar adjoining is a brass tablet
with this inscription — This Font was demolished by the Rebels,
May 9, 1646, and rebuilt by the charity of Nicholas Ridley in 1660.
Nuffield font, Oxon., is plain tub-shaped, and has the following
inscription in Lombardic characters round the upper part : —
[Fon\ te sacro lotum vel mundal gratia totum
Vel non est sacramcnti mundacio plena.
Odiham, Hants. See previous account.
Parham, Sussex. I. H. C. N. A. Z. A. R. (Jesus of Nazareth),
repeated.
Potterne, Wilts. Saxon inscription already cited.
Quadring, Lines. Round the base of this font is the inscrip-
tion— Orate pro aia Roberti Perci qui is turn fontem fieri fecit.
Priston, Somerset, is an heraldic font, but bears on two of the
bowl panels W. Long ; the arms of Long also appear on the font,
of which he was clearly the donor.
Rackheath Magna, Norfolk. The hexagonal font bears the
arms of Pettus, and is adorned after a debased Renaissance
fashion with cherubs. It is inscribed — B. P. ornavit 1639.
Rochester, St. Nicholas. C. R. I. S. T. I. A. N. A single
capital letter on each of the eight faces.
Saham Toney, Norfolk. On beautiful font cover — Lavacrum
Regenerationis Johannes Ives, nuper de Saham, insigne hoc pietatis
suce testimonium Deo et ecclesice sues moriens legavit. Anno Domini,
1631.
The collegiate church of St. Mary, Stafford, has a remarkable
early font with inscriptions in Lombardic capitals, which have
given rise to much discussion. The first inscription, just above the
lions which support the bowl, reads — Discretus non es si non fugis
ecce leones. The other runs round the rim and is partly illegible —
+ Tu : de ' Jerusalem
Ror . . alem
Me : faciens : talent
Tarn : pulchrum : tarn : specialem.
It has been suggested that the second line originally ran —
Ror em mi hi das genialem.
Salle, Norfolk. On the lower step is — Orate pro animabus
Thome Luce et . . . uxoris ejus^ et Roberti filii eorum capellani, etc.
1 84 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Saltwood, Kent. On one of the panels is a shield with the two
words — Jehsu . Mary a.
Shorwell, I. of Wight. The font cover, the gift of Sir John
Leigh, c. 1620, has this inscription — And the Holy Ghost descended
in bodily shape like a dove upon him. Luke 3, ve. 22.
Southacre, Norfolk. On the cover — Orate p. aia Mri Rid Gotts
et dni Galefridi baker Rectoris huj \ecclie qui hoc\ opus fieri fecerunt.
South Ormsby, Lines., has at the base the names of the donors
Rtidolph Bolle and his wife.
Stanton Fitzwarren, Wilts. See under Wiltshire fonts for this
lettering.
Stixwold, Lines. On this octagonal font are the Evangelistic
symbols with their respective names on scrolls.
In the church of Stratford Tony, Wilts., is a 1 3th-cent. font ;
it is a rude stone bowl, but has a Purbeck marble shaft. Round
the top of the bowl is an inscription, of which only the words Hie
sistat can now be discerned.
On the font cover of Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, are
paintings of the baptism, temptation and fasting of our Lord, with
the inscription — Voce Pater, Natus Corpore, Flamen A ve — that is,
" The Father (revealed) by the voice, the Son by the body, the
Spirit by the bird."
Threckingham, Lines. Ave Maria gracice plena dominus tecum.
(In an abbreviated form.)
Tilney All Saints, Norfolk. Same as Gaywood.
Walsingham, New, Norfolk. Font cover bears — Ex dono Jane
domince Sidney, in pice mentis indiciicm.
Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk. Thynk and Thank repeated
round bowl. At base — Remember Whetorn Johannes sometime
parson here, 1532.
Walsoken, Norfolk, 1 544. Remember the soul of S. Honyter and
Margaret his wife, and John Beforth, chaplain.
Wensley, N. R. Yorks. Cliurch Masters looke to your charges,
with date 1662 and initials cut on the late Perpendicular font when
restored to the church after the Puritan disruption.
On the granite font of St. Winnow, Cornwall, is inscribed —
Ecce charissimi de deo vero baptizabuntur spiritu sancto. The like
inscription appears on two other fonts of this county.
Wold Newton, Lines., has a partially legible inscription in
memory of its donors, John and Joan Curteys.
FONTS 185
Wrangle, Lines. On the cover — Ric. Bailey Vicar. 1724.
York, St. Martin's, Coney Street. Richard Speight and Richard
Mancklin Church Wardens, An0 Dom 1717, on handsome cover.
Occasionally more modern fonts have more or less appropriate
inscriptions. The quaintest English font inscription — probably the
quaintest in all Christendom — is the one to be seen at Tollesbury,
Essex, an interesting church retaining much pre-Norman work.
The small octagonal font, 2 feet in diameter and 3 feet high,
bears round the margin of the bowl, in very plain lettering —
Good people all I pray take care
That in ye church you doe not sware
As this man did,
An entry among the baptisms of the parish register explains
the mystery —
"August 30, 1718. — Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Eliza Wood,
being ye first childe whom was baptized in the New Font which was
bought out of five pounds paid by John Norman, sen., who some few
months before came drunk into ye church and cursed and talked loud in
the time of Divine service, to prevent his being prosecuted for which he
paid by agreement the above said five pounds. Note that the wise
rythmes on the font were put there by the sole order of Robert Joyce then
churchwarden."
COUNTY LISTS
[These lists aim at giving the principal fonts of each county ; an * is attached to the more
noteworthy examples.]
Bedfordshire
In this county no particular style or period of fonts predomi-
nates. There are a few good examples of each. Flitwick is a
good Norman font ; what is supposed to have been its original
colouring has been restored to it. Houghton Regis has a fine font
of the same period. Studham font, illustrated in vol. vi. of the
Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, is boldly enriched with
Transitional foliage.
The massive Early English font at Keysoe, with the remarkable
Norman-French inscription at the base (already cited), is the only
Bedfordshire example engraved by Paley. Tingrith has a good
font of this period on clustered columns, and the adjacent church
of Streatley affords another example.
1 86 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Of I4th-cent. fonts, the adjacent churches of Stagsden and
Goldington have good examples, the former curiously carved.
Arlsey is the most remarkable font of the next century. The
sculptures in niches illustrate the Fall, the Crucifixion, the Resur-
rection, and the Mouth of Hell ; round the stem are ecclesiastics ;
unfortunately it is much mutilated.
Norman. — Carlton *, Crawley, Flitwick, Houghton Regis, Potion,
Puddington *, Studham * (Transition).
Early English. — Battleden, Challington, Eaton Bray *, Eversholt, Farndish,
Felmersham, Great Barford, Harold, Keysoe *, Leighton Buzzard,
Stanbridge, Stevington, Streatley *, Studham *, Tilsworth, Tingrith,
Turvey.
Decorated. — Bedford St. Paul's, Goldington *, Houghton Conquest *,
Kempstone, Luton, Ridgemont, Stagsden *, Sutton.
Perpendicular. — Arlsey *, Bletsoe, Bronham, Caddington, Clifton, Colm-
worth, Cranfield, Dunton, Eaton Socon, Elstow (early), Harlington,
Marston Mortaine, Oakley *, Odell, Sandy, Sharnbrook, Stepingleigh,
Stotfold, Wilden, Wrestlingworth.
Berkshire
The Norman fonts are numerous, and include the lead example
at Woolhampton. The handsome Transition font of West Shefford
is engraved by Paley. Avington, early Norman, has thirteen
figures round it, supposed to be the Twelve Apostles and Judas
tempted by the Fiend.
Among the 1 3th-cent. fonts is one of lead at Childrey. Wantage
is a good example of this century, with the dog-tooth ornament.
Ardington font bears the ball-flower moulding of the Decorated
period ; Wokingham * (late I4th cent.) is engraved in vol. xi. of
Wilts. Magazine. The late I5th-cent. octagon font of Hurley is
also engraved by Paley.
Norman. — Aston Upthorpe, Avington *, Bright Walton, Catmore, Clewer,
Drayton, Eaton Hastings, Enborne, Finchhamstead *, Great Shefford *,
Hambledon, Letcombe Regis, Lockinge, Pinley *, Sulhampstead
Abbas, Sutton Courtney, Welford, West Shefford, Sparsholt, Wool-
hampton (lead).
Early English. — Beedon, Charney, Childrey (lead), Coleshill, Didcot,
Eaton Hastings, Englefield *, Harwell, Hatford *, Letcombe Basset,
Longworth, Lyford, Shrivenham *, Sutton Courtney, Wantage,
Winterbourn.
FONTS 187
Decorated.— Aldington *, Buckland *, East Hampstead, Fyfield, North
Moreton, Shillingford, Shottesbrook, Wokingham.
Perpendicular. — Ashbury, Blewbury, Bray *, Chieveley, Compton Beau-
champ *, Denchworth *, Hagbourne, Hurley * ; Reading, St. Mary
and St. Lawrence * ; Shalbourne, Steventon, Thatcham, Yattendon.
Buckinghamshire
There are upwards of seventy Norman fonts in this county.
Those of Great Kimble, Little Missenden, Risborough Priors, and
Bledlow are all of chalice shape and grooved ; they are obviously
done by the same workman or workmen. The circular bowl of
Stone is rudely sculptured with salamander and other curious
figures. Stoke Hammond font is supported by four detached
shafts and a central stem. There are a few good instances of each
of the three Gothic periods. The Early English fonts are plain
examples. The heraldic I4th-cent. font at Drayton Parsloe is of
much merit. Leckhampstead font, of late I4th-cent. date, has
curious carvings on the eight panels, two of them representing the
Blessed Virgin and St. Katharine. Simpson gives a beautiful
engraving of it.
Norman. — Aylesbury, Castlethorpe, Caversfield, Chenies, Cuddington,
Drayton Beauchamp, Grandborough, Haddenham, Hammond Stoke,
Hawridge *, Hitchenden, Horton, Hughenden, Great Kimble, Oving,
Pitstone, Risborough Priors *, Stoke Goldington *, Stoke Ham-
mond, Stoke Regis, Stone * (formerly at Hampstead Noons), Stewkley,
Turville *, Upton.
Early English. — Choulesbury *, Newton Longueville, Radcliffe, Slapton *,
Weston Underwood, Whaddon.
Decorated. — Astwood *, Cheddington, Chilton *, Drayton Parsloe *, Elles-
borough, Long Crendon *, North Marston *, Waddesdon.
Perpendicular. — Brickhill Bow, Ditton *, Leckhampstead, Princes Ris-
borough, Wing *.
Cambridgeshire
There is a considerable admixture of styles and periods among
the fonts of this county. Among the best may be named the
Norman examples of St. Peter's, Cambridge, and Coton ; the Early
English ones of Wentworth and Witcham ; the Decorated of Kings-
ton and Long Stanton ; and the Perpendicular of Trumpington,
i88 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Haddenham, Isleham, and Stetchworth. There are about fifty of
this last period ; in many of the churches there are plain octagon
fonts, rather difficult to date, but some of them are I4th cent.
Simpson illustrates the well-designed I5th-cent. font of Over,
which he styles "eminently beautiful." The eight panels have
shields surmounted by cinquefoil tracery, and the mouldings are
enriched with squared flowers. Paley illustrates the much more
elaborate example of the same century at Leverington, terming it
"magnificent, singularly rich and beautiful ; " there are seated figures
in the eight niches of the bowl, and the same number of standing
figures round the shaft.
Norman. — Arrington, Cambridge St. Peter's *, Coton *, Croydon, Great
Abington, Great Wilbraham *, Guilden Morden, Hinxton *, Melbourne,
Oakington (early), Pampisford, Shepreth *, Stuntney *, Thriplow,
Wimpole.
Early English. — Barnwell, Barrington, Cherry Hinton, Doddington *,
Foxton, Little Abington, Newton *, Oakington *, Orwell, Wentworth *}
Westley Waterless, Whittlesford, Wilburton, Witchara *.
Decorated. — Chettisham *, Coveney, Downham, Fen Drayton, Kingston *,
Long Stanton All Saints.
Perpendicular. — Bartlow ; Cambridge, St. Edward * and St. Mary the
Less * ; Carlton *, Caxton, Haddenham *, Histon *, Isleham *,
Leverington *, March, Newmarket *, Quy, Stetchworth *, Swavesey *,
Trumpington *, Tydd *, Whaddon.
Cheshire
has but few old fonts. Many of the old churches have been
rebuilt, or modernized at evil periods. Moreover, Puritanism
assumed a specially destructive form in this county and in
Lancashire. Of the few old fonts, some have accidentally come
to light from the places where they had been buried to escape
malevolent treatment during the Commonwealth period. The
Norman font of Grappenhall was found under the floor in 1874.
The I4th-cent. font of Alderley, now in the churchyard, was
disinterred about 1830. On the other hand, the font of Wilmslow,
of the same century, has recently been banished to the churchyard
to make room for a modern successor. The I5th-cent. font of
Sandbach is interesting on account of its inscription, which has
already been cited. At Woodchurch is a good octagonal font of
Perpendicular style, having four shields with the symbols of the
FONTS 189
Passion. The mediaeval fonts of the Hundred of Wirral are well
illustrated and described in vol. xvii. of the Lancashire and Cheshire
Historical Society's Proceedings.
The county, however, possesses by far the oldest font at present
in use in England, namely, that of Chester cathedral, brought
in recent years from North Italy. It is a beautiful work of art, and
possibly dates from the 8th cent. (Gloucester and Bristol Archaeo-
logical Society's Transactions, xi.).
The font of Marton is remarkable. It is a large leaden
four-sided bason, with wooden supports, on a stone base,
and enclosed in wood, with wood and iron cover. It is thus
described in Mr. Atkinson's additions (1893) to Sir Stephen
Glynne's notes. But this strange and incongruous pretext for a
font must be modern, for Sir Stephen Glynne, in 1853, entered
"the font a plain octagonal bowl." We suppose the old octagon
font was swept away during a restoration of 1871. It would not
have been worth while noting this " font " in any way, only it
has more than once, of late years, been blunderingly added to the
list of old lead fonts.
Norman. — Bebington (later base), Birkenhead (fragment), Burton,
Eastham, Grappenhall, Mottram (rude, early), Wallasey *.
Early English. — Great Budworth *, Prestbury.
Decorated. — Alderley, Tilston *, Wilmslow.
Perpendicular. — Astbury, Barthomley, Davenham, Gowsworth, Marbury,
Great Nestor (broken), Over, Sandbach *, Shotwick, Witton, Wood-
church *, Wybunbury.
Cornwall
is emphatically the part of England where beautifully designed
Norman fonts abound. To attempt to describe and group them
after a thorough fashion would require a volume. Only a few
remarks can be here offered.
Paley so fully recognized the merit and diversity of the fonts
of this county that he gives engravings of twelve, viz. (Norman)
Boconnoc, St. Germans, Lanreath, Mevagissey, and Perranzabuloe ;
(Transition) Bodmin and St. Cuthbert ; (Early English) Lanteglos
and Lostwithiel ; and (Perpendicular) St. Goran and St. Neot
Dragons or salamanders occur on several of the Cornish
fonts, as at St. Kea, St. Sampson, Southill, and Luxulyan. At
i9o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Tintagel serpents twine round the shafts at the angles, and above
them arc crosses.
MEVAGISSEY, CORNWALL
Two of the good series of Norman fonts in the south-east of
this county are of exceptionally fine and unusual design — those of
BODMIN, CORNWALL
St. Stephen and of Maker, the latter of which was brought here
from St. Merryn, near Padstow, when the font of the ruined church
FONTS 191
of St. Constantine obtained shelter at St. Merryn. They have
squared bowls richly ornamented on the same plan as that of
Bodmin. The cup-shaped lower part of the bowl is supported on
a circular shaft, but four detached shafts stand at the angles, with
human head capitals projecting from the rim of the bowl. Cal-
lington and Landrake have handsome fonts somewhat resembling
the two first mentioned ; the bowls are squared at the top and
have human heads at the angles, but no shafts proceeding
from them. There are other fonts of this plan at Alternon and
Southill. Fowey has a handsome cup-shaped Norman font, rather
small for the church, which is strikingly like that of Bishopsteignton,
Devon. At Lanteglos, Lansallos, St. Cleer, and St. Martin are
square fonts supported on five shafts, which are Late Norman, or,
as some would term them, Transition ; the first of these is a
particularly good example. At Lansallos there is also preserved
half of an early round Norman font, which has a cable moulding.
The material of the Cornish fonts varies. Granite, though so
hard to work, occurs from time to time. This is the material of
the I5th-cent. inscribed font of Landewednack, already mentioned.
Caen stone was now and again brought over the seas.
The Cornish church-builders found certain material to hand for
some of their better designs, which, though nearly as durable as
granite and impervious to their often salt-laden atmosphere, was
more easily worked. The student of churches of the north-east
of the county will find three different kinds of stone of the locality
thus used — Catacleuse, Polyphant, and Tintagel green-stone.
The circular font of the church of Forrabury is of green-stone.
The later font of St. Teath is also of that material.
The close-textured Polyphant stone is found on the moors
between Launceston and Bodmin. The bowl of the font of the
church of St. Mabyn is of Polyphant stone, and in the same church
is a bracket of that material.
The stone, however, which is more commonly used for enriched
effects, especially of doorways and their spandrels, comes from the
Catacleuse cliffs, on the north side of the Trevose headland below
Padstow. It is a dark stone of exceeding durability. Carvings
executed in this material, both outside and inside churches, are
often as fresh in their details as when cut between four and five
centuries ago. The nearest church to these cliffs now standing is
the parish church of St. Merryn. The arcade which separates the
T92 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
nave from the south aisle consists of seven four-centred arches,
which, with the piers, are worked throughout in Catacleuse stone.
They have of recent years been rightly cleansed from the paint
that disfigured them. The font is a beautiful example of work in
this stone. It rests on a circular shaft and on four small octagonal
pillars, with shield-bearing angels as their capitals ; figures,
apparently intended for the Apostles, occupy niches round the
bowl. This font was brought here about fifty years ago from the
ruined small church of St. Constantine, much nearer the cliff. The
former font of St. Merryn was of Caen stone, and was removed at
the same time to the church of Maker. The font of St. Breock is
also of Catacleuse stone.
In an interesting paper by Dr. Fryer on " Transitional Norman
Fonts," which appeared in the Journal of the British A rchceological
Association of 1901, the north-east Cornwall fonts of Alternon,
Callington, Jacobstow, Landrake, Laneast, Launceston (St.
Thomas), Lawhitton, and Warbstow, are grouped together and
illustrated. They have all squared bowls, with heads at the
angles, and geometrical circular patterns on the sides.
Lostwithiel font is sufficiently remarkable to deserve extended
notice, more particularly as so much that is extravagant and
incorrect has been written about it. This large I4th-cent.
octagonal font of Pentewan stone has a diameter of 33 inches,
and stands 47 inches high. The bold carvings on the different
faces are not a little remarkable. Facing east is the rood with
Sts. Mary and John. Next comes, in bold relief, a huntsman on
horseback, with horn held to his lips by his right hand, and
falcon on his left hand ; a hound precedes the horse. The
north face has two lions passant. Projecting 6 inches from the
next face is a grotesque human head, with two interlaced snakes
dependent from the crown, the head of each snake being just
over each ear. The west face has a tracery pattern of quatre-
foils. The next panel has the figures in relief of two quadrupeds ;
one, perhaps a hound, seizing the other (?a wolf) by the hind-
quarters ; a figure above these is much mutilated, but is possibly
a second hound. The south face is also tracery-work, chiefly
quatrefoils. The eighth face represents a mitred head, which
projects 4 inches ; from the ears and corners of the mouth proceeds
foliage. The bowl stands on five shafts with channelled mouldings.
An ingenious explanation has been offered of the series of carvings
FONTS 193
on the font panels as denoting the outline life of a man once given
up to worldly lusts and pleasures who, by the power of the Holy
Spirit, was changed and became a bishop of the Church. This is
creditable to the ingenuity of the inventor, but scarcely probable.
Hunting scenes are often found on early fonts, and no one would
have regarded such a pursuit as an evil ; but that there is an
intentional contrast between the snake-entwined head listening to
all the suggestions of evil, and the regenerated mitred head
bringing forth the fruit of good works, there can be but little
doubt. The two lions passant doubtlessly betoken the arms of
the donor of the font ; but such a charge, especially without the
tinctures, is difficult to identify, for it was borne by so many
families, among others by Carter of St. Columb, Cornwall.
Saxon. — Lanteglos (doubtful ; in rectory garden).
Norman. — Alternon, St. Austell * (Trans.), Blisland, Bodmin *, Boyton, St.
Breward, Callington, Camborne *, St. Gather, St. Cuthbert, Eglo-
shayle* (Trans.), Endellion, St. Enodoc*, St. Erney, St. Feock,
Forrabury (Trans.), St. Gennys, St. Germans, St. Issey, Lamorran,
Landewednack * (Trans.), Landrake, Lanreath*, Lansallos, Laun-
ceston, St. Mabyn, Mevagissey, St. Michael, Minster, Perranza-
buloe, Roche, Stratton, Tintagel *, Trevalga, St. Tudy, Warbstow,
Whitstone.
Early English. — Botus Fleming, Bradock, St. Cleer, Fowey, St. Kea,
Landulph, Lanteglos *, Linkinhorne, Menheniot, Minster, Shevioc.
Decorated. — St. Breock, Camborne, Columb Major *, Culmstock, St. Ives,
St. John, Lostwithiel *, St. Keyne, St. Merryn (from St. Constantine),
Morval, Padstow, Pillaton, Rame, Saltash, Trevalga, St. Winnow.
Perpendictilar. — Blisland, Boconnoc, Crantock (1474), Duloe, St. Govan,
St. Gulval, St. Ive, Lanlivery, Michaelstow, Mullion, St. Sampson,
Talland, St. Veep, Zennor.
Cumberland
though the number of its old fonts is limited, possesses some
early instances of great archaeological value.
The square font of Bridekirk yields to none in all England in
interest and artistic merit. It was beautifully engraved in Lysons'
history of the county, and all four sides are well illustrated in
Calverley's Early Sculptures of Cumberland (1899). On one side
is the Baptism of Christ, and on the opposite side the expulsion
o
194 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
of Adam and Eve. On a third side is an inscription of which
particulars have been already set forth.
The early Norman remarkable fonts of Dearham and Torpenhow
are also well illustrated and described in Mr. Calverley's posthumous
volume.
The late I4th-cent. font at Crosthwaite had its elaborate and
curious carvings fully described in the Gentleman s Magazine for
1844. It bears the arms of Edward III. The inscriptions have
been already set out.
The octagonal I5th-cent. font of Millom bears the arms of
Huddlestone on one of the panels.
Norman. — Aspatria *, Bridekirk *, Bowness, Crosby-on-Eden, Cross
Canonby, Dearham*, Newton Reigny, Torpenhow, Waberthwaite,
Workington.*
Early English. — Harrington, Whitbeck.
Decorated. — Bootle, Crosthwaite, Eskdale.
Perpendicular. — Millom.
Derbyshire
The font at Wilne made from a Saxon pillar cross has already
been mentioned. This county is particularly rich in Norman
fonts, and has a few fairly good ones of the different Gothic periods.
Three of the Derbyshire tub fonts may safely be assigned to the
nth cent., namely, those of Mellor, Tissington, and Thorpe. In
the last case the sculpture has all peeled off through long exposure
in the churchyard ; the two others have hunting scenes rudely
depicted. There is a good group of later tub fonts, characteristically
ornamented, at Chesterfield (early), Church Broughton, Kirk Hallam,
and Somershall Herbert. The lead font at Ashover is a grand
example of late Norman work in the metal for which the county
was famed from the earliest days. The late Norman font at Youl-
greave, removed here from the chapelry of Elton, with its projecting
stoup, has already been discussed. Mr. G. Le Blanc Smith has
some admirable well illustrated articles on the Norman fonts of the
county in the Journal of the Derbyshire Arch&ological Society
(vols. xxv.-xxvii.).
There is nothing very remarkable about the Gothic fonts of the
county, save the unusual size and treatment of the i4th-cent.
THORPE ARNOLD, LEICESTERSHIRE
ASHOVER, DERBYSHIRE
MELLOR, DERBYSHIRE
LENTON, NOTTS
FONTS 195
example at Bakewell. Muggington is of the highly unusual
hexagon shape.
The late Elizabethan alabaster octagonal font at Risley is
noteworthy ; it has the arms of Willoughby repeated four times.
Pentrich, though a Norman font, is stamped with the date 1662,
which implies the date when it was brought back into the church
after its ejection by the Puritans. At Wirksworth is one of the
most elaborate instances in England of a font newly made in 1662.
Paley dealt generously with Derbyshire fonts, giving engravings
of those of Ashbourne, Bradbourne, Bradley, Norbury, and Norton,
all of which are Early English.
Saxon. — Wilne (made out of a Saxon pillar cross).
Norman. — Ashover *, Bradbourne, Chesterfield, Church Broughton *v
Crich, Darley, Eyam, Fenny Bentley (Trans.), Haddon Chapel,
Hognaston, Kirk Hallam, Longford, Marston-on-Dove, Melbourne,
Mellor * (early), Ockbrook, Parwich, Pentrich, Pleasley (Trans.),
Somersal Herbert *, Staveley, Thorpe, Tissington *, Winster *,
Wirksworth (Trans.), Youlgreave.
Early English. — Ashbourne, Aston *, Barton Blount, Bradbourne, Bradley,
Doveridge, Foremark, Norbury *, Norton *.
Decorated. — Bakewell *, Elvaston, Mugginton, Sandiacre * (late), West
Hallam.
Perpendicular. — Bonsall, Brailsford, Chelmorton *, Horsley *, Longstone,
Monyash, Radbourne, Taddington.
Devonshire
is celebrated for the number and variety of its Norman fonts.
There are ninety-five extant, fifteen of which are circular, and the
remainder cubical or squared. Paley engraves four examples,
namely, Alphington, Hartland, Plympton, and Stoke Canon.
Out of twenty-five old churches of North Devon, in that in-
teresting triangle of the county of which Bideford, Hartland, and
Torrington form the angles, although late I5th-cent. work strongly
predominates in the fabrics, seven of the fonts are Norman of varied
characteristics. The font at Hartland is a good example: the
upper part, which is ornamented with interesting arcade work, is
square ; the base has a cable moulding, and is also channelled with
a chevron pattern. The font at Weir Gifford is also square, and
resembles the cushioned capital of a pier. The font of the little
196 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
church of West Putford has a rude-shaped bowl almost oval, but
the cable moulding points to a Norman date ; it was probably, in
its origin, of village workmanship. The fonts of Buckworthy and
Lancross have also cable mouldings. The font of Abbotsham
church is chalice-shaped, but there is the cable moulding round
the top of the bowl, as well as round the top and bottom of the
base shaft ; it is of late Norman date. The more beautiful
examples of the period are in South Devon.
The instances of I3th and I4th-cent. fonts in this county are
singularly few.
In the 1 5th cent., as stone-dressing appliances became more
skilled, granite was largely used in the church fabrics of North
Devon as well as in Cornwall. Here and there this durable stone
was brought into use for fonts. In the district first named granite
is used for I5th-cent. fonts at Littleham, Sutcombe, Langtree, and
Milton Damerel. The large octagon font of Langtree is well
moulded and carved considering the hardness of the material ; it
is divided into panels, on one of which is the Agnus Dei, on
another a Latin cross, and simple conventional patterns on the
remainder. At Plympton St.Mary, in the south of the county, the
octagonal granite font is of effective though simple design and
well moulded. The eight panels bear shields in quatrefoils, and
the slender octagonal shaft is panelled with trefoil heads.
The Gentleman's Magazine for 1835 has an extraordinary
account of a quasi font that used to be in the church of St. Edmund-
on-the-Bridge, Exeter, which had at that date been recently taken
down. " The modern font, which resembled an apothecary's mortar,
was drawn up, when not used, to the brestsummer of the west
gallery."
Norman. — Abbotsham, Alphington, Ashington, Ashprington, Bere Ferrers,
Berry Narbor, Bideford, Bishopsteignton, Blackawton, South Brent,
Buckfastleigh, Clawton, Cheriton, Chudleigh, Clovelly, Colyton
Rawleigh, Crediton Bishop, Dean Prior, Drewsteignton, Dunkeswell,
Ermington, Exeter St. Mary Steps, Farringdon, Hartland, Holbeton,
Honiton Clyst, Huxam, Laddiswell, Lustleigh, Maristow*, South
Molton, South Pool, East Rutford, Rattary, Satnpford Peverel, Stoke
Canon, Tawstock, Tetcote, Ugborough, Wear Gifford, Woolborough,
Woolfardisworthy.
Early English. — Coffinswell.
Decorated. — Lamerton, Meavy, Sheepstor, Woodland.
GREAT KIMBLE, BUCKS
BISHOPSTEINGTON, S. DEVON
ALPHINGTON, S. DEVON
YOULGREAVE, DERBYSHIRE
FONTS
197
Perpendicular. — Bigbury, Buckland Monachorum, Clyst St. George, Dod-
discombsleigh, Dunsford, North Moulton, Ottery St. Mary, Petrock-
stow, Plympton St. Mary, East Teignmouth, Totnes, Yealmpton.
Dorsetshire,
like other counties of the west, has a considerable number of
Norman fonts ; there are few good ones of the Early English
period, and a large number of the I5th cent. Paley illustrates the
handsomely ornamented late Norman circular font of West Chel-
borough. Pimperne is a good example of the cup-shaped font.
Toller Fratrum has the bowl covered with sculptured figures.
Loders has a square Norman bowl of
Purbeck marble. Wareham has its
nth-cent, leaden font mounted on an
octagonal base of the same local
marble.
Purbeck marble, as might be sup-
posed, is the material of various of the
fonts, as at Gussage All Saints, Down-
ton, and Mappowder, and also the fine
late Norman example at Whitchurch
Canonicorum, the Early English ex-
ample of Cranborne, and in the later
instance at Sherborne.
The font of Puddletown is highly
singular and beautifully wrought ; it
is beaker-shaped, and carved through-
out with vine-leaved trellis work.
The rich late Perpendicular font of Bradford Abbas is well
illustrated by Paley. It is supported by a central panelled shaft
and by a square buttress at each corner. There are niches in these
buttresses ; three of them have bishops, and the fourth the Agnus
Dei on a book. It may safely be described as of unique design.
Norman. — Affpuddle, Askerswell, Bincombe, Bere Regis *, Broad Windsor,
Chalden Herring (early), Chelborough, Gillingham, Gussage All
Saints (Trans.), Loders, Marnhull, Pimperne *, North Porton, Partis-
ham, Preston, Pulham *, Toller Fratrum, Turners Puddle, Wareham,
Warmwell, Whitscombe, Winterborne Abbas, Winterborne St. Martin,
Whitchurch Canonicorum,
PUDDLETOWN, DORSET
198 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Early English. — Burton-Bradstock, Great Cawford, Cranborne *, Fifehead
Neville, Puddletown, Shillingston, Wotton Glanville *.
Decorated. — Stafford West, Stoke Gayland.
Perpendicular. — Bradford Abbas, Bridport, Corfe Castle, Fordington,
Hooke, Langton Herring, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Winterborne
Came, Winterborne Whitchurch, Winterborne Zebston, Wool.
Durham
has but a small display of old fonts. Winston, the best of
the Norman examples, is curiously sculptured with dragons.
Darlington has a I3th-cent. font. The I4th-cent. font of Brance-
peth is surmounted by a canopy, the gift of Bishop Cosin. The
1 5th-cent. octagonal font of Hart is a very fine one ; it is adorned
with the sculptured figures of the Evangelists and other saints.
Norman. — AyclifFe, Durham St. Giles, Easington, Escombe *, Pittington,
Winston *, Witton-le-Wear.
Early English. — Darlington *.
Decorated. — Brancepeth *, Dalton.
Perpendicular. — Barnard Castle, Hart *, Heighington, Sedgefield, Staindrop.
Essex
The square late Norman font of Fryerning is beautifully carved
in slight relief, two with foliage, a third with croslets, and the
fourth with stars and crescents. Hadleigh has an octagon bowl
on a bold moulding of circular plan sculptured with trefoil leaves.
The plain octagon font at Blackmore is of Purbeck marble ; Buckler
considers it Norman, but this is doubtful. Writtle, of the same
period, is square, with columns at the angles. The large square
Norman font of grey marble at Fyfield is well carved ; it is
engraved by Suckling.
The severely plain octagon font at Stock is either Early
English or Transitional. It is engraved in the Suckling Papers.
There is another plain octagonal font at Mountnessing, also
engraved by Suckling, which is probably Early English.
The graceful font of Boreham is of the time of Edward I.
Paley considered the I5th-cent. fonts of Margaretting and South
Ockendon sufficiently good to merit engraving, and they are also
illustrated in Buckler's Essex Churches. But the finest and most
FONTS 199
elaborate font of that period in the county is the one of St.
Martin's, Colchester. Saffron Walden font, of Ketton stone, is
engraved by Paley.
Norman. — Aveley, Little Chesterford, Eastwood, Elmdon, Farnham, Fryer-
ning, Fyfield *, Hadleigh, Mount Fitchet, North Ockendon, Rainham,
Little Wakering, Wicken Bonant, Writtle.
Early English. — Hadleigh *, Mountnessing, Stanford-le-Hope *, Shopland *,
Stifford, Stock, North Shoebury, Thunderley, Woodham Ferris.
Decorated. — Borehara, Bulphan, Childerditch, Finchingfield *, Ingatestone.
Perpendicular. — Althorne ; Colchester, St. Martin ; North Fambridge, St.
Leonard, Longton*, Margaretting, South Ockendon, Orsett, St.
Osyth, Saffron Walden*, Shenfield (late), Thaxted*, Upminster,
Willingale Doe, Willingale Spain.
Gloucestershire
has a fair number of interesting Norman fonts, as well as one
which has every claim to be considered Saxon, as already stated.
The divergent spiral ornaments of the Deerhurst font point to a
pre-Norman date, even if there were no other arguments to be
deduced. The broken portions of this font have been cleverly
restored.
The font of Tidenham is of Early Norman date, prior to noo.
Leckhampton font is also early in the same period. Westerleigh
is one of the best Norman fonts in the county ; it is engraved by
Paley ; the bowl has the general form of a square capital with the
sides ornamented in low relief with geometrical patterns. The
plain Norman font of St. Philip's, Bristol, also appears in Paley.
Thornbury is an interesting specimen of the beginning of the Early
English style ; Hempstead of the same period is curiously carved.
Elkstone is a handsome example of the close of the I4th cent.
The best 1 5th-cent. font, of a plain description, is that of Yate ;
the bowl is panelled with eight quatrefoils with rose centres ; the
shaft is also octagonal and panelled.
A correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine describing
Cirencester church, as seen in 1749, says —
" Here is a stone pulpit and two fonts ; an old one of stone standing
upon a pillar, and a new one of marble, erected by the contribution of
several gentlemen of that town, which is constantly used."
200 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Saxon. — Deerhurst *.
Norman. — Bristol St. Philip's*, Berkeley *, Cheriton, Eastington, Frampton-
on-Severn, Hanham, Haresfield, Lancaut, Leckhampton, Newnham,
Southdrop, Tidenham, Westerleigh, Welford *.
Early English. — Hempstead *, Ozleworth, Pucklechurch *, Thornbury *.
Decorated. — Charlton Kings, Elkstone *, Staunton.
Perpendicular. — Fairford, Old Yate *, Saltwood.
Hampshire
This county has an exceptionally large supply of Norman and
Transitional fonts. In addition to the four noble examples of
black Belgium marble at Winchester cathedral, St. Michael's,
Southampton, East Meon, and St. Mary Bourne, there are a
considerable number of fonts made of Purbeck marble. Among
the latter may be named the Norman fonts of Bighton, Bramley,
Brockenhurst, Colemore, Mottisfont, Ovington, and Stockbridge ;
the I3th-cent. example at King's Somborne, with eight small
shafts; two others at Kingsclere and Meonstoke, c. 1200;
and one of the I4th cent, at Heckfield. The Norman fonts of
Porchester, Minster, and Walford have figure sculptures ; the first
of these is most noteworthy, and has on one side the Baptism of
our Lord.
There are comparatively few fonts of the various Gothic periods
and none of particular note. Kingsworthy, however, is a beautiful
font, temp. Edward III. Each of the eight panels is sculptured
with a different form of tracery. There is a good engraving in
Paley's Fonts.
The only other Hampshire font engraved by Paley is that of
Penton, which is well described as " a good and pleasing example
of late Decorated work." Each of the eight compartments of the
bowl are doubly panelled, with foliated trefoil arches in the heads.
Saxon. — Boarhunt, South Hayling.
Norman. — Bentley, Bighton *, Botley, Bourne St. Mary *, Bramley, Bracken-
hurst, Bursledon, Chalford, Colemore, Crondall, Goodworth Clasford,
Hurstbourne Priors, Kingsley, Knights Enham, Leckford, Lickenholt,
East Meon, Meonstoke (Trans.), Minstead, Mottisfont, Mottiston, I.
of Wight; Niton, I. of Wight; Ovington, Porchester*, Sherborne,
St. John; Southampton, St. Michael*; Stockbridge, Stoke Charity,
Stratfield Sturgis, Winchester cathedral *, Winchfield.
CASTLE FROMK, HEREFORDSHIRE
FONTS 201
Early English. — Bentworth *, Bramshaw, Empshott, Fordingb ridge ;
Freshwater, I. of Wight ; South Hayling, Hound *, Kingsclere, Kings
Somborne *, Littleton, Michelmersh, Odiham *.
Decorated. — Bramshott, Hartley Mauditt, Heckfield, Kingsworthy, Penton *,
Romsey, Silchester, Upton Grey, Yateley.
Perpendicular. — Basing, Brightstone, I. of Wight; Overton.
Herefordshire
has a considerable number of Norman fonts, of which those of
the cathedral and Canon Pyon are among the earliest and most
interesting. The Apostles are carved round the large bowl of the
Norman font of Eardisley. The font at Kenchester is supposed
by some to be cut out of a Roman column. At Shobden the font
is supported by the four Evangelistic symbols.
The font at Kilpeck, said to be like those of Bredwardine
and Madley, was thus described in the Gentleman s Magazine in
1833-
" The font is a huge circular bason of granite, 4 feet in diameter, set on
a cylindrical column 10 feet in circumference; the height of the whole is
3 feet. A small inner bason, serving as a plug to the larger bason, is
sculptured to resemble basket work."
The most noteworthy font of the county is that of Castle
Frome. This Early Norman font shows the symbols of the
Evangelists, which very rarely appear on sculpture of that date.
The scene of the Baptism of Christ (illustrated in Mr. Romilly
Allen's work on Early Christian Symbolism) is vividly portrayed
after a striking fashion. Christ stands in a kind of whirlpool of
water represented by a series of circular lines, and has two fish on
each side of Him. The heavily moustached Baptist has a maniple
on the right arm. The Manus Dei of the First Person of the
Trinity appears giving the benediction, and the Third as the Dove
hovering over Christ's head.
Saxon. — Bosbury.
Norman. — Bredwardine, Brinsop, Bromyard, Canon Pyon *, Castle Frome *,
Eardisley *, Eye, Hereford cathedral, Little Hereford, Hope Mansell,
Kenchester *, Kilpeck, Madley, Middleton *, Moccas, Much Marcle,
Orleton*, Peter Church, Rowlstone, Shobden, Stretton Sugwas,
Thuxton,
202 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Early English. — Bosbury, Lingen.
Decorated. — Fownhope.
Perpendicular. — Walford.
Hertfordshire
is not particularly famed for its fonts, though it has some fair
examples of each period.
Wormley is an unusual form of Norman font ; there is a bold
dignity about the band of conventional foliage round the upper
part of the bowl, as shown in the plate reproduced from the East
Herts Arch&ological Society's Transactions for 1901. Sand ridge,
figured in Paley, is a good example of a Norman cylindrical font ;
it is surrounded with interlaced arcading, above which is the
saw-tooth ornament. The Norman font of Sarratt is of Purbeck
marble. The early square Norman font of Hendon is of unusually
large proportions. Aldenham is illustrated by Paley as a good
but plain example of Early English ; it is of Purbeck marble ; the
square bowl is supported by a central pillar, with shafts at the
angles. Abbots Langley octagonal font is illustrated in the same
work as an interesting late example of Decorated. The sides are
panelled with quatrefoils, four of them being occupied with the
Evangelistic symbols. Parker illustrates the fine 1 4th -cent, font
of Offley. The best I5th-cent. font of the county is at Ware ; it is
of the time of Henry IV., and has sculptured on the panels in
high relief, the Blessed Virgin, St. Gabriel, St. John Baptist,
St. Christopher and Holy Child, St. George, St. Margaret, St.
Katharine, and St. Thomas.
Norman. — Anstey *, Baldock (Trans.), Bishops Stortford (Trans.), Har-
penden, Sandridge *, Sarratt, Thorley, Wormley * (Trans.).
Early English. — Aldenham*, Datchworth, Gilston, Sawbridgeworth,
Standon, Stevenage.
Decorated. — Abbots Langley (late), Hitchin*.
Perpendicular.— Hunsdon, Offley *, Therfield, Ware *.
Huntingdonshire
This small county has many plain examples of Norman fonts,
as well as a few of more particular merit and of varied design.
Broughton has a square bowl, with shallow arcading. Holywell is
WORMLEY, HERTS
FONTS 203
octagonal, and stands on small plain shafts. St. Ives is octagonal,
panelled with an interesting arcade.
Stibbington, of Transition Norman date, is well illustrated by
Paley. It is of massive octagonal form, and has a semicircular
headed arch on each face, springing from slender shafts at the
angles. It is supported by a central pillar, and by eight small
round shafts ; the bases of the latter appear to have been renewed
late in the I5th cent.
The Early English font of Huntingdon St. Mary has a plain
octagonal bowl, but the pedestal has a fine cluster of circular
shafts. Stanground is another very good specimen of this style ;
it is also supported by a cluster of shafts.
There is a good Decorated font at Little Stukeley, with quatre-
foils on the bowl and foliage beneath. The font at Hamerton is a
fine example of Perpendicular; the bowl is richly panelled, and
the pedestal is raised on steps. Glatton is another good instance
of this style.
Norman. — Brington, Broughton *, Bury * (Trans.), Bythorne, Holywell, St.
Ives, Keystone, Ramsey, Stibbington, Upton * (Trans.).
Early English. — Fletton *, Huntingdon St. Mary *, Old Hurst, Stain-
ground *, Warboys, Wistow.
Decorated. — Little Stukeley *, Water Newton *.
Perpendicular. — Bluntisham, Buckden, Fen Standon *, Glatton *, Hamer-
ton *, Heddenham, St. Neots.
Kent
is an interesting county in the diversity of its fonts. There are a
large number of Norman and I5th-cent. examples, whilst the two
intervening periods are well represented.
Next to the font of St. Martin's, Canterbury, to which reference
has already been made, the most remarkable of the early fonts of
the county is that of Darenth. It was described, with some detail,
in the Gentleman's Magazine as long ago as 1827, and again ten
years later. This fine piece of early Norman sculpture has eight
subjects under semicircular arcades, and is well illustrated in
Mr. Romilly Allen's Early Christian Symbolism. David playing
the harp and the rite of baptism are two of the incidents.
In two cases the fonts are of black marble, namely, Bromley
and Woodchurch. Brookland, one of the examples in lead, has
204 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
the signs of the Zodiac. Several of the later Norman examples
have the four small shafts round the central shaft forming the base,
and it is difficult in some cases whether to call them late Norman,
Transitional, or Early English.
The I3th-cent. font of St. George's, Canterbury, is unique;
eight tall detached shafts, with well-moulded capitals and bases,
in addition to a larger central shaft, hold up a perfectly plain
shallow octagon bowl ; the smaller shafts stand out beyond the
bowl, which is only supported by half of the capitals. This font
is engraved by Rickman.
The octagonal I5th-cent. font of St. Mildred, Canterbury, is of
Bethenden marble, and has roses and the monogram I.H.C. on
alternate panels. The fine octagonal font at Herne was beautifully
engraved by Simpson ; the panels of the bowl bear an interesting
series of heraldic shields, and the shaft is richly traceried.
Farningham, Shorne, and Southfleet are Seven Sacrament
fonts, as already mentioned.
Saxon. — Canterbury, St. Martin's (lower part).
Norman. — Adisham, Brabourne, Brookland, Bromley ; Canterbury, St,
Peter * ; Chalk, Darenth *, Dover St. Mary, Elmstone, Footscray,
Fordwich, Gillingham *, High Halden, Molash, Newenden *, Oare,
Ospringe, West Peckham.
Early English. — Ashurst, Biddenden, Burham, Bridington; Canterbury,
St. George, St. Margaret, St. Mary Magdalen; Elmstead, Hinxhill,
Luddesdown, Orpington, Preston, Stourmouth, Sevington, Swalecliffe,
Swanscombe, Ulcombe, Wrotham.
Decorated. — Cobham *, Farborough, Hawkhurst *, Hythe *, Kennington,
East Langdon, Lenham, Mersham, Rolvenden, Sandhurst *.
Pei-pendicular. — Appledon, Ashford, Brakesbourne ; Canterbury, St. Alphage
and St. Mildred ; Cowden, Eynesford, Egerton *, Eastby, Farning-
ham *, Frindsbury, Gillingham, Headcorn *, Herne *, Horsmonden,
Ightham, Langley, Margate, Maidstone, Milton, Newington, Ottram,
Sandwich St. Mary, Sevenoaks, Shorne *, Southfleet, Staple, Wester-
ham, Wye.
Lancashire
for much the same reason as Cheshire, makes, for its size, a poor
display of old fonts. There is interesting early Norman sculpture
round the fonts of Walton-on-the-Hill and Kirkby, both near
Liverpool. Each is described and illustrated in Mr. Romilly
FONTS 205
Allen's work on Symbolism. The former is much mutilated, having
for many years served as a horse-block at a public-house adjoining
the church ; one of the most distinct subjects is Christ riding into
Jerusalem. In two adjacent arcades on the Kirkby font the
subject is the Temptation of Adam and Eve.
There are several interesting I5th-cent. fonts in the county.
Colne has the symbols of the Passion, and Chipping the initial
letters of the Latin version of the Angelic Salutation.
There is a good illustrated article on the mediaeval fonts of
the Hundred of West Derby, in vol. xviii. of the Proceedings of
the Lancashire and Cheshire Historical Society.
In the wholly modernized Lancashire church of Padiham, the
old font presented in 1525 by John Paslew, last abbot of Whalley,
and bearing his arms, is still preserved. It may here be mentioned
that another interesting Lancashire font, that of Altham, was also
the gift of the same abbot. On the sides of the bowl of this latter
font, are the letters A.Q., M.R., S.M., and I.H.C., alternating with
symbols of the Passion.
The Lancashire font of Dalton-in-Furness bears the arms of
Furness Abbey.
Norman. — Broughton-in-Furness, Formby, Goosnergh, Huyton, Kirkby *,
Walton-on-the-Hill *, Warton.
Early English. — Chorley.
Decorated. — Altcar, Furness, Halsall (fragments), Ribchester, Wigan
(rectory garden), Winwick.
Perpendicular. — Altham *, Aughton, Burnley, Chipping *, Colne *, Dalton-
in-Furness, Deane, Haslingden, Heysham, Huyton, Maghull, Middle-
ton, Padiham, Prestwich, Sefton, Stalham *, Standish, Stidd *, Walton,
Whalley.
Leicestershire
has a considerable variety of Norman fonts, and some good
examples of the first two Gothic periods, particularly of the I3th
cent.
Of the Norman fonts, Sapcote, as illustrated by Simpson, had
a beautifully sculptured bowl of unusual design. The cylindrical
font of Rothley, illustrated by Paley, has an effective but simple
chevron pattern covering the whole of the bowl. Thorpe Arnold
early font has some rude figure carving, including the combat
between St. Michael and the dragon ; it is engraved by Simpson.
206 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The late Transition font of Stonesby, also illustrated by Paley, is
an interesting example of octagonal interlaced arcading.
The square Norman bowl, well sculptured, of Ashby Folville
font, c. 1 1 60, is illustrated by Rickman.
The vicissitudes of the I3th-cent. font of Scraptoft are chronicled
in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1844, by one J. F. —
" Its font, which I found embedded in nettles, was turned out of the
church to make way for a ridiculous wash-hand bason-looking thing on a
high stone pedestal. The old font was placed by a western wall, and
served the villagers for many a year as a cistern. It was lately removed
from its exposed situation and placed in the belfry, where it now remains,
a receptacle for ropes and rubbish. It is of Early English character, and
mouldings are very sharp and nearly perfect."
The dog-tooth ornament appears at Burrough, not only between
the grouped shafts of the stem of the font, but round the edge of
the octagonal step, a most unusual feature. Waltham-on-the-Wolds
also shows the dog-tooth on the font stem, and interlaced arcading
round the octagonal bowl. The same moulding is on the angles
of the cubical font of Twyford. These three Early English fonts,
as well as the handsome example of All Saints, Leicester, are all
figured by Simpson.
Paley draws largely on Leicestershire for his comparatively
few engravings of Decorated fonts, giving the four very different
examples of Goadby Marwood, Ratby, Stoke Golding, and Whit-
wick. Figures on I4th-cent. fonts are most exceptional, but on
the sides of Stoke Golding font, under crocketed canopies, are
representations of St. Katharine, St. Margaret, and other saints.
Noseley font, with its handsome tracery, is illustrated by Simpson.
Norman. — Arnesby*, Ashby Folville, Billesdon (Trans.), Braunston, Bring-
hurst, Caldwall *, Desford, Earls Shilton, Foxton, Hungerton,
Kilworth, Lockington *, Peckleton, Rothley *, Sapcote * (Trans.),
Stonesby * (Trans.), Thorpe Arnold *, Til ton, Waltham-on-the-Wolds
(Trans.).
Early English. — Barrow - on - the - Hill, Beeby, Belgrave, Burrough *,
Evington, Gaddesby, Hallaton ; Leicester, All Saints * and St.
Mary * ; Rearsby *, Scraptoft, Thurnby, Twyford *, Waltham-on-the
Wolds *.
Decorated. — Bredon, Goadby Marwood *, Market Bosworth, Noseley *,
Ratby *, Stoke Golding *, Whitwick *, Wyfordby.
Perpendicular. — Great Bowden, Breedon.
ASHBOURNK, DERBYSHIRE
BARROW-OX- 1 HK-HII. I., LEICESTERSHIRE
WALTHAM-ON-THE-WOLDS,
LEICESTERSHIRE
BAKEWELL, DERBYSHIRE
FONTS 207
Lincoln
has a very fine variety of fonts, both of Norman and Gothic types.
Among the Norman types special mention should be made of the
early one at Belton, with rude human and other figures ; several
of them are ecclesiastics, whilst in one compartment a man rings
two bells, and in another a headsman and a hangman are laying
hold of a culprit. At Stow there is a great octagon font resting
on eight shafts. The Transition font of Edenham has eight shafts
of Purbeck marble. The Transition fonts of Lincoln Minster and
Thornton Curtis are both of black marble, and are remarkably
carved. Barnetby, late Norman, is of lead with three bands of
scroll-work.
West Deeping has a fine Early English shaft, and a later
octagon bowl with heraldic shields.
Among I4th-cent. fonts, there are some of exceptional design.
Such are Barrowby, of elaborate tracery, which has a triple monster
curiously enclosed in its hollow stem ; Grantham, with a series of
sculptures representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Circumcision,
Baptism, Blessing of Children, Transfiguration, Sacrifice of Isaac
and the Three Kings (the stem and base are I5th cent, and steps
and lofty cover modern) ; and Stixwold, whose eight faces bear
the symbols of the four Evangelists, alternating with the first four
months of the year, with the names in black letter above.
Seven of the Lincolnshire fonts bear inscriptions (see Suffolk
fonts), which have been already recorded, viz. Bourne, Bradley,
Dunsby, Quadring, South Ormsby, Threckingham, and Wold
Newton.
Both Simpson and Paley are generous in their treatment of the
fonts of this county. The former illustrates, Norman, Osbournby,
Belton, Aswardby, and Helpringham ; Early English, Weston,
Threckingham, and West Deeping ; Decorated, Swaynton, Knaith,
Heckington, Horbling, Haydor, and Carlton Scroope ; and Per-
pendicular, Great Hale, Fosdyke, and Bourne.
Paley illustrates, Early English, Thurlby, Weston, and Thorpe ;
Decorated, Strubby, Maltby-le- Marsh, Bradley, and Ewerby ; and
Perpendicular, North Somercotes, Covenham St. Mary, Bourne,
and Pinchbeck.
The early I5th-cent. font of Huttoft is a good example of
profusion of I5th-cent. carving. The bowl is octagonal and the
208 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
panels are filled with figures representing the Holy Trinity, the
Blessed Virgin and Child, and the Twelve Apostles, two and two.
On the octagonal shaft are eight figures under niches, one of which
is hopelessly mutilated ; others are probably St. Gregory, St.
Guthlac, St. Ethelburga, St. Richard of Chichester, St. Mary
Magdalen, and St. Paul. The base is supported by four large
figures of the Evangelistic symbols.
Norman. — Ancaster *, Annaby, Aswardby *, Aunsby, Barnetby-le-Wold *,
Barnoldby, Belton *, Boothby Pagnal, Braceborough *, Cabourn *,
Cadney *, Glee *, Coleby, Cuxwold, Deeping St. James *, Edenham
(Trans.), Fulbeck *, Houghton-le-Clay, Lincoln cathedral (Trans.),
Scartho, Stow *, Thornton Curtis * (Trans.), West Torrington, Silk
Willoughby *, Wytham-on-Hill (Trans.).
Early English. — Belton-by-Grantham *, Bottesford, West Deeping *,
Greetwell, Grimsby *, Helpringham, Hibaldstow *, Hough, Sibsey *,
South Somercotes *, Tallington, Thorpe St. Peter *, Threckingham,
Thurlby *, Walcot *, Weston *.
Decorated. — Asgarby, Barrowby *, Bitchfield *, Bradley *, Caythorp, Colster-
worth (base N.), Claypole, Ewerby *, Gonerby *, Grantham *,
Harlaxton *, Heckington *, Ingoldmells *, Kilby, Knaith *, Maltby *,
Sleaford, Somerby, Stixwold *, Strubby *, Swaynton, Tallington,
Wold Newton.
Perpendicular. — Ashby-cum-Fenby, Blyborough, Blyton, Bourne *,
Broughton Brant, Burwell; Covenham, St. Mary, St. Bartholomew;
Carlton Scroope *, Dounsby *, Enderby Bag, Evedon, Fosdyke *, Grant-
ham, Haydor, Harrington *, Horbling, Huttoft *, Kniton *, Market
Deeping, Pinchbeck, Quadring, Rauceby *, Ropsley *, Stanton All
Saints *, Stixwold *, Surfleet, Theddlethorpe, Wilsford *.
Middlesex
makes but a poor display of fonts ; it will suffice to enumerate the
chief examples.
Norman. — Harlington, Harrow, Hayes, Hendon.
Early English. — South Minims, Ruislip.
Perpendicular. — West Drayton *, Hornsey, Monken Hadley, Pinner.
Monmouthshire
has a few good Norman examples, of which the following may be
named : Grosmont, Llanellan (converted into sundial pedestal),
Llanhilleth, Llanllowell *, Michaelstone-y-Vedw *, Overmonnow,
Whitson *. The font at Chepstow is i$th cent.
HUTTOFT, LINCOLNSHIRE
FONTS
Norfolk
209
is justly famed for its fonts. There are some general remarks on
the late East Anglian fonts under Suffolk.
The Norman fonts are numerous. Two highly remarkable
ones, with square bowls and standing on four legs, occur at
Burnham Deepdale and Fincham. Both are carved with human
figures. They are discussed in Mr. Romilly Allen's Early Christian
Symbolism, and admirably illustrated in vol. ii. of Victoria History
of Norfolk. The former one has figures representative of the
months. The Fincham font has three arcades on each of the
sides. Beneath them are figures illustrative of (i) Adam and
Eve and the Temptation, of (2) the Nativity, of (3) the Magi, and
of (4) the Baptism of Christ. The font at Sculthorpe, which is
also square in the bowl, has the Adoration of the Magi on the
east face, but the other faces have geometrical patterns. The
square Norman font of Breccles is rudely carved, and bears the
four Evangelists. Toftrees, Shernburn, South Wootton, and Castle
Rising form another group of noteworthy square-bowled fonts with
figured heads ; whilst Laxham, Stody, and Letheringsett have
Norman fonts of Purbeck marble, supported on low pillars. Paley
illustrates two other examples of this last class, namely, those
of Hunstanton and Heckingham ; he also gives an engraving of
Belaugh (Transition), which stands on five shafts.
There is a good illustrated article on the Norman fonts of
North- West Norfolk in the Reliquary and Illustrated Archceologist,
vol. ix.
There are various good instances of Early English fonts, but
none of special note, save those of Great Snoring, Antingham,
and Walcote, which are of Purbeck marble. The I4th-cent. fonts
are somewhat more numerous and distinguished. Four of these
are illustrated by Paley, namely, those of Ditchingham, Postwick,
and All Saints and St. Gregory, Norwich.
The Perpendicular fonts are one of the leading features of the
ecclesiology of the county. They are very numerous, and only
the more important are named in the subjoined list. These
I5th-cent. fonts include sixteen of those that bear the Seven
Sacraments, which have been already enumerated. Several show
symbols of the Passion on the bowl panels, as at Blakeney ; others
those of the Evangelists, of which there are a variety of examples ;
p
210 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
whilst in a few cases the Passion and Evangelistic symbols appear
alternately, as at Aylsham, Great Denham, and Salthouse. The
list of font inscriptions shows that several occur in this county.
Rickman, in his illustration of fonts, draws all his examples
of I5th-cent. work from this county, namely, Wymondham, East
Dereham, and Worstead with tabernacled cover. The last two
are instances in which the font steps or risers are ornamented with
quatrefoils.
At Gooderstone, a precise date can be assigned to the hand-
some octagonal font ; Peter Flote, vicar, left 40^. in the year 1446
for a new font.
Norman. — Belaugh (Trans.), Little Bittering, Burnham Deepdale *, Burn-
ham Norton, Breccles *, Castle Rising, Colkirk, Drayton, Frettenham,
Fincham *, Heckingham, Horsford, Hunstanton, Ingoldesthorpe *,
Langham, Letheringsett, Lingwood, Sculthorpe *, Sedgefield, Shere-
ford, Shernborne, Little Snoring, Southacre, Stody, Toftrees,
Wanderford, Wareham All Saints, Wareham St. Mary's, South
Wootton *.
Early English — Antingham, East Bilney, West Bradenham, Crostwight,
Horsning, Ingham, Ormesby St. Michael, Ridlington, Scatlow,
Great Snoring, Thorington, Tessingham, Walcott *.
Decorated. — Blickling, Bradfield*, Brinton, Calthorpe, Ditchingham *, Elsing,
Felbright, Hevingham, Ludham, Mautby ; Norwich, All Saints and
St. Gregory; Ovington, Postwick, Runton, Roughton, Shelfanger,
Sheringham, Terrington St. Clements, Trunch.
Perpendicular. — Aylsham, Blakeney, Blofield, Castledon, Catfield, Down-
ham Market, Edingthorpe, Fakenham, Great Dunham, Happisburgh,
Hemsby, Hoo, Irstead ; Norwich, St. John and St Saviour ; Merton,
Needham, Ruston, Salhouse, Swanton Novers, Strumpshaw, Thelveton,
Upton, Walsingham, Walsoken, Westwick, Worstead, Wymondham,
Yaxham.
Northamptonshire
has many beautiful fonts, including the Saxon instance at Little
Billing (engraved by Paley) already named, and a variety of
Norman examples. Simpson engraved the interesting font of
Wansford ; the circular bowl has twelve arcades, beneath ten
of which there are figures. The square block of stone that forms
the font at West Haddon has figure sculptures round the top.
Both of these are adequately discussed in Mr. Romilly Allen's
Early Christian Symbolism.
LITTLE WALSINGHAM, NORFOLK
FONTS 211
In Simpson's volume are excellent engravings of the hand-
somely ornamented cylindrical bowls of Greens Norton and
Paulerspury. Paley illustrates the early cubical font at Aston-
le- Walls, sculptured with foliage and geometrical patterns ; the
handsomely carved circular bowls of Dodford and Eydon, and
the quaintly carved one of East Haddon, which is supposed to
represent the conquest of Baptism over the powers of evil.
There are an unusual number of good Decorated fonts ; Parker
takes Stanwick as the example of that period in his Glossary.
Barnack, Irchester, Hardwick, and Kingscliffe are four of the
best instances in the county of I3th-cent. fonts ; the first of these
is engraved by Simpson, and the last three by Paley. Rickman
also gives engravings of St. Peter's, Northampton, c. 1320, and of
Cotterstock, c. 1350.
Pitsford is selected by Paley as a Northamptonshire example
of the I4th cent. ; comment has previously been offered on the
projection from the rim of the bowl.
Ufford is given by Paley, and Broughton and Towcester by
Simpson, as instances of I5th-cent. fonts. Ufford has a good
example of a coeval " kneeling stone " for the font ; but such
constructions are really standing stones, to give the priest greater
height ; the celebrant at Baptism should not kneel.
The fonts of Great Addington, Crick, Cold Ashby, Finedon,
West Haddon, Irthlingborough, Raunds, Rushden, Stanwick,
Thornby, and Woodford are all engraved in the architectural
volume on the Archdeaconry of Northampton, published in 1849.
Saxon. — Little Billing.
Norman. — Aston-le-Walls, Blisworth, Braybrook *, Cold Ashby, Dodford *,
Eydon *, Finedon, Gayton, Clinton, Greens Norton *, East Haddon,
West Haddon, Harpole, Hinton, Kings Sutton, Naseby *, Great
Oxendon, Paulerspury, Spratton, Syresham, Thornby *, Wansford *,
Woodford *.
Early English. — Great Addington, Barnack *, Bainton, Brington, Cogenhoe,
Corby, Crick, Croughton, Dallington, Hannington, Hardwick *,
Higham Ferrers, Irchester *, Kingscliffe *, Laxton, Polebrook,
Raunds, Winwick, Wadenhoe.
Decorated. — Lutton, Nassington ; Northampton, St Peter's ; Peakirk, Pilton
(early), Pitsford, Rushden, Scaldwell, Sibbertoft, Stamford Baron,
Stanwick, Sutton, Tansor.
Perpendicular. — Broughton *, Bugbrooke, Colly Weston, Easton-on-the-
Hill, Fotheringhay, Glapthorn, Kislingbury, Marston Trussell, Middle-
ton Cheney, Preston Capes *, Tiffield, Towcester *, Ufford *.
212 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Northumberland
has but a poor display of mediaeval fonts, for most of the ancient
churches have been mutilated or modernized. Chollerton and
Haydon are instances of Roman altars reversed, and turned into a
Christian font. The circular bowl of the Early English font of
Hexham is supported by a squared central shaft with dog-
tooth mouldings and by four smaller shafts ; it is engraved by
Rickman.
Norman.— Bywell St. Peter, Rock, Shilbottle.
Early English. — Chollerton *, Edlingham, Hexham *.
Decorated. — Felton.
Perpendicular. — Lesbury (with Percy badges), Newcastle, St. Nicholas.
Nottinghamshire
has a varied series of fonts, but only a few of any special excellence.
Among Norman fonts, it possesses one famous example, which is
literally incomparable, for there is not another known example that
in any close way resembles it. The cubical Norman font of Lenton
measures 2 feet 10 inches by 2 feet 6 inches, and stands (exclusive
of modern pedestal) 2 feet 6 inches high. The interior of the bowl,
which is hollowed in quatrefoil shape, is 18 inches deep, and the
top is ornamented with foliage, after the fashion of those in the
west of England of Belgian marble. There are shafts at the angles
and a beautifully designed strip of ornament below the margin.
On one of the narrower sides is the Crucifixion, the arms of the
large cross foliated. The scene is most curiously represented.
There are censing angels at the upper corners, and the Manus Dei
appears on the cross just above the head of our Lord, who is
represented with a cruciform nimbus. The two thieves are shown
on much smaller crosses ; the soul of the good thief (a tiny little
human figure) is shown going up to heaven, whilst the soul of the
evil one is plunging into hell, represented as usual by the open
mouth of a ravenous serpent. The opposite side of the font
simply bears a large foliated cross. One of the two longer sides
is divided into four compartments by another cross. The two
upper compartments represent the raising of Lazarus after a
realistic fashion ; the details and the grouping of so many figures
in a small space are most ingeniously worked. Lazarus is lying
FONTS 213
down in a stone coffin swathed in grave clothes ; at each end is an
attendant raising the lid ; above is our Lord (with cross nimbus),
having His right hand raised in benediction and holding a book in
the left ; whilst Martha and Mary stand close to the Saviour. The
scene in the other compartment seems to be the wonder of the
multitude when they see Lazarus coming to life. Below is depicted
the Three Maries at the Sepulchre. The front side of the font,
which is the most remarkable, is divided by arcade work into
eleven compartments, six in the upper row and five in the lower.
In the centre of the lower line, two of the arcades are thrown into
one to give greater space, and here is the representation of the
Baptism of our Lord. Christ is shown standing in the water up to
the middle with hands uplifted in prayer, the Manus Dei appears
from the clouds, and the Baptist places his hand round His waist.
The other compartments on this side are all filled with adoring
angels and demi-angels. Mr. Le Blanc Smith supplies an excel-
lent photograph of the most important side. This font is well
engraved by Paley, and the subjects of the carvings are critically
discussed in Early Christian Symbolism, and admirably illustrated
in outline by Mr. Romilly Allen.
There is another noble late Norman font of a totally different
character at Screveton.
Among the few Early English fonts, the one at Wysall, c. 1200,
should be named. Edwalton font, of exceptional trough-like shape,
appears to belong to this period. The early I4th-cent. font at
Balderton is ornamented with the characteristic ball-flower mould-
ing, so very seldom seen on fonts. The well-executed I5th-cent.
octagonal font, with traceried panels, bears the oft-repeated Greek
inscription, mentioned previously, which can be read either back-
wards or forwards ; it is admirably engraved by Simpson.
The font of Thorpe-by-Newark is a curious composition. The
base stone is part of an old font step ; on that stands part of a
moulded I4th-cent. shaft ; the shaft is crowned with a holy-water
stoup, II inches deep, 6 inches wide, and 14 inches in diameter.
This is crowned by a domed i/th-cent. cover, and into the apex of
this there has recently been screwed a brass candle-socket !
Norman. — Beckingham, Bilsthorpe, Bingham, Calverton (fragment), Car
Colston, Edingley, Epperstone, Finningley, Flawborough, Halam,
Keyworth, Kirklington, Lenton *, Screveton *, Stanton-on-Wold,
Thoroton, Wellow, Winkburn, Woodborough.
2i4 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Early English. — Beeston, Bramcote *, Edwalton (trough), Elton, Farndon,
Farnsfield, Kneeton, East Leake, Wysall.
Decorated. — Balderton * (ball-flower), Barton (late), Cropwell Bishop,
Gotham, Halam, Normanton-on-Soar, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Stapleford,
Strelley, Sutton Bonnington St. Michael, Sutton St. Mary *, Upper
Broughton (base modern).
Perpendicular. — Flintham (late), Granby (Richard II.), Hickling, Holme
Pierrepoint ; Nottingham, St. Mary ; Owthorpe *, Wollaton.
Oxfordshire
has a few good font examples of each period. Only two need be
named of the Norman period — Hook Norton, which is circular and
is carved with figures, and Iffley, which has a square bowl of
unusually large size supported on a central pillar and four shafts at
the angles.
The county is fortunate in having had several of its best Gothic
fonts, of the three periods, well engraved. Of the Early English
style, Paley illustrates the lead font of Warborough, and the
interesting cubical font of Rotherfield Greys, with shafts at the
angles ; and Parker the one at St. Giles, Oxford, with dog-tooth
mouldings between the shafts on the sides of the bowl. Rickman
gives engravings of two I4th-cent. fonts — Shiplake, c. 1320, and
Bloxham, c. 1350. Paley also supplies two of the I5th cent,
namely, the beautiful but simple example at Minster Lovell, with
hexagon bowl, and the more elaborate instance at Stanton
Harcourt. Simpson gives a choice engraving of the excellent font
of St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford, which is known to be of the year
1337-
Norman. — Albury, Bradwell, Chesterton, Easington, Hook Norton *,
Iffley *, Kelmscot, Lewknor ; Oxford, St. Peter ; Westwell.
Early English. — Aston Rowant, Enstone * ; Oxford, St. Giles * ; Rotherfield
Greys *, Thame, Wootton.
Decorated. — Chinnor, Chipping Norton *, Fritwell, Kidlington *, NuflSeld ;
Oxford, St. Mary Magdalen * ; Shilton, Tadmarton *, Wroxton.
Perpendicular. — Ambrosden, Bloxham, Burford *, Clanfield, Deddington,
Ewelme *, Great Tew, Handborough, Minster Lovell * ; Oxford, St.
Aldates * and St. Mary Magdalen ; Stanton Harcourt *, Taynton.
FONTS 215
Rutland
has several good fonts. The most noteworthy are those of
Cottesmore (Norman), Tickencote (Early English), and Exton
(Decorated).
Paley illustrates the excellent example of a I4th-cent. font at
Exton, and considers it " beautiful even in a style remarkable for
its beauty." The form is an octagon without any shaft. The sides
are arcaded with trefoil-headed ogee arches having crocketed
finials ; between these are heads, alternately male and female,
supporting the angles of the octagon.
Norman. — Brooke, Great Casterton (Trans.) *, Clipsham, Cottesmore *,
Edith Weston, Manton, Market Overton, Oakham.
Early English. — Belton, Greetham, Ryhall, Seaton, Tickencote *.
Decorated. — Caldecot, Exton *, Ketton, Langham.
Perpendicular. — Burley.
Shropshire
is well supplied with mediaeval fonts, particularly of the Norman
period. Every font, as well as other details, finds its place in the
Rev. D. H. S. Cranage's fine series of volumes, now almost com-
pleted, on the churches of this county. In those papers several of
the more important examples are illustrated.
Paley gives an engraving of the Early English font of Acton
Burnell, " remarkable for the beauty and simplicity of its style."
It is octagonal, and is 3 feet 4 inches high, and stands on a single
squared step. On each side is a trefoil-headed niche with shafts at
the angles.
Norman. — Adderley *, Aston, Berrington *, Billingsley, Bitterley *, Bur-
warton, Claverley, Great Dawley, Eaton Constantine, Edgmond *,
Harley, Hodnet *, Holdgate *, Lilleshall *, Linley *, Lydbury, Morville,
Neen Savage, Orleton, Quatford, Quatt, Shawbury; Shrewsbury,
St. Giles ; Stottesden *, Upton Cressett, Yarpole.
Early English. — Abdon, Acton Burnell *, Bromfield, Cleobury Mortimer,
Little Dawley, Lucton *, Selattyn, Stokesay.
Decorated. — Bridgnorth, Chin, Longford, Norbury, Stoke St. Milborough.
Perpendicular. — Burford (early), Church Stretton, Uppington, Wistanstow,
Worfield.
216 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Somersetshire
This large county has many good examples of fonts, particularly
of the Norman period. The I4th cent is poorly represented, but
the contrary is the case with the succeeding century.
Of Norman fonts, Paley engraves an excellent, enriched, and
curious early example from the church of Locking. It is of cubical
shape, and rests on a plain cylindrical shaft. The quaint feature
of the carving is that there are figures at each angle which extend
their arms backwards on the sides of the bowl, the tips of the
fingers just meeting, and thus dividing each face into two equal
parts. The sides are ornamented in various ways ; one side has
the chevron moulding, and another a most interesting form of
intertwined and ornamented serpents. This is one of those few
fonts that may safely be termed unique.
The inscription on the font of Lullington is given elsewhere.
This font is a singularly fine specimen of enriched Norman. The
bowl is enriched with interlaced arcading, whilst at the top there is
a band of masks. Portbury and Portishead share with Locking in
the exceptional feature of having the interior of the bowls cut
square. Biddiston is tub-shaped, and sculptured with the chevron
moulding.
The Early English font of Tickenham, of a rather unusual
character, has a square bowl supported by a central and four
subsidiary shafts ; each side is ornamented with a pointed trefoiled
arch rising from the capitals of the angle shafts. It is illustrated
by Paley. Rickman illustrates a later example, c. 1230, from
Wellow, the octagonal grooved bowl rests on a circular stem
surrounded by eight semi-detached small shafts.
Orchardleigh is a beautiful and uncommon example of
advanced I4th-cent. work. This cup-shaped font has the bowl
surrounded by three raised bands ornamented with foliage and
heads. The middle band is interrupted by four sunk sexfoil
medallions or panels ; in one of these is a figure of our Lord in
Majesty, one is vacant, and the other two have the Virgin and
child differently represented. It is engraved by Paley.
Paley also gives engravings of the richly carved Seven Sacra-
ments font, c. 1460, at Nettlecombe, and of the handsome example
of the same century at Axbridge, the octagonal bowl of which is
held up by demi-angels of unusually large proportions.
FONTS 217
In West Somerset there are various good examples of I5th-
cent. fonts, two of which cannot well be passed over without brief
mention. The font at Crowcombe, in the Quantocks, is richly
carved ; the subjects on the bowl panels, hitherto misread, are
(i) Christ enthroned ; (2) a civilian kneeling in prayer ; (3) a
bishop giving the benediction ; (4) a king enthroned ; (5) a founder
bishop, with crozier and model of a church ; (6) St. Anne teaching
the Blessed Virgin ; (7) the angel appearing to Zachariah at the
altar ; and (8) a lady kneeling in prayer. Numbers two and eight,
obviously representing the font donors, both kneel towards the
Christ. Minehead font is also elaborately carved ; the niched
octagonal shaft has small figures of the Evangelists and the four
Doctors of the Church.
Norman. — Biddiston, West Buckland, St. Catherine, Chesterblade, Cud-
worth, Culbone, Farleigh Hungerford, Hanbury *, Isle Abbots *,
Leigh-on-Mendip, Locking *, Lullington, Milverton, Monckton Farley,
Pen Selwood, East Pennard, Portbury, Portishead, Selworthy, Stoke
Coursey, Swanswick, Tiverton, Winsford *, Withycombe, Withypool.
Early English. — Banwell, Beckington, Cutcombe, Cheddar, Chewton
Mendip, Freshford, Langridge, Orchardleigh, Rodney Stoke *, Shep-
ton Mallett, Tickenham.
Decorated. — Bagborough, North Cadbury, North Stoke, Uphill.
Perpendicular. — Axbridge, Bath Abbey, Bream, Castle Gary, Cothelstone,
Croscombe, Crowcombe, St. Decuman, Doulting, Dundry, Dunster,
Exton, Horsington, Hutton, Luccombe, Porlock, Priston, Minehead *,
Muchelney, Nettlecombe, Queens Camel, Nether Stowey, Over
Stowey, Taunton St. James, Treeborough, Wraxhall *, Yarlington.
Staffordshire
has a fair number of Norman fonts of varying design. The
circular bowl of Checkley is profusely ornamented, and bears the
Agnus Dei and book ; there is an engraving of this font in the
Reliquary (vol. xxiv.). The old Norman font at Hanbury is
enclosed, with deplorably bad taste, in an alabaster casing. The
font at Ham has remarkable rude figures under arcading ; it is
illustrated in Early Christian Symbolism.
The circular font of Biddulph is of Transitional Norman date ;
it stands on four dwarfed shafts, and has interlaced arcading. The
inscription on the noteworthy font of St. Mary's, Stafford, is given
elsewhere ; its date is of the Transitional Norman period and
2i8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
approximates 1200. It is an unusual and massive structure
3 feet 3 inches high ; it has a quatrefoiled bason, each division of
which bulges considerably outwards, and is separated from its
fellows by grotesque figures ; the bowl rests on a slab of like
shape, which is supported by crouching lions and other animals.
There are very few noteworthy Gothic fonts in this county.
The most remarkable one is that of the collegiate church of
Wolverhampton, which is a fine example of late I4th-cent. date,
probably of the reign of Richard II. The panels of the octagonal
bowl bear floral and other devices, the one to the east being carved
with a bell, which may imply that the font was the gift of a bell-
founder. On the chamfer below the bowl are a series of quatre-
foils. The octagonal shaft has a series of small figures of saints
in trefoil-headed niches : St. Anthony with his pig, and St. Bar-
tholomew with flaying knife, are easy to recognize.
Norman. — Armitage, Biddulph (tr.), Checkley*, Enville, Gayton, Han-
bury, Ham (early), Lapley, Leek, Longnor, Mavesyn Ridware,
Norton-under-Cannock, Pattingham, Pipe Ridware * (early), Rowley
Regis, Salt, Somershall, Stafford, St. Mary (Trans.).
Decorated. — Wolverhampton (late).
Perpendicular. — Alrewas *, Burton-on-Trent, Handsworth, Stowe (Lichfield),
Tutbury, West Bromwich, Wichnor.
Suffolk
with its 550 surviving churches, abounds in excellent fonts, more
particularly of I5th-cent. date, for which it is so justly renowned.
The fine square font of black Belgian marble, after the fashion
of the one at Winchester cathedral, has already been mentioned.
Bradfield Combust is a good example of a square Norman bowl
on a circular shaft. Palgrave, of Transitional Norman date, is sup-
ported on a central stem and four small detached shafts.
Leiston is a good instance of Early English work ; the round
bowl has a trefoiled arcade supported on six shafts. Blyford,
with an octagonal bowl, has plain semi-detached shafts at the
angles. Both of these fonts are illustrated in Parker's Ecclesiastical
Topography (1851).
In the same work the octagonal font of Lackford, with its
beautiful foliaged panels, is illustrated ; it has been engraved else-
where, and is usually labelled " Early English," but there can be
no doubt that it is of the reign of Edward I.
FONTS 219
East Anglia, as is well known, is by far the best district in all
England for fine and frequent examples of I5th-cent. fonts. Many
of these fonts seem to have been turned out from some common
workshop, or, what is more likely, by an itinerant group of skilled
masons. When the great size of the requisite block or blocks of
stone from which they were constructed, the cost of carriage from
over the seas or from considerable distances inland, and the skill
necessary for their carving are considered, some idea can be formed
of the remarkable devotion of the parish gilds or of individual
benefactors in making such costly offerings to their churches. It is
not, therefore, surprising to find that in some instances inscriptions
(usually on the steps of the font) record the names of the donors,
and invite the prayers of the faithful for their souls.
In the list of font inscriptions it will be found that four of this
description occur in Suffolk, namely, Blythburgh, Burgate, Darsham,
and Hessett ; and three in Norfolk, namely, Caston, Southacre,
and Walsoken. In quite as many more cases the font steps show
traces of inscriptions now illegible.
A particular feature of many of these East Anglian fonts, in
certain districts, is the occurrence of alternate erect lions and wild
hairy men (termed " woodhouses ") round the octagon shaft of the
base. In the one Hundred of Blything they may be noticed at
Chediston, Halesworth, Middleton, Theberton, and Wissett. Hap-
pisburgh and Ludham are good examples of a like arrangement
round the shafts of not a few Norfolk fonts. At Brampton, Hunt-
ingfield, Linstead Magna, Linstead Parva, Sotherton, Uggeshall,
and Westleton, in the same Hundred, there are the four lions
round the shaft, but the wild men (typical perchance of the evil
nature expelled by the baptismal waters above) are absent. The
eight panels of the octagonal basons of these I5th-cent. fonts are
usually well carved in figures, amid which lions largely predominate.
Continuing our observations on the fonts of this Suffolk Hundred,
it may be noticed that there are alternate lions and shield-bearing
demi-angels on the fonts of Cookley, Darsham, Linstead Magna,
Linstead Parva, South Cove, Theberton, and Westleton. In other
cases, as at Chediston, Halesworth, Middleton, and Wissett, the
evangelistic symbols alternate with angels. At Covehithe and
Sibton the angels alternate with a variety of figures, whilst at
Yoxford the angels alternate with quatrefoils. In the best
examples, small angels with outspread wings may also be noticed
220 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
on the chamfer below the bowl, forming an effective link with the
supporting shaft.
The font in the great church at Blythburgh was, when perfect,
a most notable example of late I5th-cent. work. It stands on
two high octagonal steps, on the upper of which a long inscrip-
tion has been cut. The beginning of it is easy to read, being the
usual Latin form of asking for prayers for the souls of John Masin
and Katharine his wife, the donors ; but other parts have been for
a long time quite hopeless to decipher. From certain early church
notes, it is supposed that the rest of the lettering records that the
font donors also built the fine south porch. This font was injured
in 1577, when a storm blew down the spire, much of it falling into
the church and killing more than one of the worshippers.
It is almost invidious to particularize any further, for the multi-
tude of good I5th-cent. fonts is so considerable, but Halesworth,
Oulton, and Lowestoft (with its beautiful steps) are three good
examples all illustrated in Parker's Ecclesiastical Topography.
Norman. — Bradfield Combust, South Elmham, Herringswell ; Ipswich,
St. Peter * ; Kettlebaston, Palgrave * (Trans.), Tuddenham.
Early English. — Benacre, Blyford *, Drinkstone, Lakenheath, Leiston *,
Thorpe, Wickhambrook, Knodishall.
Decorated. — Barsham, Bradfield *, Buxhall *, Coney Weston, Chelsworth,
Little Cornard, Elmswell *, Flempton, Hadleigh, Hemingstone *,
Lackford*, Parham, Rickinghall Inferior, Wickham Market, Willis-
ham *, Wortham.
Perpendicular (very numerous, only the more important named). — Bar-
gate, Barnardiston, Barrow, Blythburgh *, Bramford *, Chevington,
Chilton, Denardiston, Great Glemham, Halesworth*, Haughley,
Hoxne ; Ipswich, St. Clement, St. Mary Quay, St. Matthew, and St.
Mary-at-Tower ; Keddington, Lavenham, Lowestoft*, Melton, New-
bourn, Orford, Oulton *, Risby, Monk Soham, Snape, Sutton *,
Ufford, Witnesham, Weston, Woodbridge.
(For the eleven beautiful Perpendicular examples of Suffolk
Sacrament fonts, see previous list.)
Surrey
This county, considering its extent, has not so many mediaeval
fonts as might have been expected; but there are various good
examples, both of the Norman and I5th-cent. periods. There
seems to have been a particular rage in Surrey, about a century
FONTS 221
ago, for ejecting old fonts and replacing them with small and
mean substitutes. In the three fine volumes of the history of
the county by Manning and Bray, published in 1804, the font
of each parish church is usually specified. In a large number of
cases, particularly near London, the words " a small modern
bason " often occur. At Brickland " a small marble bason on a
slender mahogany pillar" is named. At Godstone the old font,
a hexagon with cinquefoils, is described as being "now in the
cemetary."
Several of the Norman and Transition square-bowled fonts are
made from the dark Petworth marble of the adjacent county of
Sussex ; such are the fonts of Beddington, Frencham, Great Book-
ham, West Clandon, Godalming, Warplesdon, Horley, Merstham,
Mickleham, Shere, and Scale.
The leaden Norman font of Walton-on-the-Hill, already named,
is of sufficiently fine and striking design to be again mentioned. It
is of small dimensions, the bowl having a diameter of 20 inches,
and a depth of 13^ inches. Round the bowl is a series of six wide
arches, with full-faced seated figures in each of the arcades. These
figures are of three patterns, each being twice repeated. The first
has the right hand raised in benediction, whilst the left holds a
book to the breast ; the second has also the right hand raised in
benediction, but the left rests the book on the knee ; and the third
has the right hand on the one knee, whilst the left rests a book on
the other knee. The bowl is enriched both at the top and bottom
with delicately wrought foliage.
The Early English marble font of Shere, which is cubical with
shafts at the angles, is engraved in Manning and Bray. The I4th-
cent. font of Chipstead has a large octagonal bowl, with a double
niche on each face ; it stands on a circular pillar. The square
font of Ewhurst is described by Manning and Bray as having a
cross saltire on each side. The I5th-cent. font at Mortlake,
engraved by Manning and Bray, bears the arms of Archbishop
Bruchier (1454-81) ; and the font at Mitcham closely resembles it.
Norman. — Albury, Alford, Beddington, Great Bookham, Chaldon, Comp-
ton, Dunsfold, Frencham, Godalming, Hambleden, Horley, Mertsham,
Mickleham, Scale, Thames Ditton, Thursley, Warplesdon, Walton-on-
the-Hill (lead), Woking.
Early English. — Chelsham, Chessingston, Crowhurst, Gatton, West
Horsley, Limpsfield, Shere, Witley.
222 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Decorated. — Banstead, Chipstead, Effingham, Ewhurst, Reigate.
Perpendicular. — Ashsted *, Bletchingley, Burston, Byfleet, Epsom, God-
stone, Leatherhead, Lingfield, West Molesey, Mortlake, Nutfield,
Stoke D'Abernon, Warlingham.
Sussex
possesses various good examples of almost every kind of font,
those of the Norman period being not only numerous but in
many cases excellent of their kind. On the fonts of this
county, the late Mr. Andre" wrote an admirable paper in 1900
(Sussex Arc h. Coll., xliv. 28-45).
The majority of the Norman fonts have square bowls, but there
are two groups that are circular, namely, those of tub shape and
those that are cup-shaped. The tub-shaped, the oldest division,
includes those of Bignor, Brighton, Burton, Penton, North Mundham,
Selham, West Wittering, and Yapton. Of these Brighton is a
remarkably fine example, and the only one of the county bearing
figure sculpture ; the subjects include the Baptism of Christ, the
Last Supper, and some of the miracles of St. Nicholas. There
is a good article on the Brighton font in vol. xlii. of Sussex Arch.
Proceedings. The fonts of Denton and St. Anne, Lewes, are hand-
somely carved, and almost identical ; the latter is engraved by
Paley. West Thorney, Yapton, and Mountfield are also among
the more noteworthy of these circular fonts. Of the cup-shaped
division there are seven examples, the most remarkable being
that of Salehurst, round the base of which is a cordon of
salamanders.
Denton font, illustrated in the Reliquary and Illustrated
Archaeologist, vol. xi., has the circular bowl sculptured throughout
with an interwoven basket-work pattern.
Of the largest number of the Norman fonts which have square
bowls — twenty-nine all told — the most interesting are those at New
Shoreham (engraved by Paley), Coates, Lancing, and Slaugham.
The last has on one side, in the arcaded work, the incised figure
of a fish, the well-known symbol of our Lord. Several of these
quadrangular bowls are supported by a central pillar and four
angle shafts. The Norman fonts of this county, Edburton and
Piecombe, have already been named among the leaden fonts.
Of Gothic fonts, those of the Early English period number nine
or ten certain examples. Itchenor is engraved by Paley. Those
FONTS 223
of the Decorated period are about the same number ; Poynings, a
tub-shaped form with eight panelled faces, is chosen by Paley for
illustration. To this period, too, belongs the lead font at Parham.
The county contains many fonts of the Perpendicular style, though
the majority are quite plain in character. Cowfold, Shermanbury,
and Thakeham are almost identical, having peculiar roundels on
some of the panels, like those on chests of an earlier date. The
font at Clymping is a fine example of a panelled font ; it forms
pi. xxviii. in vol. ii. of Brandon's Analysis of Gothic Architecture.
Norman. — Aldingbourne *, Amberley, Appledram, Barnham, Battle, Ber-
wick, Bignor, Binsted, Bishopstone, Bosham, Brighton *, Barton,
Burton, Coates, Chidham, Chithurst, Cocking, Dalton *, East Dean,
Denton, Didling, Easebourne, Felpham, Fletching, Graffham, West
Grinstead, Lancing; Lewes, St. Anne; Littlehampton, Lyminster,
Poling, Pulborough, Rodmell, Rudgwick, Selsey, Shere, New Shore-
ham, Slaugham, Sompting, Southover, Tangmere, Thornham, Torting-
ton, Upwaltham, Walberton, Waldron, Warnham, Woolbeding, Yapton.
Early English. — Ashurst, Buxtead, Cuckfield, Ditchling, West Ferring,
Heyshot, Iford, Itchenor*, Oving, Rottingdean, Salehurst, Slindon*,
Sutton, Worth *
Decorated. — Alfriston, Arlington, Barcombe, Eastbourne, Eastergate,
Etchingham *, Houghton, Jevington, Lindfield, West Dean, Willing-
don, Wilmington.
Perpendicular. — Arlington, Arundel *, Beddingham, Boxgrove, Burwash,
Clymping *, Frittleworth, Hailsham ; Hastings, St. Clements ; Hor-
sham, Hotham, Patching, Playden, Portslade, Poynings (Richard II.),
Rogate, Rotherfield, Shermanbury, Sullington, Thakeham, Westham.
Warwickshire
has a few interesting fonts, and many ordinary examples of the
different periods. There are a large number of Norman fonts, but
they are mostly of a plain character, such as the unadorned cylinder
bowl at Norton, or the truncated cone of Rowington. At Coleshill,
however, is one of the most beautiful late Norman fonts in the
Midlands. The circular bowl is richly carved with arcades, having
figures in relief of the four Evangelists, alternating with foliage
designs ; but on the side facing east three of the arcades are
interrupted to include a Rood with Sts. Mary and John within a
circle. Two good plates are deservedly given to this font in
Parker's Glossary.
The font at Coughton is I3th cent, and after an unusual design.
A plain octagonal bason, chamfered beneath, rests on eight very
224 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
short well-moulded shafts clustered together, and these are set on
a raised plinth and base stone.
Wootton Wawen font, illustrated in Chiirches of Warwickshire
(1847), is difficult to date, but probably from the base mouldings
temp. Richard II. It is a plain octagonal bason resting on eight
sculptured heads. At Lapworth, also illustrated in the same work,
is a font probably of the same date and in some ways resembling
the one just named ; in this case a plain octagonal bason is raised
on an octagonal shaft, at each angle of which, just under the bason,
is a sculptured head.
The use of supporting human heads also occurs on the I4th-
cent. font of Weston, engraved by Paley. Both bowl and shaft
are eight sided, but not of equal octagonal form ; four of the sides
are wide and turn inwards, whilst the other four are narrow and
flat. The lower part of the bowl is moulded, and is supported by
four projecting heads. Wolston font, illustrated in the same work,
and also of the I4th-cent. period, is a much more graceful design.
In this case each face of the octagon bowl bears an ogee-shaped
crocketed trefoil arch, terminating in heads ; the shaft is clustered
with well-moulded capitals and bases.
The best I5th-cent. font in Warwickshire is that of Holy
Trinity, Coventry. It is octagonal, and stands on three steps of
like shape, which give it considerable dignity. Each face of the
bowl is panelled with two quatrefoils. The wide shaft or stem is
divided into eight traceried panels by buttresses, and above them
the bowl is supported by a moulding of squared flowers. The
engraving of this font in Paley is remarkably good.
Norman. — Burton Hastings, Chadsunt, Coleshill *, Combrook, Cubbington,
Curdworth *, Dunchurch, Hampton-in-Arden, Haughton-in-Arden,
Norton, Norton Lindsey, Oxhill *, Rowington, Shotteswell, Stone-
leigh*, Sutton*, Walsgrave, Weddington, Whatcote, Willoughby,
Wolfhamcote.
Early English. — Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Coughton ; Fillongley, Little
Shuckburgh.
Decorated. — Barton on Heath, Butler's Marston *, Brailes, Coventry, St.
Michael's; Knowle *, Lapworth, Meriden, Preston Bagot (late),
Snitterfield, Solihull, Tysoe, Ullenhall, Weston-under-Weatherley *,
Wolston, Wootton Wawen (late).
Perpendicular. — Aston Cantlow,* Bickenhill, Coventry, Holy Trinity ;
Haseley, Wolverton.
FONTS 225
Westmoreland
There is but little to be said of the fonts of this county. So
many of the old churches were entirely rebuilt, or renovated on
drastic lines, during the past century, that very few mediaeval fonts
remain. The writer of Murray's Guide to Cumberland and West-
moreland is unkind enough to say that " most of the parish churches
are hideous," an assertion that it is difficult to gainsay. At Crosby
Ravensworth is a I5th-cent. octagonal font bearing the Greek
inscription already referred to as found on several of its fellows
up and down the country, which can be read either forwards or
backwards. The font at Beetham is dated 1636, that at Lupton
1686, and that of Selwick 1708. Mention may for once be made
of a modern font; the church of Tebay, built in 1880, has a
praiseworthy font made out of a block of Shap granite, and finely
carved. The use of suitable local material is always to be com-
mended.
Wiltshire
has a large number of Norman fonts.
The font of Donhead St. Mary is a cylindrical Norman example
boldly arcaded ; it is figured in Hoare's Wilts. There is a richly
sculptured circular font, delicately arcaded, in Great Durnford
church, which is also illustrated by Hoare. There are also illus-
trations in Hoare's volumes of the rude Norman font of Upton
Scudamore.
Cherington font is a grand specimen of late Norman. It is
circular, and the bowl is arcaded with twelve semicircular arches
containing the Twelve Apostles. One of these, St. Peter, holds
a book in the left hand and a key in the right ; the remainder all
have a book, but held in different fashions. It resembles the font
at Avebury, and is illustrated in the Wilts Archceological Magazine
(vol. xxv.). The Norman fonts of the county are of great variety.
Several of them are early circular and severely plain ; whilst others
are late in the style, and have the square bowl supported by a
central shaft and four smaller shafts at the angles, as at Boyton.
The font at Etchilhampton has a circular bowl and shaft, on a
square plinth, forming a remarkably good plain example ; it is
illustrated in the Wilts Magazine (vol. xi.). Yatesbury (Wilts
Q
226 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Magazine, xviii.) is an excellent instance of bold good workman-
ship ; it has a circular bowl and shaft, the bowl springing from a
vigorous garland of an early form of acanthus leaf. In Hilperton
church there was set up, in 1892, the remarkable circular bowl of an
early Norman font, which had been dug up in the churchyard of
the adjacent parish of Whaddon. Round it is worked an arcade
of thirteen semicircular arches ; above the arcades are spandrel
carvings of conventional leaves. This font is illustrated and
described by Mr. Ponting in vol. xxvii. of the Wilts Magazine.
Paley illustrates the handsome circular Norman font of Liddiard
Millicent ; it is surrounded with interlaced arcading, the arches of
which are ornamented with the fillet moulding ; it is late in the
style. The same work has also a good engraving of by far the
most beautiful late Norman font in the county, namely, that at
Stanton Fitzwarren. The circular bowl is divided into ten com-
partments by shafts with wide trefoiled heads. Within the niches
thus formed are ten figures, eight of which illustrate the triumph
of virtues over their opposite vices, the names being in each case
inscribed. They are as follows : —
Largitas — A varitia. Modes tia — Elaietas.
Hum Hit as — Superbia. Temperancia — Luxuria .
Pietas — Discordia. Padencia — Ira.
Misericordia — Invidia. Pudicia — Libido.
Of the other two figures, one, representing the Church, is a
crowned long-robed figure holding a cross in the right hand and
a chalice in the left, and trampling the serpent underfoot ; it is
inscribed Ecclesia, and Serpens occiditur. The tenth niche is
occupied by an angel with drawn sword and unfolded wings, and
over it Cherubym ; it is obviously suggestive of the Church
Triumphant. The upper part, above the figures, is elaborately
sculptured. It is of late Norman style, and may be considered as
coming within the first score of the most interesting fonts in all
England.
The Gothic fonts of Wilts, are neither so interesting nor so
numerous as those of the Norman style. Paley chooses Cricklade
as an example of late Decorated ; each face of the octagonal bowl
has two trefoil-headed panels ; the shaft has at its base a band of
trefoils alternately plain and convoluted. North Bradley, also given
by Paley, is an apt illustration of dignified work towards the close
FONTS 227
of the 1 5th cent. ; the octagonal bowl has double-feathered quatre-
foils enclosing shields, four of which have the Evangelistic symbols,
and the other four those of the Passion. Wokingham, Berks., is
another good font of the same century ; it is engraved in the Wilts
Magazine (vol. xi.).
Saxon. — Potterne *.
Norman. — Amesbury *, Avebury *, Beckington, Biddeston, Boyton, Bratton,
Cherington *, Christian Malford, Codford St. Peter, Ditcheridge,
Donhead St. Mary, Downton, Great Durnford, Etchilhampton,
Fifield, West Grinstead, Hilperton *, Liddiard Millicent *, Longbridge
Deverel, Moulton Deverel, Maiden Bradley, Preshute, Ramsbury,
Semley, Sherston *, Stanton Fitzwarren * (Trans.), Stanton St. Quinton,
Steeple Langford, Stockton, Tilshead, Tisbury (Trans.), Yatesbury,
Upper Donhead.
Early English. — Chilton Folliot, Combe Basset, Erchfont.
Decorated. — Cricklade *, Market Lavington, North Bradley *.
Perpendicular. — Broadchalk, Colne, Langford, Trowbridge.
Worcestershire
is not particularly noted for its fonts, but it has a few interesting
Norman examples. The most important of these is the one at
Chaddesley Corbett, of early date, which is carved all over in low
relief with interlacing bands and grotesque serpent-like forms.
Overbury circular font, rashly styled Saxon by some, has sculptured
figures of great variety. The most beautiful Norman font in the
county is the cup-shaped example at Holt, well engraved by Paley.
It is a most rich example of carving, especially round the bowl,
the chief feature of which is a succession of lion-like masks. At
Wyre Piddle, the font is ornamented with chevron work round
the rim and at the base. Bishampton font has the cable and
other characteristic mouldings.
The I5th-cent. octagonal font at Elmley Castle has four shields
bearing symbols of the Passion, whilst the other shields are
armorial ; at the base are four dragons. Another good font of
this date, with various designs on the eight panels, is at Upton
Snodsbury.
Norman. — Bishampton, Bricklehampton, Bretforton, Broome, Chaddesley
Corbett •*, Frankley, Hales Owen, Hartlebury, Hampton, Holt *, Leigh,
Mid-Littleton, North Littleton, South Littleton, Great Malvern,
Overbury, Oldberrow, Pendock, Wickhamford, Wyre Piddle.
228 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Decorated. — Belbroughton, Kidderminster, Staunton ; Worcester, St. Albans.
Perpendicular. — Cleeve Prior, Elmley, Evesham All Saints, King's Norton,
Norton, Offenham, Salwarp.
Yorkshire
East Riding. — The fonts of this Riding are more interesting
and varied than in the other two divisions of the county. Those
of Norman date very largely predominate. The mere plain
cylindrical bowls are far fewer than in the North Riding, numbering
only about sixteen. Here again, however, there are no square
Norman bowls, which prevail largely in the south and west of
England. The circular bowls present almost every variety of
treatment ; several have the cable moulding, as at Folkton ; others
are arcaded, as in the very large example at Butterwick ; a few
bear chevron mouldings, as at Bessingby ; two or three are richly
diapered, of which Bainton is an example ; whilst some combine
a variety of mouldings, as in the handsome instance of Barmston,
where cable, diaper, and arcading appear on the same font.
Special mention must be made of a highly remarkable series
of elaborately carved Norman fonts which occur on the Wolds, at
Cottam, Cowlam, Kirkburn, and North Grimston. To these a fifth
should be added, namely, that of Hutton Cranswick, which by
deplorable bad judgment was sent by the parish priest and
wardens to the York Museum ! Space does not permit to enter
into any details as to the invaluable rudely sculptured scenes on
these fonts, illustrative of incident in the Scriptures and the lives
of the saints. They are illustrated and technically described in
Mr. Romilly Allen's masterly work on Early Christian Symbolism
(1887), and they have also been well treated by the Rev. E. Maule
Cole in vol. x. of the East Riding ArchcBological Society's Journal.
As to the Gothic fonts, there are several of Early English or
1 3th-cent. date, but not very noteworthy ; perhaps the one at
Londesborough is the best. Patrington, Hedon, and Holy
Trinity, Hull, are the only I4th-cent. fonts of particular merit ;
the two former are illustrated by Paley. It is rather puzzling to
say, in the case of several plain octagon fonts, whether they belong
to the I4th or isth cent. The two inscription-bearing fonts
(already named) at St. Mary's, Beverley, and Goodmanham are fine
late examples of Perpendicular work.
FONTS 229
Norman. — Bainton, Barmston *, Bessingby, Brantingham (Trans.), Bug-
thorpe (Trans.), Burstwick, Burton Agnes, Burton Fleming, Butterwick,
Carnaby, Cottam, Cowlam, Dalton, Elvington, Filey (Trans.), Flam-
borough, Folkton, Fridaythorpe, North Grimston, Grindale, Humanby,
Hutton Cranswick, Kilnwick (Trans.), Kilham, Kirkburn*, Locking-
ton, Low Catton, Lund, Middleton-on-the- Wolds, Muston, Nafferton,
Pocklington, Reighton *, Rillington (Trans.), Rudstone *, Ruston-
Parva, Sherburn*, Seaton Ross, Settrington, Skirpenbeck, Speeton,
Thorngumbald, Weaverthorpe, Westow, Wharram-le-Street, Wintring-
ham, Yapham.
Early English. — Bempton, Beverley Minster, Great Driffield*, Hornsea,
Langton, Londesborough *, North Newbould *, Nunburnholme,
Sutton, Tunstall *, Whatton, Wharram Percy.
Decorated. — Atwick, Barton Pidsea, Full Sutton, Hayton, Humbledon,
Patrington *, South Cave.
Perpendicular. — Beverley, St. Mary ; Brandesburton, Bub with, Etton, Good-
manham *, Hedon *, Huggate ; Hull, Holy Trinity ; Ottringham,
Paull, Wawne, Willerby, Welwick.
North Riding. — The font at Alne has knotwork round the edge.
It is usually termed Saxon, in which opinion we should have con-
curred had not the judgment of Mr. Romilly Allen, the great expert
in such matters, pronounced it to be of post-Conquest date. At Bowes
there is an old font supported by a Roman altar, which seems to
have good claim to be considered Saxon. There are about forty
plain cylindrical fonts in the small churches of this Riding, usually
styled early Norman ; it is quite possible that some of the ruder of
these, as at Amotherby and Appleton, may be Saxon. There is
not to our knowledge a single squared Norman font throughout
the Riding. There were yet more of these plain circular fonts in
the churches of this part of Yorkshire in 1830-40, as shown by Sir
Stephen Glynne's church notes ; but it was the common fashion in
these parts to eject them in favour of tawdry showy successors in
the earlier days of the " restoration mania." One of good propor-
tions and in excellent condition was flung aside, in 1871, when
Barton-le-Street church was rebuilt. Dr. Cox found it sunk in a
field in Slingsby parish as a cattle trough, and restored it to its
proper use, in 1890, in Butterwick chapel. About the same time
" Three old Church Fonts " were advertised for sale throughout the
district on auctioneers' handbills, as part of the garden effects of a
resident in Old Malton ; the diocesan chancellor (the late Lord
Grimthorpe) refused to interfere ; all three were of Norman date.
230 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
There were rude carvings on the West Rounton font ; arcade work
on those of East Ayton, Easby, Great Edstone, and Newton-
in-Cleveland ; and on the one at Great Smeaton a good diaper
pattern. The plainly arcaded tub font of East Ayton is illustrated
in Churches of Scarborough and District ( 1 846).
There are some Early English examples given in the following
list, but none are specially noteworthy.
Among the not very numerous I5th-cent. fonts, the three similar
ones of black marble at Cattarick, Kilvington, and Richmond — all
heraldic — should be noted. Wensley is an instance of a font (c.
1500) being ejected by the Puritans, and replaced in 1662, when
that date and an inscription was added.
Saxon. — Bowes *.
Norman. — Alne *, Amotherby, Ampleforth, Appleton-le-Street, East Ayton,
Butterwick, Old Byland, Cayton, Dalby, Danby, Easby *, Ebberston,
Great Edstone, Eryholme, Foston, Gillamore, Grinton ; New Malton,
St. Leonard ; Newton-in-Cleveland *, Osmotherley, Over Silton, Red-
mire, Romaldkirk *, West Rounton *, Sandhutton, Scawton, Great
Smeaton *, Smeaton, Stillington, Thornton Dale, Thornton Steward *
(Trans.), Whorlton.
Early English. — Allerston, Brompton, Helmsley, Hutton Bushel, Kirkby
Fleetham, Kirkdale, Marton-on-the-Forest, Skelton.
Decorated. — Brompton.
Perpendicular. — Cattarick *, South Cowton, Kilvington, Middleham *,
Richmond *, Thirsk, Wensley *.
West Riding. — The fonts of this Riding are the least interesting
of the three Yorkshire divisions ; and we are not able to give so
full a list. By far the most interesting of the Norman fonts is that
of Thorpe Salvin. It is cylindrical and arcaded, with figures in
high relief. Among them the four seasons are sculptured, namely,
a man sowing corn representing spring ; a man on horseback,
summer ; a man reaping corn, autumn ; and a man warming him-
self, winter. Another scene on this font is that of the rite of
baptism.
Ingleton is another good example of Norman work, with figures
in the arcading. Burnsall has rude grotesque figures round the
bowl. Stainburn is interesting ; it is early, though not Saxon,
as sometimes asserted. Horton-in-Ribblesdale has the chevron
moulding, but most of the West Riding Norman fonts are plain
cylinders.
FONT COVERS 231
Of the Gothic fonts, Hickleton, with its band of conventional
foliage, is the best of the few of I3th-cent date. Mytton has the
only noteworthy font, with which we are acquainted, of I4th-cent.
date. There are many examples of the Perpendicular period, but
the large majority are of fairly plain octagonal form. Aston and
Laughton-en-la-Morthen are exceptionally fine examples. The
panels of each have quatrefoils alternating with wavy wheels or
roundels. At the base of the former is the figure of a seated king,
holding a spear, and at the opposite corner an angel. Local
ingenuity says that the figures represent Herod waiting to slay the
Holy Child, and an angel watching in protection !
Norman. — Adel, Aldmondbury, Ardwick-on-Dearne, Batley (churchyard),
Bradfield, Burgwallis, Burnsall, Carlton-in-Craven, Copgrove, Horton-
in-Ribblesdale, Ingleton*, Kirby Malham, Kirby-on-the-Moor, Linton,
Keighton, Selby, Stainburn*, Thorpe Salvin *, Whitechapel, Wragley.
Early English. — Catton, Hickleton, Horton, Monk Fryston, Skelton.
Decorated. — Fishlake, Hubberholm, Marr, Mytton.
Perpendicular. — Aston *, Bolton-juxta-Bowland *, Brodsworth, Campsall,
Calverley, Conisborough, Crofton, Darfield, Halifax, Knaresborough,
Penistone, Pontefract, Sedbergh, Skipton, Tankersley, Tickhill,
Thorne, Womersley.
FONT COVERS *
The first font covers were probably flat movable lids ; we
know that they were in general use in early days, long before the
definite order of 1236, as it is very rare to find a Norman font
without traces of the incisions in the stone for staples or hinges.
At a later period these covers often became highly ornamented,
and were sometimes carried up to a considerable height, after the
fashion of spires, and enriched with a variety of tabernacle work.
We are not aware of any English example of a font cover which is
apparently of earlier date than the 1 5th cent.
A comparatively simple but effective form of font cover was a
set of eight panels rising from a moulded base and gradually
converging to a point in a pyramidal form ; the mouldings dividing
the panels in the richer cases — as at Monksilver, Somerset, engraved
in Parker's Glossary — these are ornamented with crockets, whilst
* It had been intended to give as full a list as possible of font covers throughout
England ; but a monograph on this subject, which promises to be good and thorough,
is preparing for speedy publication.
232 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
an elaborate crocketed finial forms the summit. Another good
example of this style may be noticed at Elsing, Norfolk. The
crocketed cover of Ufford, Northants, has the small figure of an
ecclesiastic for a finial.
There are various beautiful examples of the lofty tabernacled
kind of font cover. The first and earliest instance of such covers
occurs at Ewelme, Oxon., of which an illustration is given as a
frontispiece. It dates from the first half of the 1 5th cent. It is
an open-work spire, 10 feet 6 inches in height, and consists of a
central octagon core from which sixteen deep buttresses of open
work radiate ; the buttresses are connected together at their outer
edges by four diminishing tiers of foliated arches with crocketed
canopies, supporting a crocketed spire completed by a figure of St.
Michael.
Two of the best of the Suffolk examples, namely, those of
Ufford and St. Gregory's, Sudbury, are engraved in the Vetusta
Monumenta (iii. 25). The lofty one of Selby Abbey, 12 feet
high, which was fortunately rescued from the terrible fire of 1906,
is drawn to scale in the Sketch-book of the Architectural Association
(New Series, ii.). Lincolnshire has two beautiful lofty covers :
the one at Frieston towers nearly to the roof and is crowned with a
figure of the Virgin ; the other one, at Fosdyke, is nearly as good,
and has three stages of open work ; this last cover is illustrated by
Simpson. There is another of these lofty covers in Suffolk at
Worlingworth, whilst a fourth occurs at Bramford. Norfolk examples
of lofty covers occur at North Walsham, Merton, Sail, and Wor-
stead ; the last of these is much damaged. The tabernacled cover
at Almondbury, W. R. Yorks., is another lofty example, whilst the
restored Perpendicular font cover at Thirsk actually attains to the
height of 21 feet. There are also good i5th-cent. covers of a
different style at Pilton, Devon, and Heston, Middlesex.
Permanent covers, or those which rest permanently on the font,
the sides being hung on hinges to open when the font is required for
use, are also well illustrated in England by examples of the later
Perpendicular, and Elizabethan or Jacobean periods. There is a
magnificent canopy of this kind at Ticehurst, Sussex, elaborately
panelled, with flamboyant tracery of I5th-cent. date ; it is of
octagonal shape, and four of the side panels are hinged for opening.
Three fine instances of this kind of cover may be noticed in Norfolk,
namely, the much-enriched one at Terrington St. Clement, and
FONT COVERS
233
those of Southacre and Knapton (post-Reformation). The same
style of cover may also be observed at Hepworth, Suffolk ; at
Thaxted and Littlebury, Essex ; at Newington, Kent ; and at
Sedlescombe and Sompting, Sussex.
At Shaugh Prior, Devon, there is a beautiful isth-cent. font
cover rescued from a farm loft in 1878 ; it is of octagonal form and
of three stages, with a height of nearly 9 feet.
The remarkable early i6th-cent. font cover at Rad bourne,
Derbs., came from the Premonstratensian Abbey of Dale, the nave
of whose conventual church had been used for parochial purposes.
The cover is of octagonal
pyramidal design, richly
carved ; four of the medal-
lions on the sides bear the
evangelic symbols. The
under part of the cover has
a handsomely carved flat
octagon panel ; on a shield in
the centre of this is a cross
bearing the Crown of Thorns
and pierced Heart, and it is
flanked by the Four Wounds
on Hands and Feet.
There is a singularly
beautiful font cover at Meth-
ley, Leeds, a bequest of
1584-5.
The early Jacobean font
cover of Swimbridge, North Devon, rising from the oak case-
ment of the font itself, is the finest example of its kind. In
addition to the actual cover there is a beautifully carved canopy
projecting from the adjacent tier. The nature of this elaborate
piece of workmanship can be better gathered from the illus-
tration than from any letterpress. A curious kind of open-
work ornament on the top of the cover may fairly often be
noticed on flat font covers in different parts of the kingdom. An
instance of this occurs on the cover to the font of Haddon chapel,
Derbs. When this kind of work is noticed on a font cover, it may
be safely assigned to the first half of the i/th cent.
The great majority, however, of elaborate i6th and i/th cent
NORMAN FONT AND I/TH-CENT. COVER,
HADDON CHAPEL, DERBS.
234 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
covers were suspended from brackets. At Warminghurst, Sussex,
there is now no font cover, but a curious crane of ironwork for the
suspension of a canopy still remains. One of the most handsome
of these iron font cover cranes is that which is still used for the
canopy of the font of St. Alphege's, Canterbury, as here illustrated.
The Jacobean font cover at Hadleigh, Essex, is suspended from a
bracket. The lofty cover of the same period in the church of
Skipton, W. R. Yorks., is suspended from the roof. At Potter
Heigham, Norfolk, in the apex of the roof, is the old wooden pulley
to raise the font cover, which has, however, long since disappeared.
The font-beams, to which the canopies were attached, remain at
FONT-CRANE IN ST ALPHEGE'S CHURCH,
CANTERBURY
FONT AND COVER, CANTERBURY
CATHEDRAL
Sheringham and North Walsham, Norfolk. There are two beautiful
Jacobean examples, the one at Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk, and
the other at Burgh, Lines., which is dated 1623.
Immediately after the Restoration, a variety of fonts were
ornamented with lofty covers, such as those of Rothwell, W. R.
Yorks., and Northallerton, N. R. Yorks., both of which are dated
1662. The font cover in the nave of Canterbury cathedral of this
period is by far the most elaborate example extant ; it is of con-
siderable height and bears the figures of the Twelve Apostles, the
whole being crowned with a figure of our Saviour in the act of
blessing little children. The whole work, as well as the font itself
HOLY-WATER STOUPS 235
and a crane for the cover, possesses considerable merit of its
kind.*
It would take a volume to describe the various forms of covers
that came into use during the I7th and i8th cents. Some show
a certain degree of artistic skill, but more are poor and debased. A
curious kind of slightly domed cover of 1662 date is shown in
connection with the illustration already given of Wirksworth font.
There is a heavy pyramidal cover, dated 1688, at Sefton, Lanes.
Metal font covers are rare in this country. An iron font canopy
of singularly beautiful floral design was given to the church of
St. Werburgh's, Derby, in i/n.f The 1729 font of the chapel
of Dulwich College has a copper cover. We recently noticed at
the new church of Alcombe, West Somerset, a well-designed brass
cover to a font ; this is a fashion that might with advantage be
followed, provided the designs are simple.
Very rarely the place of the font cover was taken by a structural
canopy, standing free of the font. The earliest of these is at Luton ;
it is an octagonal structure of stone, surmounted by a pyramidal
roof, and is of early I4th-cent. date. Other examples, all of wood
and of very elaborate detail, are to be seen at St. Peter Mancroft,
Norwich, at Trunch, and at Durham cathedral. The last is
Renaissance in detail as to its lower stage of eight Corinthian
pillars carrying an octagonal cornice, but the spire of open work
which crowns it is Gothic in character ; it is quite possible that it
is all of the same date, as the use of Gothic detail in woodwork
survived in the county of Durham till quite late in the i6th cent
HOLY- WATER STOUPS
Stoups for holy water were of two kinds, namely, those that
were portable, and those that were stationary. In the former case
the stoup, carried by the parish clerk, was of metal ; in the latter
case it was usually a bason of stone. We are here concerned only
with the latter division, as the portable stoup has been dealt with
and illustrated in Abbot Gasquet's volume of this series on Parish
Life in Mediceval England.
The holy-water stoup for the use of those entering the church,
"as a symbol of the purity of soul with which they ought to
* This font is fully described in Cox's Canterbury, 187, 188.
t It is described and illustrated in Cox's Derbyshire Churches, ir. 179, and pi. 7.
236 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
approach the place where His Majesty dwelt," occurs most
frequently — usually mutilated by Puritan malevolence — within
the porch on the right-hand side, where a stone bason within
a small niche was placed in the wall at a convenient height.
Occasionally the stoup is on the right-hand side on the inner
wall of the church immediately as you enter. Very rarely is it
found on the left-hand side, as in the porch of Crowle, Worcs.
In the case of Irthlingborough, Northants, there are trefoil-headed
stoup niches, one on each side of the west door.
These stoups, the remains of which are numerous in some
counties, are of all architectural periods. Many Norman ones
may be mentioned : such are those at the entrance to the churches
of Bricklehampton, Worcs. ; Stanton Harcourt and St. Peter's,
Oxon. ; Barton-on-the-Heath, Warwicks. ; Eaton Socon, Beds. ;
Blyford, Suffolk ; Great Gidding, Hunts ; and Thorpe-by-
Newark, Notts. In the south porch of
Broughton Astley church, Leics., there is
a fine Norman stoup, consisting of a
slender shaft covered with chevron
moulding with a cushion capital, which
is hollowed out to form a bason.
At the north entrance to Wembury
church, Devon, is an uncommon Norman
example. A partly engaged shaft is
built into the wall, the width at the top
being 18 inches, whilst the bason has a
diameter of 12 inches.
Both basons and niches of these
stoups are often so severely plain that
their date cannot be detected. There is
one of the earlier part of the i$th cent,
at Horsepath, Oxon. ; whilst a beautiful
and most uncommon example of the
same period is to be seen in the porch
of Harlton St. Mary, Cambs.
By the side of the south door of East Dean church, Sussex, is
a trefoil-headed niche over a stoup, the cusps being tipped with
ball-flower ornament, so characteristic of work of the early part of
the I4th cent. Other examples of this century occur at Hinton,
Berks. ; and at Edgecote and Bozeat, Northants. In the porch of
HARLTON, CAMBS.
HOLY-WATER STOUPS
237
St. Ive, Cornwall, is an ogee-trefoiled arched niche, of early I4th-
cent. date ; the bason is missing.
There are a large number of holy-water stoup niches in the
churches of Blything Hundred, Suffolk ; but they are all small
and quite plain, save the one at Frostenden, which has a cinquefoil,
and the one at Yoxford, which has a trefoil head.
At Caldecote, Herts., in the south porch, is an exceptionally
large and ornate canopy over the stoup, about 6 feet high. It
[H.
KNDELLION, CORNWALL
appears to be of the reign of Richard II. To the same date
belongs another good one in the west porch of Albury in the same
county. At Peering, Essex, there is a fine I5th-cent stoup by
the north door, and at Thorley, Essex, is another late one by the
west door. Other examples of the same century are to be noted
at Bourne, Lines, (two) ; Northborough and Cogenhoe, Northants ;
Ewelme, Beckley, and Minster Lovell, Oxon. ; and Hartland, Devon.
In Parker's Glossary an illustration is given of the late well-
moulded stoup niche at Pylle, Somerset, with a leaden bason
within it.
Cornwall possesses two beautifully wrought heraldic stoups,
238 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
c. 1500. In the inner south wall of the church of Endellion,
immediately to the east of the chief entrance, is a projecting stoup
of dark Catacleuse stone, most beautifully carved with acorns and
with three coats of arms. The arms are those of the families
of Roscarrock, Chenduit, and Pentire. The Roscarrocks, of
Roscarrock, in this parish, were one of the most anciently estab-
lished of Cornish families. John Roscarrock, who was knight of
the shire temp. Edward I., married Alice, heiress of the Chenduit
family, lords of another manor in the parish. Their great-grand-
son, John Roscarrock, who was sheriff of the county temp,
Henry VII., married Alice, daughter of John Pentire. Thus we
get the approximate date of this, the most interesting of English
stoups. A less elaborate example, doubtless executed by the same
sculptor, is the stoup of dark Cata-
cleuse stone in the inner south wall
of the church of St. Issey ; an angel
holds an impaled shield, but no arms
remain ; the bearings were most likely
painted and not in any way en-
graved.
Occasionally the porch angle is
occupied by a substantial block of
moulded masonry, the top of which is
hollowed for the holy-water bason.
A good I5th-cent. instance of this
occurs in the south porch of Wootton
Courtney church, Somerset. At Clay-
worth St. Peter, Lines., the holy-water
stoup also takes the form of a pillar
with hollowed-out bowl.
Fairly large- sized moulded stoups, somewhat after the fashion
of small fonts, were used in the interior of some of our churches.
There is one in the famed Yorkshire church of Lastingham, and
another in the York Museum, which came from St. Mary's abbey
of that city. In two or three instances there is little doubt that
such detached benetiers have been by error turned into fonts. This
is undoubtedly the case at Moresby, Cumberland, where a large
stoup, of the time of Henry III., is now used as a baptismal font,
and also at Thorpe-by-Newark, Notts. Contrariwise, the unusually
large stoup, built into the wall of the I5th-cent. north porch of
WOOTTON COURTNEY, SOMERSET
HOLY-WATER STOUPS
239
LASTINGHAM, N. R. YORKS.
Liskeard church, Cornwall, was originally a plain Norman font.
There are several stoups worth noting in the south-east part of
Cornwall, as at Shevioc, Callington, Lansallos, Saltash, St. Neot,
and St. Cleer.
It would appear that there was sometimes a sprinkler, or
aspersorium, attached to the stoup. At Wigtoft, near Boston,
Lines., the churchwardens purchased " a chain of iron with a holy
water stick " for the south door.
In some cases small detached stoups, which doubtless originally
stood on brackets or pedestals, remain ;
there is a good early example at Lasting-
ham, Yorks.
The increased reverence for antiquity,
and particularly for vessels that formerly
had a religious use, which has happily
manifested itself during recent years, may
have its drawbacks when put into operation
by those who have but little archaeological
experience. This is a caution worth re-
membering with regard to holy-water stoups. Every homestead in
mediaeval and later days used to possess its mortar or mortars of
some hard stone, usually ribbed at the angles, wherein vegetables,
etc., were pounded for domestic use, or meal for the pigs. It would
be unkind to give the names, but there are various churches, parti-
cularly in the west of England, where domestic mortars, discovered
of recent years in different parts of the parish, have found their way
into the House of God, and are placed at the foot of fonts or else-
where, under the fond belief that they were discarded holy-water
stoups. One instance may be cited without giving offence, as the
stoups in this case are in the churchyard and absurdly numerous. In
the churchyard of the once sand-buried church of St. Enodock, on
the eastern shore of the Padstow estuary, Cornwall, is a double
row of mediaeval stone mortars, of various sizes and dates, mounted
on pedestals, flanking the path to the porch. They have been
found in the neighbouring sand-hills, and placed here under the
idea that they were all holy-water stoups.
At Yeaveley, Derbs., a large farmyard mortar, for the braying
of grain, etc., has actually been placed on a pedestal in the church,
and is now used as a font !
CHAPTER VII
ALMS BOXES, OFFERTORY BOXES, AND COLLECTING
BOXES
ALMS BOXES
THERE are but a few pre- Reformation alms boxes left in
our churches, none of which are older than the I5th cent
The best of these, which has been several times illustrated,
is the substantial, tall example in the church of Blythburgh, Suffolk.
It has been constructed to stand against a wall, and has three
traceried panels in front. Both wood and iron work are in fairly
good condition ; it dates from the
time when this church was rebuilt
on so grand a scale about 1475.
Other alms boxes which are of
late 1 5th or early :6th-cent. date
are at Cawston, Loddon, Wickmere,
Norfolk ; Hunsdon, Herts ; East
Kirkby, Lines. ; Hears Ashby, North-
ants ; and Selby, Yorks. These
boxes are always of oak, save at
St. George's, Windsor, where there
is a I5th-cent. receptacle of iron.
The poor box at Keddington,
Lines., is an upright log, roughly
shaped into an octagon with the
lower part buried in the ground.
At Colston, Notts., there is a dis-
carded alms box under the tower,
apparently I5th cent. The poor
box of Smarden church, Kent,
has three locks, and is fastened by a strong iron clamp to a
240
BLYTHBURGH, SUFFOLK
ALMS BOXES
241
pedestal of solid oak. The church accounts name it in 1553 —
"mending a lock of the pore man's box ijd." But it is chiefly
remarkable for having a curious enamel on copper fastened to the
lid. It is supposed that this plate once formed part of a series of
subjects attached to the shrine of a saint. The enamel represents
the baptism of an infant. From the rich blue and general work-
manship it is supposed that it came from the celebrated works of
Limoges. The hole for money in the enamel plate, which was by
no means infrequent in shrines, probably suggested the utilizing of
this enamel for the alms box of Edward VI.'s ordering.
There are a few dated examples of the Elizabethan period.
The exceptionally strong alms box at Dovercourt, Essex, is dated
1589; and that of Bramford, Suffolk, 1591. Perhaps the most
interesting one of this reign is at Hargrave, Northants ; it bears
on the north side, God save the quene ; on the west, Thomas
Mahew hoc fieri fecit 1 597 ; and on the south, Pray for the good
estate of all well doers.
Seventeenth-cent, instances, both dated and undated, are fairly
numerous and often bear the legend Remember the poor. Sedbergh,
W. R. Yorks., is dated 1633; Manton, Rutland, 1637; Watton,
Norfolk, 1639 ; and Halifax, Yorks., 1689.
Against the pier by the south entrance of Lostwithiel church,
Cornwall, is a singular oak alms box
which stands 38 inches high, apart
from the modern box now affixed to
the summit. On the upper face is
the following, in raised characters :
W. T. Maier, 1645. The lower part
represents a clumsily executed human
figure with hands erected, bearing a
large uncharged shield. On one side
of the upper part were the initials
R. L. Outside the south porch is the
tomb of the donor of this poor's box,
consisting of a substantial granite
chest tomb, with a somewhat muti-
lated covering slab of slate, having a
well-cut floral border of rose and thistle. The inscription is
partially obliterated, but commemorates William Taprell (of}ten
Mayor of this Borough.
WATTON, NORFOLK
242 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The boxes of Watton and Halifax are also held by wooden
figures of a beggar.
At St. Teath, Cornwall, is a remarkable early I7th-cent. alms
box. It is an oak box, n inches cube, and bears the inscription
Remember the poor. The sides are painted with quaint figures
of a lame beggar and of two other poverty-stricken persons.
At Tunworth, Hants, the square alms box of i/th-cent. design
has a quaintly carved human face on two of the sides with open
lips, which serve as the money slots.
There is a remarkable alms box at Poynings, Sussex, dated
1760, standing on a fluted column or pedestal 2 feet 10 inches
high ; the box itself, which is of oak, is carved with emblematical
figures on all four sides and on the top. It is of foreign workman-
ship, and was brought here from the continent.
The following is a list of some of the more remarkable alms
boxes : —
Alton, Hants. Over the old poor box is a wooden tablet inscribed with
the text from Tobit iv. 7.
Aspenden, Herts. Elizabethan, two locks.
Aylestone, Leics. 1613. Remember the poor.
Barnby, Yorks. Lend to the Lord; remember the poor give to yorselves.
1 7th cent.
Barrow, Salop.
Basingstoke, Hants. Elizabethan.
Birtsmorton, Worcs.
Blythburgh, Suffolk. Pre-Reformation.
Bletchley, Bucks. 1637. Remember the pore.
Bramfield, Suffolk.
Bramford, Suffolk. 1591.
Broadway, Worcs. Early, with two locks.
Buckland Newton, Dorset.
Car Colston, Notts. i5th cent. Discarded.
Cawston, Norfolk. Pre-Reformation, on an octagon shaft, three locks.
Church Langton, Leics.
Clapham, Beds. I. W., 1626.
Coventry, Trinity church. Elizabethan.
Dean, Beds.
Dovercourt, Essex. 1589.
Drayton, Berks. Elizabethan.
Eaking, Notts. 1718. Remember Ye Poor.
Fakenham, Norfolk. 1665.
Gooderston, Norfolk. Ancient alms box.
OFFERTORY BOXES 243
Halifax, Yorks. Figure of a beggar.
Harbledown, Kent. Hospital.
Hickling, Notts. Remember the poor.
Hodnet, Salop. Old oak. Remember the Po ore. H. F. 1685. R. B.
Hunsdon, Herts. Pre-Reformation.
Keddington, Lines. Formed out of a log.
East Kirkby, Lines. Pre-Reformation.
Leake, Lines. Octagonal, now under tower.
Leicester, Trinity Hospital.
Litcham, Norfolk. Three locks.
Loddon, Norfolk. Pre-Reformation.
Lostwithiel, Cornwall. 1645.
Ludham, Norfolk. Early, trunk of tree, banded with iron, four great
padlocks.
Manton, Rutland. 1637.
Meare, Somerset. Poor box, well carved. Now in Glastonbury Museum.
Mears Ashby, Northants. Pre-Reformation.
Middleton, Cheshire. 1682.
Mileham, Norfolk. Three locks. 1639.
Neen Sollars, Salop.
Prinhoe, Devon.
Reading, St. Mary, Berks.
St. Albans, Herts. Figure of cripple, and Remember the Poor.
Sedburgh, W. R. Yorks. 1633.
Selby, W. R. Yorks.
Spaxton, Somerset. Early, three locks, Som. Arc. Soc. Jour.) viii.
St. Teath, Cornwall. Painted beggars. i7th cent.
Stamford, Browne's Hospital, Lines.
Stoke Hammond, Berks. 1619.
Sutton St. Mary, Lines. 1712.
Tunworth, Hants. Described above.
Up-Nately, Hants. Painted. i7th century.
Watton, Norfolk. Figure of beggar. 1639.'
Wellington, Salop.
Wickmere, Norfolk.
Winchcombe, Glos. Singular, three locks, c. 1547.
Windsor, Berks. Iron.
Wootton, Kent. Poor box, 1662.
Walpole St. Peter's, Norfolk. 1639. Remember the poore on three faces.
OFFERTORY BOXES
Brief mention must also be made of another kind of church
money box which were in frequent use in mediaeval days. In the
case of objects of special devotion — particularly when they were of
244 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
sufficient importance to bring about pilgrimages — it was customary
to place a receptacle for the money offerings of the faithful at the
foot of the special image or reliquary. It need not be imagined
that these offerings were the perquisite of some greedy priest in
charge or other attendant, because in a large number of cases it is
known that careful accounts were kept of money receipts and the
church purposes to which they were devoted. For instance, among
the unpublished sacrists' rolls of the Benedictine cathedral church
of Norwich, entries abound as to the receipts of the various boxes
(truncce) which stood in the different parts of the building. In
1343 the box ad crucem obtained £21 igs. yd., the box ad reliquias,
£7 8s. 2\d., the one at the image of St. Osyth, £3 6s. <\\d., and at
the- image of St. Hippolytus, us. yd.; whilst the lowest of the
offerings before several other images were those of St. Catherine,
\\d., and St. Anne, id.
As might naturally be supposed, all traces of wooden offering
boxes of this description disap-
peared at the time of the Refor-
mation ; but it is of particular
interest to note that in three cases
where the boxes or receptacles
were of stone, the examples still
remain. The most interesting of
these is the stone offertory box
with an adjoining bracket for an
image on the south-east pier of
the nave of Bridlington church,
E. R. Yorks. ; it is fully described
in the Journal of the Associated Architectural Societies, Iv. 19.
There are traces of it having had a wooden inner casing. The
second instance occurs in the desolate little church of Speeton,
E. R. Yorks., where there is a rude projecting square money box
by the side of an image bracket on the east wall, over which are
the remains of a niche and a canopy. The third instance is that
of the stone offertory box affixed in the monument of Edward II.
in Gloucester cathedral. Miracles are said to have occurred at his
tomb, and so large were the offerings, that the choir was vaulted
during the abbacy of Adam de Staunton (1337-51) with these
contributions.
At Wensley, N. R. Yorks., there is an almery or cupboard of
BRIDLINGTON, E. R. YORKS.
COLLECTING BOXES 245
oak, having an upper and lower compartment, with doors at one
end, and a bracketed projecting money box for offerings in the
front ; this was probably a cupboard containing relics.
COLLECTING BOXES
It is not known when those " erratic ecclesiastical receptacles,"
such as collecting boxes and alms dishes or basins, which have of
late made way for " offertory bags," first came into use for the
peripatetic collecting of the alms of the faithful. The first Re-
formed Prayer-book of the Church of England (1549) provided
certain sentences of Holy Scripture " to bee song whiles the people
doo offer " during the Communion or Mass. But no collecting of
the alms by wardens or clerk was contemplated, for a rubric after
the sentences says, "In the meane tyme, whyles the Clerkes do
syng the Offertory, so many as are disposed shall offer unto the
poor mennes boxe every one accordynge to his habilitie and
charitable mynde." Probably the confusion that arose from the
congregation gathering round the fixed poor box caused this
direction to be shortly repealed. In the second Reformed Prayer-
book (1552), it is ordered that "Then shal the Churche wardens,
or some other by them appointed, gather the devotion of the
people and put the same into the pore mens boxe." The rubric
providing that the alms were to be collected " in a decent basin to
be provided by the parish for that purpose " by the wardens, who
were to "reverently bring it to the priest," is only of 1662 date.
Latten or pewter dishes or basins were the usual receptacles
provided by the wardens for collecting purposes.
Some churches, however, at a comparatively early date, used
collecting boxes of wood, of which several examples remain. Some
interesting specimens were described and illustrated by Mr. Syer
Cuming in the thirty-first volume of the Journal of the British
Archaeological Association. At Blythburgh, Suffolk, is (or was)
the most ornate specimen ; judging from the ornamentation of
trefoils within circles, it would appear to be of pre-Reformation
date, but this is unlikely. It measures 12^ inches to the end of
the haft, which is trefoiled and perforated for suspension. The
whole surface has been painted red, which is also the case with
plainer examples at Earl Stonham and Kelsale, Suffolk, and at
East Harling, Norfolk. The old collecting box of the church of
246 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Blickling, Norfolk, is of a heart shape, and painted blue, with
Pray remember the pore, 92, lettered in gold. The " 92 " is
evidently an abbreviation for 1692. There used to be two plain
examples at the Derbyshire parochial chapels of Alsop-en-le-Dale
and Mellor, both bearing the date 1662 ; they were extant in
the middle of last century, but are now lost or hidden away in
private hands. At Chelmorton in this county there is one of these
boxes dated 1685.
The church of Marnhull, Dorset, still retains its old portable
collecting box. It is made of oak, and measures 8 inches by
6f inches, with a depth of I inch. The top is partly covered in,
and it has a handle like other examples. Round the edge is
inscribed, He that hath pitye on the poore lendeth unto ye Lord
and that which he hath given. . . . On the top is, Praye Remember
the Poore, T. S. Underneath is, Given by T. South ye first of
May, 1633.
At Holy Trinity, Guildford, are a pair of I7th-cent wooden
collecting boxes, with the letter " S " on the handle and an orna-
mental roundel on the covered part of the box.
At Nutfield, Surrey, are two wooden i/th-cent. collecting
boxes, with handles, 9^ inches long ; each is inscribed Pray
Remember the Poore, Notfeild.
At Milton-by-Sittingbourne, Kent, is one of these boxes
inscribed Give Willingly, and at Borden, in the same county,
another one inscribed Give Frely.
A collecting box at Newport, I. of Wight, is dated 1635,
and one at Sidbury, Salop., 1639.
When Bishop Nicholson was at Kirkoswald, Cumberland, in
1704, he took notice of " A Couple of handsome Platters of Lignum
Vita for the Collection of Almes and Oblations." These excep-
tional wooden platters still remain in the church.
At Kirkby Stephen are two curious little collecting trays of
wood, about 9 inches square ; on one is rudely carved CMWLTH
(Commonwealth).
There are two collecting boxes of pewter, dated 1696, in the
church of Bunbury, Cheshire.
Mr. Brigg, of Kildwick Hall, Keighley, has a pewter collecting
box, which used to form one of a set of four belonging to a church
in the Troutbeck valley.
The collecting box of Whaddon church, Bucks., is shovel-
COLLECTING BOX
HOLY TRINITY, GUILDFOFD
COLLECTING BOXES 247
shaped, and, including handle, is 14! inches long. At the base of
the handle is carved R. P. 1643.
Hone described and illustrated the Beckenham, Kent, collecting
box in his Table Book, published in 1827 ; it was then in use. It
bears the date 1696, and also a statement that it was repaired in
1797.
There were several interesting boxes of this description in the
collection of the English Church History Exhibition at St. Albans
in the summer of 1905. They included one from Ubbeston,
Suffolk, with the letters M. W. (Mathew Wright was church-
warden, 1683), and i8th-cent. examples from Aldenham and
Anstey, Herts, Coneysthorpe, Yorks., and St. Mary Coslaney,
Norwich. There was also exhibited one of a set of four i8th-cent.
copper collecting boxes, formerly used in Wem church, Salop.
CHAPTER VIII
THRONES AND CHAIRS— STALLS AND MISERICORDS-
SEATS AND BENCHES— PEWS— GALLERIES— CHURCH
CHESTS
THRONES AND CHAIRS
IN secular cathedrals, and in at least one monastic one, a special
wooden seat or throne was provided for the bishop, on the
south side of the quire, east of the stalls. The earliest, that
at Hereford, is a plain and simple seat, the others are provided
with lofty canopies. The most important, that at Exeter, is a splen-
did piece of early I4th-cent. joinery (Bishop Stapleton, 1308-27),
which rises pyramidally to a height of 57 feet. Of a different
character and material, though of the same period, is that which
Bishop Hatfield (1345-81) presented to his cathedral of Durham.
This is a massive stone structure, completely filling the third arch
from the west, on the south side of the quire. It has the bishop's
tomb below, beneath a segmental arch, and the throne above,
surrounded and surmounted by screen and tabernacle work.
But the most interesting episcopal chair or throne in England,
and with few rivals in all Christendom, is the great dignified stone
chair in Canterbury cathedral, formed of three pieces of Purbeck
marble, usually known as St. Augustine's Chair, wherein, from
time immemorial, successive Archbishops of Canterbury have been
enthroned. It is also occasionally called Ethelbert's Chair ; for an
old tradition has it that it was not merely a chair occupied by St.
Augustine, but that it was the throne on which the old kings of
Kent were crowned, and that it was given by Ethelbert, on his
conversion, to St. Augustine. It is usual now to say that from its
material, construction, and design, this chair cannot have an earlier
date than the close of the I2th or beginning of the I3th cent. By
some it is supposed that it was probably constructed for the cere-
mony of the Translation of St. Thomas in 1220. On the other
hand, it is difficult to imagine for what special purpose such a chair
248
THRONES AND CHAIRS
249
would be required at the grand functions of the Translation, which
were chiefly of a processional character. It should, too, be re-
membered that the monk Eadmer, writing of the Saxon church
burnt down in 1067, wherein he himself had been a singer, describes
" the pontifical chair constructed with handsome workmanship and
of large stones and cement," and specifies the exact position that it
">«.^(lt JB? & '.,
PATRIARCHAL CHAIR, CANTERBURY
then occupied. This description agrees with the chair now extant.*
For our own part, after careful and repeated scrutiny, and after
comparing the mouldings, panellings, and general design with
known instances of c. 1200 work, as well as with much earlier art,
we have no hesitation in expressing an opinion that the chair is not
of the Early English period, but of a far older date. So careful an
* See Cox's Canterbury, 177, 178.
25o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
observer as the late Mr. Micklethwaite, who was perhaps better
versed than any of his contemporaries in pre-Norman work and
art in England, stated definitely that he saw nothing impossible
in believing that this chair may date back to the days of St.
Augustine.
Canterbury, in its Royal Museum, possesses another chair which
is also associated with St. Augus-
tine, and which has some claims
to be considered a genuine relic.
This ancient rude wooden chair
used to stand in the chancel of
the church of Stanton Bishop,
near Bromyard, Herefords., where
it had for a long time been known
as " the chair of Augustine when
he was in these parts missioning."
The story of how it came into
possession of Dr. James Johnston,
of Birmingham, who had known
the chair for forty years before
purchasing it, is too long to be
given here even in the briefest
form ; or the able arguments, which he marshalled in a small
volume, published by Cornish Brothers, of Birmingham, in favour
of the probability of the truthfulness of the old tradition. One of the
writers of these pages had the honour, a few years ago, of exhibiting
this ancient frame of woodwork to the Society of Antiquaries, where
the fellows received it with mingled expressions of faith, scepticism,
and uncertainty. He was also the means of conveying Mr. G. C.
Cocks Johnston's offer of the chair (after his father's death) to
Canterbury cathedral to Dean Farrar, and received four interesting
letters from the late dean on the subject. At first the offer was
cordially accepted, and the exact place where it was to stand, near
the Patriarchal Chair, decided. This acceptance was, however,
subsequently politely withdrawn, chiefly owing to the strenuous
opposition of a distinguished antiquary, who pressed his sceptical
criticism on the Dean and Chapter. Dean Farrar's letters were
marked " private," on account of a certain amount of acrimony that
crept into the discussion ; but it can give offence to no one to quote
one phrase from the last letter : " I still remain, personally and in
'CHAIR OF ST. AUGUSTINE,'
CANTERBURY
THRONES AND CHAIRS 251
my private capacity, convinced that the probabilities of the truth-
fulness of the tradition as to the chair, as set forth in Mr. Johnston's
book and strengthened by your statements and references, far out-
weigh the improbabilities. At all events, I am thankful to know
that the chair is coming to Canterbury." Canterbury citizens may
fairly be proud of having secured this ancient chair for their
museum. The two most eminent antiquaries that the city possesses,
Dr. Sebastian Evans and Mr. Bennett-Goldney, F.S.A., have
recently written : " Nothing in its construction or state of preserva-
tion forbids the belief that it is in fact the identical chair in which
St. Augustine sat during his conference with the Welsh bishops, on
what was the border of the Welsh territory."
We must not omit to mention another rough wooden chair
which makes a traditional claim on our reverence. This is the chair
at Jarrow-on-Tyne, which for many centuries has been known as
the chair of the Venerable Bede. The two sides, which, with the
seat and crossbar at the top, are the only ancient parts, are of
exceptionally hard oak, and show some signs of having been
charred. The old church was fired in 1069, and such a rough chair
as this was not likely to have been preserved unless there were
special associations that gave it peculiar value. At any rate, says
the last writer on the subject, the older parts are of great age, and
the traditional name is no new invention. It is only fair, however,
to state that some experts believe that this chair cannot date back
further than the I4th cent.*
There are two remarkable stone sanctuary chairs in the north
of England, the one at Beverley and the other at Hexham. The
rudest of the two is that at Beverley ; the Hexham example has
some lines of moulding below the seat and running up the front,
whilst the flat surface of the arms and back of the chair are
ornamented with knotwork pattern. There seems no reason to
doubt that both of these low massive chairs are pre-Norman, and
that the one at Beverley was placed there in the beginning of the
loth cent, at the time when Athelstane granted special rites of
sanctuary. According to Camden and Leland, the Beverley
" Fridstool " used to bear a Latin inscription which may be thus
translated — " This stone chair is called the Freed Stool, i.e. the
Chair of Peace, to which what criminal so-ever flies hath the
fullest protection." The closest scrutiny, however, cannot now
* Archaologia Aeliana, vol. xxii. (1900).
252 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
detect any trace of an inscription. The sanctuary rites of both
Beverley and Hexham extended for some distance outside the
churches. Interference with fugitives within the specified area or
even in the church itself were offences that might be redeemed in
certain cases by penance and astonishingly heavy fines ; but there
was no redemption for any .one who dared to lay hands on a
fugitive seated in either of these chairs of peace.
There are two other stone chairs in parish churches, both, we
believe, of I3th-cent. date ; each of them lay claim to be special
sanctuary seats, but on quite insufficient authority. One of these
FRITH STOOL, HEXHAM
is between the sedilia and the priest's door in the chancel of
Halsham, E. R. Yorks., and the other in the church of Sprot-
borough, W. R. Yorks. Both of these are of I3th-cent. date.
There are two stone chairs in English parish churches which are
of undoubted pre-Norman date. In the west wall of the basement
of the Saxon tower of Barnack, Northants, there is a niche or sedile
with a stone seat. This was brought to light in 1855, when
Dr. Argles removed the rubbish with which the floor was en-
cumbered. The remains of risers, on which had rested oak slabs,
were found on each side of the stone-seated sedile and against the
north and south walls. The damage done to this seating is supposed
THRONES AND CHAIRS
253
to have been caused when Sweyne set fire to the church in 1013
By some it is believed that this central stone seat or chair was for
a local judge who here held court, but it is much more likely to
have had an ecclesiastical use.* The other very old stone chair is
a rude one on the south side of the small chancel of the pre-Norman
church of Corhampton, Hants. This early church used to have an
eastern apse, and it is likely that this chair originally stood against
the wall in the centre of the apse, behind the altar, according to
ancient plan.
In the chapter-house of Lincoln Minster there is a massive
episcopal chair of oak, of the time
of Edward I. ; it used to stand in
the quire, and is of older date than
the stalls, which are 1350-80.
Below the seat are two rows of
quatrefoils ; the arms are formed of
lions couchant. The height of the
back is 3 feet 1 1 inches, and of the
seat 2 feet 5 inches, and the breadth
3 feet 2 inches. It has been roughly
treated, and the lions' heads are gone.
There is an illustration of this inte-
resting chair in Lincolnshire Notes
and Queries (ii. 129).
In the church of Little Dunmow
on the north side of the chancel
stands a well-moulded large wooden chair of I3th-cent. date,
which is of great repute as having for a long time been used for
chairing the successful couple who won the celebrated Dunmow
Flitch of Bacon. It is not possible to conceive that this chair
was originally made to be used in connection with this very ancient
bequest ; but whatever may have been its purport, it seems well
established that this piece of furniture used to stand in Dunmow
priory. Considering the rough usage to which it has been often
exposed, the chair is in good condition. It is gratifying to know
that it is no longer used in the farcical revival of this custom during
recent years.
There is a remarkable seat or stall in the church of Bishop
Cannings, Wilts., which used to be styled, with much absurdity, a
* See The Building of Barnack Church, by Canon Syers, 1899.
LITTLE DUNMOW
254 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
" Confessional Chair." This chair, which is now movable, stands
in the north transept. It consists of an upright panel with some
iSth-cent. mouldings at the top and sides; against this panel is
constructed a seat, facing sideways, with a flooring, a back the
ordinary height of a pew, a door facing the panel, and a sloping
desk facing the seat. On the inner side of the large panel are a
variety of brief admonitory sentences, painted in Latin black letter
on the thumb and four fingers of a rudely outlined hand, inscribed
at the cuff Manns meditationis ; beginning on the thumb with
Nescis quantum, Nescis quoties, Deum offendisti. Below the hand,
with its pious sentences on the respective joints of each finger,
two cocks are painted, the one white and the other black ; from
their beaks proceed two labels, bearing further ejaculations.
For our own part we have no doubt that this is a most
interesting and unique example of an English monastic "carrel"
or stall, such as were placed in the cloister of religious houses to
secure some degree of privacy and convenience and shelter for the
older monks when at study. In the Rites of Durham, we are
told that on the north side of the cloister " in every window there
were iij pews or carrells, where every one of the old monks had
his carrell, severall by himself, that when they had dyned they dyd
resorte to that place of cloister, and there studyed up on there boks,
every one in his carrell, all the afternoon unto evensong tyme. All
these pews or carrells were all fynely wainscotted and verie close,
all but the forepart which had carved worke that gave light in at
their carrell doures of waynscott. And in every carrell was a desk
to lye there books on." *
It is known that in some instances monks, at the time of the
dissolution, were permitted to buy the carrells and other furniture
that they had used, if they so desired. Probably this was the case
with some religious house in this neighbourhood.
These references to early wooden chairs of a church character
would not be complete without just naming the nth-cent, example
as Hereford cathedral ; , the chair of the Abbots of Peterborough,
now at Connington, Hunts. ; the Coronation Chair at Westminster
Abbey, including the earlier Scottish Coronation Stone, and
another coronation chair at York Minster.
In post- Reformation days it became usual to place one or more
* This stall is illustrated and described in the Wilts. Archceological Society's Magazine
for 1859 (vi. 147-149).
STALLS AND MISERICORDS 255
chairs within the altar rails. There are numerous good examples
of such chairs of Elizabethan, Jacobean, and later date throughout
the country, but it would not come within the scope of a work of
this character to make any particular mention of them ; for in
almost every case they were of domestic origin, and afterwards
handed over to the church. The earliest dated example of such
chairs, with which we are acquainted, stands within the altar rails
of the church of Epworth, Lines. ; it bears the year 1560.
STALLS AND MISERICORDS
At the time of building the Anglo-Norman churches, the
primitive custom had not altogether died out which placed the
bishop or abbot in the centre of the apse at the back of the altar,
with his clergy arranged in seats or stalls on either side. But
though there is evidence that the custom was followed at Norwich,
this plan was probably always uncommon in England, and was
soon superseded by the arrangement which transferred the place
of the clergy to the western portion of the quire. In the great
Benedictine churches, this place was usually under the central
tower, and often extended some distance into the nave.
The stalls of the clergy were arranged on each side of the
quire, in one or more rows — generally two — with returned stalls at
the west, of which the two next the gate were occupied by the
abbot and prior, or the dean and sub-dean, respectively. Each stall
was separated from its neighbours by a curved back with elbows,
and was furnished with a hinged seat, whose under surface had a
bracket or " misericord " to give some support during the long
periods of standing. The misericords were generally carved, and
they furnish the best examples of mediaeval wood-carving now
remaining. Their subjects were domestic, grotesque, or satirical,
and the execution was vigorous if sometimes rude. The earliest
are the best, and they are often earlier than the canopies above the
stalls, sometimes than the stalls themselves. In some instances, as
at Exeter (i3th cent.), and at Wells and Worcester (i4th cent),
the misericords are the only portions of the old stalls now
remaining. The most beautiful set of misericords in England are
the 64 of Wells cathedral. They are finely illustrated and well
described by Canon Church in vol. Iv. of the Archceologia (1897).
256 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
In all the larger churches, except Canterbury, the stalls of the
back row were covered by canopies. In the finest examples each
stall had a towering spire of open-work ; the best illustrations of
these now remaining are at Lincoln, Beverley, Carlisle, Nantwich,
and Chester. In some smaller foundations, and especially in the
west of England, a single continuous canopy was employed, and
this plan was occasionally followed in cathedral churches, as at
Norwich ; good examples are to be seen there, and at Chichester
Hereford, Bristol, Sherborne, Tong, and Abergavenny. At Here-
ford it occurs at two parish churches as well as at the cathedral.
The canopies are often supported in front by shafts springing from
the projecting arms of the stalls. At Manchester the tabernacle-
work is surmounted by a continuous canopy, and this is said to
have formerly been the case at Beverley. At Winchester the
canopies are pedimental, with two stalls under each.
The number of stalls varied with the size of the foundation.
The largest series is that at Beverley with 68, followed by Wells
and Boston with 64 each, and Lincoln and Norwich with 62.
Winchester, Hereford, and Gloucester have each 60, Exeter 50,
Chester 48, Carlisle 46, and Chichester 40. The series of 37
misericords at Worcester is incomplete. Of smaller foundations,
there are 36 stalls at Christchurch and 32 at Ludlow, and the fine
sets at Nantwich and Abergavenny number 20 and 24 respectively ;
others have fewer.
When stalls occur in sets of three (St. Martin's, Leicester), two
(St. Mary, Castlegate, York), or one (Belgrave), they were pro-
bably intended for sedilia ; and conversely, in churches with a
number of sedilia on both sides of the chancel, or on the north
only, there were probably stalls. Thus at King's Sutton and
Denford, Northants, there are twelve and seven respectively in
addition to the sedilia, and at Stanwell, Middlesex, eight.
The material of which the stalls were made was almost always
wood, but at Southwell the return-stalls are of stone, and at
Norwich St. Swithin's and Walpole St. Peter's there are stone
stalls fitted with wooden misericords.
The earliest complete series is that at Winchester (c. 1296),
which is also the finest ; here there is to each pair of stalls a lofty
pedimented canopy, traceried and enriched with bosses of most
beautiful carving. Those at Boston and Ely belong to the
middle of the I4th cent., and the Lincoln stalls are a little later.
STALLS AND MISERICORDS 257
To the 1 5th cent, belong the examples at Hereford, Carlisle,
Chester, and Gloucester ; while those at Beverley, where the miseri-
cords are earlier, Manchester, Bristol, St. George's Chapel, Windsor,
and Henry VII.'s Chapel, Westminster, were not completed till
after the year 1 500. Several important sets were not constructed
till after the Reformation, more especially in the county of Durham.
Of these most are Renaissance in style, as at King's College,
Cambridge, and, as regards the upper portions, at Cartmel ; but
those in co. Durham are fair imitations of Gothic work.
There are fragments of still earlier stalls at Rochester and
Salisbury, and the misericords preserved at Exeter are of
Henry III.'s reign.
The desks are usually adorned with traceried heads, and their
ends and those of the stalls are richly carved, often with small
figures at the elbows or as finials.
Sets of stalls were usually reserved for monastic or collegiate
foundations, or for churches intimately connected with them, such as
Maidstone in the diocese of Canterbury. They do occur, however,
at purely parochial churches, especially in the east of England ;
thus Boston has one of the most important sets of all, and Nantwich
is another instance of a parish church with a complete series of
canopied stalls. In the two Royal Chapels at Westminster and
Windsor the back row of stalls was reserved for the knights of the
Bath and of the Garter respectively.
The chancel of Minster church, Thanet, has eighteen handsome
wooden stalls, with carved misericord seats, of the date 1401-19.
These carvings are described, and three of them illustrated, in the
twelfth volume of Arch<zologia Cantiana.
In the Museum of Archaeology, Cambridge, there are three
carved wooden stalls from Brampton church, Hunts, with remark-
able misericords, c. 1350. They are described and illustrated in
Pt. xxxi. of the Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian
Society.
When the fine chancel of the collegiate church of Fotheringhay,
Northants, was shamefully unroofed in the i6th cent., some of the
stalls were given shelter in neighbouring parish churches. There
are ten in the chancel of Hemington church, three at Tansor, and
three at Benefield.
A strong sense of realistic humour is often to be noted in the
carvings of the misericords, particularly in the retributive justice done
25* ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
to sportsmen by their victims. The best instances of this is at
Manchester, where a huntsman is bound to a pole revolving before
a roaring fire ; over the fire hang some pots, and a hare raising the
lid of one discloses the head of a hound in process of being stewed.
In several cases, as at Beverley and Nantwich, a fox is being hanged
by geese ; and at Malvern a group of rats are busy hanging a cat.
There are also more than a dozen churches in which grotesques are
to be found of a fox preaching to geese.
Natural animal life is occasionally pleasantly depicted, as a cat
and kittens, and a hen with her brood at Beverley ; a pig and litter
which occurs at Chester, Winchester, and Worcester ; or a rabbit
at play at Christchurch. More often, however, the comic element
intervenes; thus a pig is found playing bagpipes (Ripon, etc.), a
rabbit riding a hound (Worcester), a fox riding a cock (West-
minster), a bear beating a drum (Boston), and a lion on a monkey.
Fabulous animals were still more popular, the mermaid being a
universal favourite, whilst griffins, basilisks, dragons, and a variety
of demons are comparatively common.
Serious scriptural subjects, and the evangelists and other saints
with their emblems, are usually found, as well as animals of a
distinct symbolic meaning, such as the lion, eagle, or unicorn.
Hawking and hunting scenes are also common, with occasional
combats between knights, wrestling matches, and other sports, as
well as weird encounters between beasts and demons.
Now and again domestic or agricultural incidents are repre-
sented, such as cooking (Minster and Windsor), spinning (Ely,
Fairford, etc.), threshing (Westminster), or ploughing (Lincoln).
Family quarrels occasionally occur ; whilst at both Beverley and
Lynn a man is represented wheeling a scolding wife in a wheel-
barrow, with the probable intention of overturning her into a pond.
One of the fine set of misericords at Boston gives a realistic
view of the birching of a boy by a schoolmaster, whilst three of his
schoolfellows look on, book in hand, enjoying the scene.
At Screveton, Notts., there is a well-designed carving of a man
warming his feet at the fire ; such a design in a series of months
was assigned to February. This misericord is probably one of an
original series of twelve from some larger church.
It will be noticed in the following list that examples of stalls
are more abundant in East Anglia than elsewhere.*
* Choir Stalls and their Carvings, by Emma Phipson (Batsford, 1896), is the best
CARTMEI, PRIORY, LANCASHIRE
WYSALL, NOTTS
MISERICORDS
STALLS AND MISERICORDS 259
Those marked f are canopied. Where no date is mentioned, it may be assumed that
the stalls are l$th cent.
Beds. — Bedford, St. Paul's (18), c. 1400; Biggleswade; Eddlesborough ;
Leighton Buzzard (28), c. 1385; Luton; Northill, c. 1405.
Berks.— Fyfield ; Sutton Courteney, i3th cent.; Wantage; Windsor, St.
George's Chapel (98), c. 1450.
Bucks.— Aylesbury, Edlesborough (mis.), Ivinghoe, Newport Pagnell, North
Marston.
Cambs. — Balsham, Bourne, Boxworth, Burwell ; Cambridge, St Michael,
King's College Chapel \ ( 1 1 8), Renaissance ; Els worth ; Ely, Cathedral t,
1338; Fordham(i9),r. 1350; Gamlingay (6),*. 1420 ; Isleham, Land-
beach (mis.), Melbourn, Meldreth, Milton, Orwell (mis.), Over;
Shelford, late i4th cent. ; Soham.
Cheshire. — Astbury (Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk., i., 60, 64, 66) ; Great Budworth ;
Chester, Cathedral f (48) ; Malpas, Nantwich f (25), Stockport, Wood-
church.
Corn-wall. — St. Buryan (4), St. Germans, St. Ives.
Cumberland. — Carlisle f (46), c. 1400-1415; canopies, 1433.
Derbs. — Bakewell (20), c. 1420; Dronfield, Norbury, Tideswell.
Devon. — Exeter, Cathedral (50 misericords only, probably Bishop Bruere,
1222-1244) ; Kingsbridge; Ottery St. Mary, Choir and Lady Chapel.
Dorset.— Charmouth ; Sherbornef, I4th cent.; Sturminster Marshall;
Wimborne (14), 1608.
Durham. — Auckland (28) ; Brancepeth f, post-Reformation ; Coniscliffe,
Darlington; Durham, Cathedral (32), c. 1660, Castle Chapel (22, only
ii misericords), c. 1510, St. Oswald; Stranton. The following are all
of post-Reformation date, though Gothic in character : Easington,
Lanchester (J. o' G. Sk. J3k.,\\., 16), Sedgefieldf ', Sherburn, Hospital
Chapel (16) ; Staindrop, Stanhope.
Essex. — Castle Hedingham.
Glos. — Bristol, Cathedral f, c. 1520; Duntisbourne Rouse; Fairford, c.
1460; Gloucester, Cathedral f (60), i4th cent. ; Tewkesbury.
Hants. — Basingstoke, The Vine, Chapel; Christchurch (58, but only 32
misericords), c. 1500; Winchester, Cathedral f (68), c. 1296, College.
(18), 1390, St. Cross.
Hereford;.— Hereford, Cathedral t (60), All Saints f, St. Peter's f ; Ledbury,
Madley, Canon Pyon (16), Wigmore.
general book on the subject ; see also Wright's Essays on Archaeological Subjects (1861),
and his History of Caricature in Literature and Art (1865). There are few stalls and
misericords given in Carter's Ancient Sculptures (1780), and in 1875 Llewellyn Jewitt
contributed a series of articles to the Art Journal, called " Art under the Seats." There
are separate works on the stalls of Beverley, Bristol, Ripon, and Worcester. Drawings
to scale of some of the stalls of Beverley, Holdenby, King's Lynn, Lancaster, and
Richmond will be found in the various volumes of the Sketch-book of the Architectural
Association.
260 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Herts. — Anstey(i4); Bishops Stortford (18), c. 1420; Stevenage, Wheat-
hampstead.
Hunts. — Brampton (3), temp. Edward III., now in Cambridge Museum ;
Little Paxton.
Kent. — Aldington, Bexley, Cliff-at-Hoo, Cobham, Faversham (16), Ivy-
church, Lenham; Maidstone (20 out of 28 remain), 1395 ; Minster-
in-Thanet (18), c. 1410 ; Rochester, Cathedral (desks only, i3th cent.) ;
Rodmersham f (3) ; Sandwich, St. Clements ; Southfleet ; Throwley (4),
c. 1450 ; Upchurch (stone), Wingate.
Lanes. — Cartmelf (26), stalls and misericords i4th cent., canopies post-
Reformation; Garstang, Halsall; Lancaster f, late I4th cent.; Mag-
hull (16) ; Manchester, Cathedral f (36), c. 1500 (J. o' G. Sk. Bk.,
i., 35, 36); Middleton, Prescot, Sefton; Walley (18), c. 1435.
Leics. — Belgrave, i sedile only ; Leicester, St. Martin (3) ; Noseley.
Lines. — Boston (64), <r. 1375 ; Lincoln, Cathedral f (108), c. 1370 ; Pilham ;
Stamford, Browne's Hospital, Sturton, Swaton, Tattershall, Winthorpe
(Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., vi., 52, 53), Witham-on-the-Hill.
Middlesex. — London, St. Katherine's Hospital (i i out of 24 survive), c. 1350;
Westminster Abbey, Henry VII. chapel t (68), canopied wooden sedilia
in sanctuary ; Stanwell, eight stone stalls in chancel, in addition to
sedilia.
Mons. — Abergavenny \ (24).
Norfolk. — Aylsham, 1507; Binham, Blakeney, Castle Acre; Cawston, c.
1460 ; Cley-next-Sea, East Harling(6), Ingham, Litcham ; King's Lynn,
St Margaret (16), c. 1420, St. Nicholas (6), c. 1450, now in Archit,
Museum, Tufton Street, London ; Norwich, Cathedral f (62), St.
Andrew, St. Michael Coslany, St. Gregory, St. Peter Mancroft (24),
St. Swithin (stone, with wooden misericords) ; North Walsham, Sail
(Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., viii., 20-22), Thompson; Tilney All Saints (18),
c. 1420 ; Trunch, Walpole St. Peter (5 misericords, under stone
canopies, and resting on stone supports), Great Walsingham,
Walsoken (9),Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen.
Northants. — Benefield (3), Doddington; Gayton (6), c. 1500 ; Remington
(10) ; Higham Ferrers f (20)5X415; Holdenby (6), Irthlingborough
(8), 1376 (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., i., 58); Isham (2), Peterborough,
Cathedral (3), c. 1450; Passenham, 1628; Raunds, i4th cent.;
Rothwell (7), late i5th cent.; Tansor (3); Wellingborough (6),
c. 1385 ; Winwick, one sedile. At Denford there are 7, and at Kings
Sutton 12 stone stalls resembling sedilia.
Northumberland. — Hexham (36), i5th cent.
Notts. — Newark; Southwell, return stalls of stone, at back of screen, i4th
cent. ; Screveton (single misericord and stall), Thurgarton, Wysall.
Oxon. — Bampton ; Cassington, post-Reformation ; Dorchester ; Kidlington,
i5th cent.; Merton, from Exeter College, Oxford; Oxford, All Souls
SEATS AND BENCHES 261
(42), 1442, Christchurch, c. 1520, Lincoln College, 1630, Merton
College, New College (62), 1480, Trinity College; Swinbrook, c.
1450; Thame.
Salop.— Ludlowf (32). The backs are original, but the actual canopies
modern; eight of the misericords are i4th cent., the rest Perpendicular.
Lentwardine f, Tong f.
Somerset.— Bridge water; South Cadbury, i4th cent. ; Ditcheat; Middlezoy
(i); Wells (64), misericords only ; Weston-in-Gordano ; Worle.
Sta/s.— Blithfield, Enville (4 misericords), Penkridge, Worle (misericords
only).
Suffolk.— Bildeston (from St. Leonard's chapel), Brandon; Buxhall, ^th
cent. ; Carlton, Cockfield, Combs, Cratfield, Debenham, Denardiston,
Framsden, Hadleigh, Hundon, Icklington, Lakenheath, Lavenham,
Melford, Mettingham, Newbourne; Norton, i4thcent. ; Southwoldj;
Stoke-by-Nayland, i4th cent. ; Stonham Aspall, i4th cent. ; Stow-
langtoft; Sudbury, St. Gregory, 1365 ; Ubbeston, Westhall, Westleton,
Wingfield, Winston.
Surrey. — Beddington, c. 1410; Lingfield, Nutfield, Ockham, West Horsley,
Worplesdon.
Sussex. — Bosham, Broadwater ; Chichester, Cathedral f (40, Sp. Gard. Sk.
Bk., i., 28; ii., 61-63), St. Mary's Hospital (24), 1407; Bishop Sher-
borne, Etchingham, Kirdford, Mayfield, West Tarring, Wittering (2).
Warwicks. — Astley (painted figures and scrolls), Aston (from St. Margaret,
Leicester) ; Coventry, St. Michael, Holy Trinity ; Knowle, Solihull,
Stratford-on- A von .
Wilts. — Mere; Salisbury, Cathedral (i3th cent, fragmentary), St. Thomas.
Worcs. — Great Malvern (24), c. 1400 ; Little Malvern, Pershore (frag-
mentary), Ripple; Worcester, Cathedral, i4th cent, (misericords only).
Yorks. — Beverley, Minster f (68), 1445-1515, St. Mary (28), c. 1445;
Ecclesfield, Hackness, Halifax, Hull; Hemingborough, i3th cent;
Leake, Loversal, Middleton-in-Pickering Dale, Pocklington ; Richmond
(16), early i6th cent; Ripon f, 1487-94; Rotherham, c. 1480; Selby,
i4thcent. ; Silton, Sprotborough ; Swine (9 remain), c. 1400; Wensley,
Wakefield; York, St. Mary Castlegate (i sedile), St. Saviour (2).
SEATS AND BENCHES
It would appear that the early rule for a congregation in English
as in other Christian churches was to stand when not kneeling. The
stone benches or tables round the walls would suffice for the aged
and infirm ; such were probably much more numerous in the early
churches than would appear from their surviving remains at the
present time. Nevertheless, such rows of stone seats are more
frequent than is usually supposed.
The earliest of the Cornwall churches seem always to have had
262 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
a stone bench round the walls, as at St. Piran, and in the south
transepts of Tintagel and Minster. At Bishopstone, Wilts., there
are stone bench-tables against the south and west walls of the south
transept ; and at Bratton in the same county there are similar seats
round the piers of the central tower. In Somerset such seats may
be noted in the south aisle of Pridley church, and also at the late
Tudor church of North Petherton, and at the west end of Brimpton
church. At Weston-on-Trent, Derbs., are stone benches against
the north wall of the north aisle, and at the west end of the south
aisle, and also on each side of the chancel of Norbury in the same
county. The noble I4th-cent. East Riding church of Patrington
has a stone seat running round most of the nave, including the west
end. At Hemingborough, in the same Riding, there are stone seats
against the south and west walls. In the North Riding there is a
stone seat along the north aisle of Kirby Sigston, and at the west
end and north side of Middleton church. Acton church, Chester,
is a remarkable example, for here the stone bench runs all round
both church and chancel. Ufford and Cotterstock, Northants,
have stone benches round the aisles, and Warmington on each
side of the chancel. They are also to be seen at Tunstead, Norfolk.
The Norfolk churches of Hunstanton and Snettisham afford two
other examples of churches which have original stone seats
encompassing the bases of the piers of the arcades. Such instances
might be at least trebled if every case was put on record.
A very effective, but highly unusual, plan for affording seats of
this description was by encircling with them the bases of the piers
of the nave arcades. The best example that we know occurs in the
church of St. Michael, Sutton Bonnington, of which an illustration
is given. Like instances occur in the Nottinghamshire church of
Coddington, and at Lydd, Kent.
Church porches were usually provided with a stone bench down
each side, that people might there rest themselves before service
began. At Stogumber church, Somerset, an exterior bench-table
runs the whole length of the north aisle ; the principal entrance to
the church was on this side.
The custom, however, of providing no wooden seats of a per-
manent character for the general congregation seems to have been
first broken through by seats being fixed within chantry parcloses
or guild chapels, and thus the custom gradually spread to the body
of the church.
SEATS AND BENCHES 263
A few simple examples, for the most part early, occur of
benches m which the only decoration is a moulding running along
the back and sides as at Fen Ditton, Cambs. ; Willington, Beds
Eckmgton and Suckley, Worcs. ;
and Dunsfold, Surrey. The last
of these examples, with scal-
loped tops, is supposed to be of
late I3th-cent. date.
In the 1 5th and i6th cents,
very many churches were com-
pletely fitted up with wooden
seats, setting a fashion which has
prevailed ever since.
The earlier examples of these
centuries were generally rude
benches with simple terminals ;
in the later, of which the most
beautiful are to be seen in East
Anglia and the most elaborate
in Somerset, Devon, and Corn-
wall, the workmanship is excel-
lent. The ends toward the alleys
are carved, either with traceried
panelling, figure-carving, often
of a secular and humorous cha-
racter, or armorial bearings.
These bench ends are usually
square headed in the western
counties, but generally end in
poppy-heads in East Anglia and
other parts. In Norfolk and
Suffolk they were sometimes further enriched by figures in niches,
as at Blythburgh and Wiggenhall St. Mary.
The earlier examples are to be found chiefly in the Midlands. To
the 1 3th cent, belong those at Gaddesby, and to the I4th those at
Dunton Bassett, both in Leicestershire ; and late in the same century
came the very fine and complete set at Finedon, Northants. Of the
15th cent, those at Wiggenhall, Norfolk, and Blythburgh and Lax-
field, Suffolk, maybe specially noticed ; and early in the i6th, those
at Brent Knoll and Trull, Somerset, and Kilkhampton, Cornwall.
BRENT KNOLL, SOMERSET
264 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The following is a list of the more remarkable old seats and
bench-ends, arranged according to counties. The great majority
of them are late pre-Reformation.
Bedfordshire
In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1812, two of the grotesque
bench-ends in the nave of Steventon church are rudely engraved.
In the one case " two veteran bibbers are drinking out of a bowl,"
and the other instance "may possibly have an allusion to the
painful consequences of excessive drinking."
Barton-le-Clay, Biddenham, Bolnhurst, Bromham, Carlton, Cople, Chel-
lington, Eaton Bray, Eaton Socon, Eyworth, Houghton Conquest,
Langford, Marston-Mortaine, Oakley, Sandy, Shillington, Steventon,
Stretton, Thurleigh, Totternhoe, Willington.
Berkshire
At the west end of Aldworth church there are two or three
bench-ends which have been supposed by some to be of I4th-cent.
date ; but they are in reality of the time of Henry VII.
Aldworth, Cumnor, Frilsham, Lyford, Letcombe Regis, Reading St.
Laurence, Sunningwell, Wantage.
Buckinghamshire
Chesham Bois, Drayton-Beauchamp, Lee, Soulbury, Stoke Poges, Weston
Turville, Wing.
Cam bridgeshire
The benches in the north aisle of Cherry Hinton church are of
much interest and unusually ornamented ; they appear to be of early
i5th-cent. date.
Arlington, Bourne, Burwell, Caldecott, Cherry Hinton, Chesterton, Chip-
penham, Comberton, Coveney, Elsworth, Fen Ditton, Fulbourne,
Gamlingay, Gorton, Guilden Morden, Horningden, Histon, Imping-
ton, Lolworth, Orwell, Soham, Sutton, Thriplow, Toft, Wood Ditton.
Cheshire
At Woodchurch there is beautiful tracery on some of the
bench- ends.
SEATS AND BENCHES 265
Cornwall
The most characteristic feature of the interior of a I5th-cent
Cornish church must have been the seating of them throughout, or
in considerable blocks, with substantial oak benches or seats, the
ends of which were invariably carved with some degree of vigorous
effect and much pains, and afford evidence of that general zeal for
the House of God which passed over the whole of the Duchy in the
century before .the Reformation. Occasionally these bench-ends
are of heraldic pattern. On the bench-ends of St. Teath are the
arms of Arundell impaling Peverell, and Fitzjames impaling
Peverell. The arms of Roscarrock impaling Grenville are on one
of the bench-ends in Endellion church. John Roscarrock, grandson
of John who married Alice Pentire (whose arms are on the stoup
in that church), married Agnes, daughter of Thomas Grenville,
for his first wife, temp. Henry VIII. The arms of the see of
Winchester are on a bench in the church of Davidstow. At St.
Breward the arms of Bodmin priory may be noticed. St. Teath
has a large number of these bench-ends still preserved, as well as
the old benches themselves. Several of them bear the monogram
/ H C and a crowned M for the Blessed Virgin. These two
designs are repeated in various churches of the district, as well as
different forms of the Latin and St. Andrew's cross. Occasionally
there are special varieties, such as the Virgin and St. Joseph, with
a bullock's head between them, at Davidstow, and a satirical one
at Padstow of a fox preaching to geese. But by far the commonest
subject for treatment on these bench-ends are the various symbols
of the Passion, arranged after various fashions, but, for the most
part, having only one or two symbols on the same panel. Such
are — the crown of thorns, the nails and hammer, the reed and
spear, the vesture, the dice, the pillar and scourges, the ladder, the
pierced hands and feet, and the cock of St. Peter's betrayal.
Various examples of these may be noticed at the churches of
North-East Cornwall, as at St. Teath, Michaelstow, St. Breward, and
Laneast. Some thirty or forty years ago it was almost impossible
to find a church anywhere in the county without a considerable
number, or at all events some remnants, of these bench-ends. But
the evil work of " restoration " has, to our own certain knowledge,
been the cause of the loss of much of this characteristic work. At
a visit to Cornwall in the seventies of last century, bench-ends
266 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
and other beautiful bits of fine old oak carving, from roofs and
elsewhere, were to be met with worked up into public-house settles,
or serving as sideboards or ornamental panelling in the houses of
gentlefolk and well-to-do tradesmen. Others could be seen rotting
in timber-yards or at village builders, where they could be picked
up for a trifle. Especially was this the case in the neighbourhood
of Tintagel and Boscastle. In some of the rather better " restora-
tions " they did not actually destroy all the old woodwork, but, with
strange perversity, wrested it from its proper use. Thus, at St.
Breward, some of the best of the bench-ends were painted and
gilded and stuck up over the altar to form an unsightly and
unseemly reredos. Bench-ends have also been absurdly turned
into a reredos at Tintagel church. Elsewhere they have been stuck
together to make pulpits or reading-desks.
The student of old English woodcarving in Cornwall cannot
fail to notice that there were somewhat varying schools of design
in different parts of the county. The bench-end, and other carving,
for instance, of Land's End and Lizard churches differs not a little
from that of north-east Cornwall, the former being somewhat more
delicate in treatment. The nave of the church of St. Minver has a
great number of handsome late bench-ends in arabesque patterns.
Several of the churches at the extreme west of Cornwall have
remarkably good bench-ends. At a miserable restoration of the
old collegiate church of St. Bury an in 1814, the richly carved old
benches were flung aside as rubbish. Blight, in his Cornish
Churches, says that they were to be found as chimney ornaments
in the cottages, or put to base uses in the farmyards. The little
church of St. Levan retains various bench-ends in good condition.
They are mostly ecclesiastical in design, but some bear the mono-
grams of benefactors or donors, whilst two represent jesters in cap
and bells. The church of Zennor* has the curious subject of a
mermaid vigorously portrayed on one of the ends. At St. Ives
some of the best of the bench-ends have been worked up into a
pulpit ; but there is a good series of late design in the Trenwyth
aisle, which seem to have been removed from the ends of chancel
stalls or seats. One of them is surmounted by a kneeling angel
holding a pyx, whilst in another case a well-carved angel kneeling
* There is an illustrated article on these bench-ends in the Antiquary, vol. xxv.
Other illustrated articles on Cornish bench-ends occur in the Reliquary and Illustrated
Arcfuzologist for July, 1896, and January, 1899.
SEATS AND BENCHES 267
at a low reading-desk and holding an open book forms the
finiaL*
There are many examples of these substantial old oak benches
with well-carved ends, pertaining to the I5th and i6th cents., in the
south-west of the county. They may be seen at Sheviock, Landulph,
Landrake, Talland, Rame, and Anthony. The churches of Talland,
Lansallos, Lanteglos, and St. Winnow have all remarkably fine
series. At St. Sampson some exceptionally interesting bench-ends
have been worked up into a pulpit and reading-desk.
A fine example of a bench-end at Lanteglos with two heads is
fully illustrated in the Sketch-book of the Architectural Association
(ist series, vol. iv.).
Alternon (c. 1500), Antony, St. Austell, Bradock (now reading-desk),
Bodmin (1491), St. Breoc, St. Breward (now reredos), Budock (two),
St. Buryan (two), Cardinham, St. Columb Major, Davidstow, Eglo-
shayle, St. Enoder, Endellion, St. Eval, Golant (now pulpit and reading-
desk), Govan, Gwinear, St. Ives, St. Keverne, Kilkhampton, Landulf,
Landrake, Laneast, Lanreath, Lansallos, Lanteglos, Launcells,
Launceston (Sp. Gard. Sk. £k., vii., 35), St. Levan, Lewannick,
Mawgan, Michaelstow, St. Minver Morwenstow (1568), Mullion,
Padstow, Phillack (now pulpit), Poughill, Poundstock, Rane, Ruan
Magnor, Sheviock, Talland, Tamarton, St. Teath, Tywardreth (now
pulpit and reading-desk), St. Winnow, Zennor.
Derbyshire
Breadsall, Dronfield, Hartshorne (Elizabethan), Morley, Mugginton (1600),
Radbourne (poppy-heads), Sawley, Weston-on-Trent.
Devonshire
This county is celebrated for the variety of its bench-ends,
which are in the main of late I5th or early i6th cent. date. Those
parts of the county that adjoin Cornwall, particularly in the
northern division, are for the most part square-ended, and in many
respects resemble those of the westernmost county. Contrariwise
those parts that border on Somersetshire are not infrequently
ornamented with the poppy-head finial.
In the north aisle of Colebrooke church, dating from about the
* For an illustrated account of the woodwork of this church and some others of the
district, see J. H. Mathews' History of the Parish*, St. /*>«, Lelant, Tcwdnack, a,
Zennor (1892).
268 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
middle of the I5th cent., and probably erected by Jno. Coplestone,
are many of the original bench-ends, some of which display the
arms of Coplestone and Gorges supported by figures of savages.
In the case of Ilsington some of the bench-ends bear the arms ot
the Beaumonts and Pomeroys, who possessed Ingsdon in this
parish in the I5th cent. On some of the ends there is a beautiful
arrangement of quatrefoils, which has caused a mistaken belief that
these benches are of I4th-cent. date. There are canopied seats in
the north transept and other interesting woodwork.
The old benches of Colyton church are perfectly plain with
chamfered edge. At Doddiscombleigh, Rewe, and Tavistock there
is a goodly variety of square traceried ends which are so common
in other parts of the county. Ottery St. Mary has the richest
examples of traceried ends. The bench-ends of Rewe bear the
arms of Wadham impaling Chisledon and Seymour. The carved
ends of the churches of North Tawton, Horwood, and Plymptree
are all of superior workmanship, especially the last. At Athering-
ton the form of the bench-ends is quite peculiar ; they are elbowed
and crocketed.*
About half of the group of North Devon churches which are
included in a triangle, with Bideford, Hartland, and Torrington at
the three points, have carved bench-ends of late I5th or early i6th
cent. date. They differ somewhat from the more usual and sub-
stantial examples in the adjacent parts of Cornwall, though in the
main square-ended. In these Devonshire churches the symbols of the
Passion, so common in Cornwall, are the exception, and the carving
is usually of an inferior description. Occasionally, however, there is
a good deal of richness in arabesque patterns, and those interested
in the first introduction of Renaissance designs into English
churches ought to give far more attention than has yet been
bestowed on the comparatively early date when these Italian or
foreign patterns reached these country churches. Like patterns of
this period are quite unknown throughout whole counties of central
and northern England. Probably the nearness of the then im-
portant port of Bideford and the nature of its trade had something
to do with these designs. Another feature of these Devonshire
bench-ends is the prevalence among them of coats of arms, and
more especially of distinctive initials, pointing to early days of
* There is a good and well-illustrated article on the " Old Benches of Devonshire "
in the first volume of the proceedings of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society.
SEATS AND BENCHES 269
appropriation of pews or seats. At Sutcombe there is a rich
variety of these bench-ends, most of them exceptionally well
carved. There are a variety of loose ones at the west end of the
north aisle, the remnants of a somewhat hasty restoration. Three
bear shields of the Prideaux family ; one is of six quarterings, whilst
several have various initials. Other designs are two fish, a merman
and mermaid, a St. Andrew's Cross, a double knot, various beasts
and dragons with convoluted tails, and two full-length figures,
perhaps intended for Apostles. There are also various symbols of
the Passion on the restored stalls within the chancel screen.
The nave of Abbotsham church is well filled with old benches
having carved ends. Several bear various Passion symbols, such
as three nails, the lantern, reed, and spear, and scourges ; there
are also two full-length figures, and a .well-carved crucifix with Sts.
Mary and John. In the nave of Alwington church are thirteen
pre-Reformation benches or seats, all with well-carved ends, chiefly
of tracery. There are some good examples of heraldic ends at
Weir Gififord. At Lancross there are some remarkable specimens,
one of which bears the date 1 503. These bench-ends should also
be noted at Hartland, Monkleigh, Newton Petrock, West Putford,
Frithelstock, Littleham, and Woolfardisworthy.
The nave of Hartland church is chiefly fitted with substantial
oak seats or benches of late i6th-cent date. In the south chapel
are several bench-ends bearing the initials H. P., which stand for
Hugh Prust. He was an important landowner in Hartland, and
the last upholder of the Guild of Our Lady before the Reformation.
The seats bearing his initials have been transferred from the chapel
on the other side of the chancel. At North Lew the benches bear
the date of 1537 ; some of the ends have the symbols of the Passion
and other shields with monograms.
Abbotsham, Alwington, Ashton, Atherington (Sp. Card. Sk. Bk., ii. 18),
Bovey Tracey, North Bovey, Bradstone, Braunston, Broadwood Widger
(1529), Buckland Monachorem, East Budleigh, Christow, Clayhanger,
Cockington, Colebrooke, Colyton, Doddiscombleigh, Frithelstock,
Hartland, Horwood, Ilsington, Kenn, Lancross, Lapford, North Lew
(1537), Lew Trenchard, Littleham, Monkleigh, Newton Petrock,
Ottery St. Mary, Okehampton, Plymptree, Plympton, West Putford,
Rewe, Sutcombe, Tavistock, North Tawton, Week St. Pancras, Weir
Gifford, Woolfardisworthy
270 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Dorsetshire
The church of Affpuddle is furnished with well-designed
benches, the ends of which are carved with tracery, and the backs
with the linen-fold pattern. The handsomely carved pulpit is of
like design, and shows, in common with the seats, the progress of
the Renaissance feeling in English carving. An inscription states
that — Thes seyts were mayd in the yere of our Lord God
MCCCCCXL VII. The tyme of Thomas Lylynton, vicar of this
Cherche.
Affpuddle, Bere Regis (now reading-desk), Toners Puddle, Yetminster.
Durham
On the north side of the chancel of Jarrow are four very fine
bench-ends beautifully carved in geometrical tracery. They have
been thought by some to be of I4th-cent. date, but the winged
heart pierced by a sword, which is the badge or sign of Prior
Thomas Castell, Durham, 1494-1519, proves their late date.
Aycliff (Elizabethan), Brancepeth (xyth cent., Bishop Cosin), Darlington
(early Elizabethan), Jarrow.
Essex
Billericay, Norton Mandeville, Great Waltham, Writtle.
Gloucester
The church of Buckland has some excellent old oak benches in
the nave, richly decorated with tracery.
Buckland, Churchdown (Sp. Gard. Sk. JBk., i., 5), Cubberley, Haresfield,
Hasfield, Iron Acton (Sp. Gard. Sk. J3k., vii., 23, 24), Stanton,
Yate.
Hampshire
The few instances noted in Hampshire of old benches are of
quite a plain character. In the south transept of Winchester
cathedral is a noteworthy early bench of somewhat rude but
strong construction. It will be seen from the nature of the
workmanship and the style of the ornament that it is coeval
with the erection of the transept.
Bentworth, Bramley, Empshott, Farnborough, Heckfield, Odiham, Monk
Sherborne, Rotherwick, Winchfield.
SEATS AND BENCHES
271
Hertfordshire
Berkhampstead, Caddington, Hunsdon, Puttenham.
Huntingdonshire
At Eynesbury there are 32 late iSth-cent. bench ends of
different designs, with the poppy-head in its most complete form
At Godmanchester the woodwork of the "assistants seats" is very
beautiful.
Eynesbury, Fen Stanton, Glatton,
Godmanchester, Hamerton,
Offord Cheny, Southoe, Stan-
ground, Swineshead.
Kent
Adisham, Badlesmere, Birling ;
Canterbury, Holy Trinity, St.
Mildred ; Westbere, Wootton.
Lancashire
Bolton-le-Moors (three old stalls),
Eccleston, Maghull, Sefton
(Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk., ii., 21).
Leicestershire
Ashfordby, Ayleston, Church Lang-
ton, Croxton Kerial, Dunton
Bassett (early), Goadby Mar-
wood, Hoby, Horninghold, Kirby Bellars, Knipton; Leicester, All
Saints, St. Martin's, Trinity Hospital ; Misterton, Muston, Noseley,
Stock erston, Stretton Parva, Thedding worth, Thorpe Langton (Jaco-
bean), Witheriey, Woodhouse.
Lincolnshire
Among the bench-ends of this county may be noticed those
of Browne's Hospital, Stamford, founded about 1480 ; the good
square bench-ends at Walcott ; the singular late examples at
Threckingham ; and those of Kelby, which are said to have
come from the chapel of Culverthorpe Hall. The bench-ends at
Theddlethorpe are partly made from portions of the old screen.
At Osbournby there are a variety of figure subjects, such as Adam
and Eve, St. George and the Dragon, and a fox preaching to geese.
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL
272 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Addlethorpe, South Cockerington, Coleby (Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk., i., 30),
Digby, Edenham, Fenton, Folkingham, Grimoldby, Haccon'by,
Halton Holgate, Harpswell, Haxby, Helpringham, Kelby, Marsh-
Chapel, North Wheatley, Osbournby, Quarrington, Rauceby,
Saltfleetby, Sempringham, Silk Willoughby (Abb. Sq. Sk. Bk.,
i., 30), Skendleby, South Somercotes; Stamford, Brown's
Hospital; Strubby, Tattershall, Theddlethorpe, Thorpe St. Peter,
Threckingham, Thurlby-by-Newark, Welby, Wellingore (Abb. Sq.
Sk. Bk., i., 30), Winthorpe, Wilsford, Yarborough.
Middlesex
Drayton, Harmondsworth (J. <? G. Sk. Bk., i., 8), Littleton, Ruislip.
Norfolk
There are many remains throughout the churches of Norfolk of
poppy-head bench-ends, and benches with occasional well-carved
seat backs, all of i$th- or early i6th-cent. date. This is more
particularly the case in the north-east of the county, in the Broads
district Both nave and aisle of the little church of Irstead are
thus seated throughout, and the same may nearly be said of the
churches of South Walsham St. Mary and Horsey. Similar work
is worth noticing at Ashmanhaugh, Horning, Stokesby, Palling,
Potter Heigham, Salhouse, Hempstead, and Barton Turf.
In the chancel of Horning are four well-carved late bench-ends.
On one is a realistic demon, thrusting a man into the dragon's
jaws ; on another a man strangling a serpent ; on a third is a
crozier ; and the fourth is floriated ; there are various poppy-head
bench-ends in the nave. The nave and aisles of South Walsham
St. Mary are seated almost throughout with late I5th-cent. seats
with poppy-head bench-ends ; several of these poppy-heads bear in
their centre single letters, such as T and R, denoting the owners or
the donors of the seats; others have brief inscriptions in small
black-letter text. At the west end of the church of Stokesby are
some excellent poppy-head bench-ends and seats (five on each
side), with delicately carved backs ; six of these poppy-head finials
have carved figures attached on the east sides ; one represents a
griffin, holding a shield bearing a cross raguled ermine, another
a lady kneeling at a desk with a rosary, a third a talbot, a fourth a
greyhound with the initials R. W., and the two others nondescript
SEATS AND BENCHES 273
beasts. At Ashmanhaugh there are twelve old poppy-head bench-
ends at the west end of the church, and also a piece of seat
panelling with a row of five shields, on which each of the Wounds
are severally carved, together with a like number of shields bearing
initials. The highly interesting church of Barton Turf has six old
poppy-head ends affixed to quire seats.
In the nave of the neglected church of Palling are fourteen old
benches, with fairly good poppy-head ends ; they are much spoilt
by the liberal use of modern paint, and by having backs of cheap
CAWSTON, NORFOLK
deal clumsily attached to them. These backless benches are
occasionally found in both Suffolk and Norfolk. The best instance
of them — here illustrated — is at Cawston, where they have been
happily suffered to remain in their original condition.
Wimbotsham, on the east border of the fens, has some remark-
able bench-ends, with poppy-heads and elbow-pieces of curious
forms, such as a muzzled bear, cockatrice, chained antelope, lion,
and friar with beads. These are illustrated and described in
vol. ii. of the Journal of the Norfolk Archaeological Society.
Ashmanhaugh, Aylmerton, Bacton, Barton Turf, Beeston St. Mary, Bres-
singham, Brisley, Brinton, Carbrooke, Castle Acre, Cawston, Cleye,
South Creyke, Crostwight, Edingthorpe (1587), North Elmham, Field
Balling, Forncett, Freckenham, Garboldisham, Hempstead, Hockering,
Horsey, Horning, Houghton-in-the-Dale, Irstead, Lakenheath, Ludham
T
274 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
(Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., iv., 72), West Lynn, Needham, Palling, Great
Poringland, Pulham, Salhouse, Salthouse, Santon Downham, Sco-
Ruston (one), Soham Toney, Sharrington, Sheringham, Great
Snoring, Sparham, Stokesby, Swaffham, Swanton Abbot, Swanton
Novers, Thompson, Thornham, Threxton, West Tofts, Trunch,
Tunstead, Walpole St. Peter, South Walsham St. Mary, Great
Walsingham, Walsoken, Weybourne, Wickmere, Wiggenhall St.
Mary, Wimbotsham, Wolferton, Worstead.
Northamptonshire
The distribution of stalls from the once noble chancel of
Fotheringay collegiate church has already been named. Many
of the old 1 5th-cent. benches of the same church found their way
to the church of Kingscliffe. Lowick and Kingsthorpe have some
beautiful poppy-head examples. At Brington there is much
heraldry on the bench-ends. There are some good, though
dilapidated, tracery bench-ends at Irchester, illustrated in the
Sketch-book of the Architectural Association (ist series, vol. iv.).
Addington, Ashby St. Ledger's, Great Billing, Bozeat, Brington, Chilveston,
Clay Coton, Easton-on-the-Hill (1631), Fawsley (good), Finedon
(earliest example of seats with doors), Hargrave, Hazelbeach
(6 good), Irchester, Kingscliffe, Lowick, Maxey, Newton Bromswold,
Raunds, Ravensthorpe, Spratton, Stanwick, Tansor, Ufford, Wark-
worth, Winwick, Woodford, Yelvertoft
Nottinghamshire
In this county there are several churches with I5th-cent. carved
bench-ends that have good poppy-head finials. At Barnby-in-the-
Willows are twenty old benches of this character, late in the style ;
at Cropwell Bishop there are five, which may be as early as
Richard II. ; at Granby there are fourteen, with a mermaid on
one of them ; and at Costock there are six old ends, with the rest
modern. There are the large number of forty in the nave of
Balderton ; the poppy-heads are in this church uniquely formed
of a couple of rabbits, with their heads downwards. The others
named in the following short list are plain examples. The late
traceried bench-ends at Newark are good of their kind ; there
are drawings of them in the Sketch-book of tJie Architectural
Association (ist series, vol. viii.).
The remains of old seating in the church of East Leake are
varied and unusual. There are some rather clumsy poppy-heads
of iSth-cent. date, whilst there are other more rugged ones with
SEATS AND BENCHES
275
peculiar roundel patterns, which are of the Jacobean period The
bench-end of one of the latter is dated 1612.
Attenborough (5 Jacobean), Balderton, Barnby-in-the-Willows, Bilsthorpe,
EAST LEAKE, NOTTS.
Car Colston, Clayworth, Costock, Cropwell Bishop, Edwalton, Granby,
Holme (Thoroton Soc., ix.), Kneesall, EastLeake, Newark, Thurgarton.
Oxfordshire
There are some excellent bench-ends at Hampton Poyle, of
which there are some good drawings in the Sketch-book of tJie
Architectural Association (ist series, vol. iii.).
Ashton, Chastleton, Emden, Hampton Poyle, Haseley, Heyford, Milcombe,
Stanton St. John (poppy-heads, most curious), Steeple Aston, Swin-
brook, Tew, Great Wroxton.
Rutland
Caldecot, Ketton, Morcott, Stoke Dry.
Shropshire
Donnington (early), Holgate, Ludlow.
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Staffordshire
Blithfield, Blore, Checkley.
Somersetshire
This county is one of those most celebrated for its carved
bench-ends, which belong as a rule to the close of the i$th cent.
EAST LEAKE, NOTTS.
until the end of the reign of Henry VIII. It is interesting to note
that they chiefly occur, as in the case of the screens in the Quantock
and West Somerset districts, where the local stone is intractable.
It has frequently been coolly assumed that "a band of Flemish
Carvers" went through Somersetshire and North Devon carving
pew ends, about 1530-1540, and introducing Renaissance designs
among Gothic tracery. There is not, however, so far as we are
aware, one jot of evidence to substantiate the idea of this foreign
incursion. The probabilities are far stronger, that this profusion
SEATS AND BENCHES
of delightful workmanship was the result of local effort and skill
based perchance on patterns brought from over the seas
The bench-ends are nearly always made of excellent oak, very
thick and strong. Over a thousand of them remain in this county
and they are as a rule in thoroughly good preservation
The earliest fixed church seats in England are at Clapton
BROOMFIELD, SOMERSET
MONKSILVER, SOMERSET
North Somerset, of the reign of Edward I. ; the ends are un-
carved but curiously curved. The seats of North Cadbury are of
I4th-cent. date. The vast majority, however, are of the period
already named.
In the large church of Bishop's Lydeard the bench-ends have
a great variety of carvings, figures, animals, foliage, and geometrical
patterns ; the more striking are a three-masted ship and a wind-
mill. Occasionally these bench-ends were coloured when first
278 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
made, particularly in the case of heraldry ; but the profusion of red
and blue paint coarsely laid on at Bishop's Lydeard is a compara-
tively modern treatment. At Crowcombe, where one of the panels
is dated 1534, there is much excellent design in foliage, as well as
a few grotesques. At Spaxton the most remarkable bench-end
represents a fuller busy at his work of preparing cloth with the
various implements of his trade beside
him. One of the beautifully carved
bench-ends at Kingston shows the date
of 1522. Broomfield has some singu-
larly good ends of both conventional
and natural foliage ; one of these, in
which a bird is introduced on the stem
of a fruitful vine, is a most effective
piece of graceful design. Monksilver
has some of the best instances of geo-
metrically arranged tracery. Three
bench-ends at Brent Knoll illustrate the
mediaeval legend of Reynard the Fox
after a detailed and most realistic
manner.
Church work that can be safely as-
signed to the reign of Queen Mary is
of very rare occurrence ; but at Mil-
verton are some good seats of this date.
The bench-ends are chiefly carved in
medallions ; the figure of the Queen
occurs several times in a kneeling atti-
tude ; there are also figures of Cardinal
Pole and Bishop Gardiner. The rose
and pomegranate occur frequently, and in one case an aspersorium
or sprinkler is represented.*
At Trull, near Taunton, there are several early Elizabethan
bench-ends. On one of them is carved John Ways clarke here,
Simon Warm am maker of thys work Anno Dni 1560.
Alford, Baltonsborough, South Barrow, Barwick, South Brent, Barton St.
* Illustrations of Somersetshire bench-ends occur in various volumes of the Journal
of the Somersetshire Archaological Society — viii., Spaxton; xviii., Kingston; xxviii.,
Whitestaunton and Ban well ; and xxxiv., Cheddar. See also a good general illustrated
paper by Mr. Alexander Gordon in the Reliquary, April, 1904.
CROWCOMBE, SOMERSET
SEATS AND BENCHES
David, Bicknoller Bishop's Hull, Bishop's Lydeard, East Brent, Brent
Knoll, Broomfield, Bruton, West Buckland (r4th cent ) No:
Cadbury (^ West Camel, Charlton Mackrell, Cheddar, Qiedzoy,
Chewton Mendip, Clapton, Clevedon, Gorton Donhara (i<J\
Cothelstone, Croscombe (Sketch-book}, Crowcombe (1534) Currv
Rival, Darston, St. Decuman, Donyat, Hatch Beauchamp, Hm
Farrence, Isle Abbot, Kinston St. Mary (iS22), Limington, Lydeard
St. Lawrence, Lyng, Mells (Jacobean), Meriott, Milverton, Monk-
silver, Moor Lynch, Mudford, Norton Fitzwarren, Nettlecombe
Oake, Pitmmster, Queens Camel, Sampford Brett, Sandford Orcas'
Spaxton, Stogumber, Stoke St. Gregory, Thornfalcon, Tintinhull'
Trent, Trull (1560), Wellow, White Staunton, Winsham, Weston-
Zoyland, Wraxhall.
Suffolk
This county, as has been already mentioned, is most exception-
ally well supplied with pre-Reformation seating, which in the large
majority of cases has poppy-head bench-ends. The churches of
Dennington, Fressingfield, Norton and Shelley have a very large
number of fine examples.
The fine church of Blythburgh is exceptionally rich in a variety
of old woodwork. In the chancel are a set of stalls with returned
ends, with the Apostles in niches on the front panelling. The ends
have the quartered arms of Swillington and Roos. These stalls,
quite unsuitable for a large quire, have unfortunatey been moved
here from the north chapel. But the most interesting of all the old
woodwork in this church is the array of old oak seats in the nave,
which are coeval with the present church, c. 1475. The finials of
many of the bench-ends are most remarkable, and consist of human
figures, several of a somewhat grotesque though speaking character.
A set of seven were undoubtedly intended to represent the Seven
Deadly Sins ; they are boldly conceived, and represented with
some skill and ingenuity. One of them has been sawn off at some
comparatively recent period, probably because it represented one
of the deadly sins with too much realism. The set of The Seasons,
though a more attractive subject, is less original. These old oak
seats were originally backless.
Many of the other churches of Blything Hundred are rich in
pre-Reformation benches and bench-ends, which mostly have
poppy-head terminals. Among them may be mentioned the
churches of Cookley, Cratfield, Darsham, Frostenden, Linstead Parva,
280 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Rumburgh, South Cove (throughout), Westhall, Wissett (backless),
etc.
Aldeburgh, Aldham, Aldringham, Ashfield, Athelington, Bacton, Badley,
Barking, Barnardiston, Barningham, Barrow, Great Barton, Barton
Mills, Great Bealings, Bedingfield, Bentley, Blundeston, Blythburgh,
Bradfield St. George, Bramfield, Brandon, Brockley, Bromeswell,
Bruisyard, Bury St. Edmunds, Cavendish, Charsfield, Chediston,
Chevington, Cockfield, Cookley, Combs, South Cove, Cowling, Crat-
field, Culpho, Dalham, Darsham, Debenham, Dennington, Monks
Eleigh, Ellough, South Elmham All Saints, Elmswell, Elvedon,
Eriswell, Exning, Felixstowe, Finningham, Flixton, Framsden,
Freckenham, Frostenden, Fressingfield, Gazeley, Gedding, Gisling-
ham, Grundisburgh, Hackerton, Hartest, Hasketon, Haughley,
Hawstead, Hemingston, Henley St. Peter, Hepworth, Hitcham,
Hollingsley, Honnington, Hunston, Icklingham, Ingham, Kedington,
Kettleburgh, Knettishall, Lakenheath, Langham, Lavenham, Lawshall,
Laxfield, Martlesham, Mellis, Mickfield, Moulton, Nedging, New
bourne, Norton, Nowton, Occold, Otley, Parham, Poslingford,
, Preston, Rede, Great Redisham, Little Redisham, Redlingfield, Rings-
field, Risby, Rougham, Rushmere All Saints, Rushmere St. Andrew,
Shelley, Shottisham, Monk
Soham, Syleham, Sproughton,
Stansfield, Stanton All Saints,
Stowlangtoft, Stowmarket,
Stoke - by - Nayland, Stradis-
hall, Sutton, Thorington,
Thorndon, Thorpe, Thran-
deston, Thurlow, Tostock,
Troston, Tuddenham St.
Martin, Tuddenham St. Mary,
Ufford, Waldingfield, Wal-
sham-le-Willows, Wantisden,
Wattisfield, Great Wenham,
Westhall, Westleton, Wether-
ingsett, Winston, Withersfield,
Woolpit, Wordwell, Great
Wratting, Little Wratting,
Wyverston, Yaxley.
SEND, SURREY
Surrey
There is but little pre- Reformation seating remaining in this
county. At the church of Dunsfold there are some simple forms
SEATS AND BENCHES 2gi
of plain massive benches with good mouldings and ends cut out of
the solid. They are undoubtedly of an exceptionally early date and
are considered by Mr. Philip Johnston to be c. 1290. At Ockham
there are some old carved oak stalls in the chancels, and seats in
the nave. The plain massive isth-cent benches of Send church
have excellent mouldings.
Alfold, Great Bookham, Chessington, Dunsfold, Effingham, Lingfield
Nutley, Ockham, Pirford, Send, Woking.
Sussex:
Broadwater (quire stall), Burpham, Burton, Clymping, Coldwaltham,
Didling, East Preston, Felpham (nth), Kirdford, Hartham, Hurst-
pierpoint, Poynings, Rogate, Singleton, Slindon (i4th), Sutton,
Tortington, Upwaltham.
Warwickshire
Aston Cantlow, Baddesley Clinton, Coughton, Morton Bagot, Oxhill,
Preston Bagot, Rowington, Shotteswell, Snitterfield, Tysoe, Wootton
Wawen, Wolfhamcote, Wormleighton.
Westmoreland
Beetham.
Wiltshire
Britford (i4th), Crudwell, Malmesbury, Mere, Minty.
Worcestershire
A summary account of the parish churches of this county which
appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1862, mentions that
the naves of Chaddesley Corbett, Great Comberton, Cropthorne,
Elmley Castle, Overbury, and Strensham were filled with old open
benches. At Overbury, Bredon, Sedgebourne, North Piddle, and
Cropthorne the bench-ends had carved tracery, but the rest were
plain with moulded top-rails. The ends at Sedgeberrow and
Elmley Castle had plain poppy-head finials.
At Harvington there are several open seats in the nave which
bear texts from Scripture on the backs and ends ; they are dated
1582. The i8th-cent. pews of Wickhamford have a variety of late
I5th-cent. panels let into the ends and doors.
Birts Morton, Bredon, Chaddesley Corbett, Great Comberton, Cropthorne,
Eckington, Elmley Castle, Hanley Castle, Harvington (1582), South
Littleton, Overbury, Pendock (post-Reformation), North Piddle,
Sedgeberrow, Staunton, Strensham, Suckley, Tredington, Wickhamford.
282 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Yorkshire
At Aysgarth the reading-desk has some remarkable I5th-cent.
carving ; on the east side is the initial W, and the representation
of a hazel tree and tun ; on the west side beneath a mitre and
crozier are the initials H. M. These were originally stall ends,
and give the initials and rebus of William de Hesleton, who was
elected abbot of Jervaulx in 14/5. At Wensley are some singu-
larly beautiful chancel stalls, surmounted by fine poppy-heads and
heraldic beasts. They also show the arms of Scrope of Bolton,
Tiptoft, and Dacre. Round them runs the following inscription :
Henricus Richerdson hujus ecclesiae rector has fecit sumptus (anno)
Domini mcccccxvii. Soli Deo honor et gloriae.
Aysgarth, Crayke (1637), Darfield, Ecclesfield, Kirby Hill, Lastingham,
Leake, Marton-in-the-Forest, Middleton, Rasl. ". Thirsk, Wensley.
PEWS
The term " pew," or " pue," originally meant an elevated place
or seat, and hence came to be applied to seats or enclosures in
churches for persons of dignity or officials. But it is only of com-
paratively recent times that the term has gained an almost exclu-
sively ecclesiastical use. Milton used the word to describe the
sheep-pens of Smithfield, and Pepys applied it to a box at the
theatre. Nor was pew always used to denote a separate or private
seat or enclosure in connection with churches even in pre-Reforma-
tion days. Thus John Younge, of Herne, by will of 1458, gave
"to the fabric of the church of Herne, viz. to make seats called
puyinge x marks."
Nevertheless, the word " pew," in its church signification, was
for a long period assigned exclusively to an enclosed seat. The
earliest known use of the term occurs in the famous poem of the
Vision of Piers Ploughman, c. 1360. Wratthe, in his confession,
says that he was accustomed to sit among wives and widows
shut up in pews, adding that this was a fact well known to the
parson of the parish.*
* " Among wyes and wodewes
Ich am ywoned seete
Yparroked in puwes
The parson him knoweth."
"Yparroked " means shut up or enclosed.
PEWS 283
There is, however, an important record as to apportioned seats,
nearly a century earlier than the days of this quotation. At a
synod at Exeter, held by Bishop Quivil in the year 1287, the
following order was made : —
" We have heard that the parishioners of divers places do oftentimes
wrangle about their seats in church, two or more claiming the same seat ;
whence arises great scandal to the church ; and the divine offices are sore
let and hindered. Wherefore we decree that none shall henceforth call
any seat in the church his own, save noble persons and patrons. He who
for the cause of prayer shall first enter a church, let him select a place
of prayer according to his will."
So soon as the period is reached for which there are extant
wardens' accounts, the mention of pews of particular persons is of
general occurrence.
The church accounts of St. Mary-at-Hill, London, which begin
in 1420, abound in references to pews ; the use of the word in these
entries is quite distinct from any general seating or benches. The
making of "new pewes " occurs in the accounts for 1476-77 and the
following year, showing that there had been pews there long
anterior to that period. They were allocated to particular persons :
thus " Mastres Abclyffe's " pew occurs in 1493, and those of Mrs.
Maskall and Mrs. Overy in 1496. At later pre-Reformation dates
the references to special pews multiply, such as the alderman's
pew, Mrs. Russell's maid's pew, Mrs. Roche's maiden's pew, and Mr.
Roche's pew. In 1503 came more general pewing of the church,
for 26s. %d. was spent " for makkyng the mens pewys," and £4 " for
the makkyng of the new vemens pewys." One pew, containing a
mat, was used for shriving or hearing confessions ; it is mentioned
in 1487 and in 1493. The pews were in various parts of the
church — at the west end, next the pulpit, in the south aisle, in the
body of the church, at the north door, and also in the chapels.
The churchwardens' accounts of St. Michael's, Cornhill, have-
Item [1460] payd for an henge for Russell's wife's pew . . . iiij*
Item to a carpenter by a day floring a pew and other necessaraes . viijd
Item [1466] payd to a carpenter for mending of the pewes and dores v1 v*
The last of these entries appears to be one of the earliest
distinct mention of a pew having a door to it, and the next of its
having a lock.
Item [1467] payd to a smith for mayking of a lok to Maister
Stokkens pew ... • • • V11J
284 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
In John Russell's Boke of Nature, 1450, the chamberlain is
instructed before his lord goes to church "to procure all the
things for his pewe, and that it be prepared both with cossyn,
carpet and curteyn, bedes and boke."
By will of 1453, William Wintringham directed his body to be
buried in the church of St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street, and
an inscription to be fixed in the wall near his wife's pew, ad sedile
vocaf Anglice pewe.
A great variety of further quotations from wills and parish
accounts are given by Mr. W. J. Hardy in a paper in the
Archaologia (vol. liii. 1892), entitled "Remarks on the History of
Seat Reservation in Churches."
After the Reformation, the custom of reserved pews grew
apace, though vigorously condemned by the best divines. Bishop
Corbett, of Norwich, in a sermon preached in 1623, said —
" Stately pews are now become tabernacles with rings and curtains to
them. There wants nothing but beds to hear the word of God on ; we
have casements, locks, and keys, and cushions. I had almost said bolsters
and pillows, and for these we love the church. I will not guess what is
done within them, who sits, stands, or lies asleep at prayers, communion,
etc., but this I dare say they are either to hide some vice, or to proclaim
one ; to hide disorder or to proclaim pride."
Bishop Earle, in 1628, mentions keys in the character of " The
She Precise Hypocrite " —
" She doubts of the Virgin Mary's salvation, and dares not Saint her :
but knows her own place in Heaven, as perfectly as the pew she has a
key to."
In 1631, Bishop Neile, of Winchester, issued a monition to the
churchwardens of Elvetham, Hants, requesting them to remove
" all the locks upon any of the said pews within the said church
before Pentecost next ensueing."
Pepys, in his Diary, records that " one day he was fain to stay
at his pew door because the sexton had not opened it." About
1642 the fashion of providing pews with locks became common.
It was strongly condemned by Laud and his followers.
The post-Reformation pews of the upper classes, particularly of
the squires in country parishes, were undoubtedly of a larger and
more obtrusive character than anything which had prevailed in the
PEWS 2g5
uniformed days. The fact is that these enclosed boxes, seated
and cushioned all round, were the successors in very many cases
of the old chantry parcloses at the east end of the aisles— of which
just a few remain— within which stood an altar with room for the
celebrant and his clerk, and with one or two prie-dieus behind
them used by the founder and his dame, and afterwards by their
descendants. When chantries were abolished, the lord of the
manor retained the chantry space, and by degrees it assumed the
form so vehemently inveighed against by prelates just cited, and
still more fiercely by Bishop Cosin after the Restoration. By
degrees, too, the smaller squirearchy, the professional man, the
successful trader, or the yeoman farmer, desired to imitate the
great man of the parish, and hence somewhat smaller boxes or
enclosed pews, also squared, grew up in the rear of the big
manorial pew.
At the east end of the north aisle of Wensley church, Yorks.,
is a curious and interesting pew screen round the seats for the
Scrope family. It is composed partly of a rich wood screen of
I5th-cent. date, which originally enclosed a chantry chapel on this
site. In the time of James I., when it was converted into a family
pew, a top, or ceiling with pendants, was added to it, and another
wood screen of Italian renaissance placed within the older one of
Gothic tracery. The whole was then painted white and gilded
in parts, and the shields blazoned.
Much excellent carving is to be found in various of these state
pews which still survive in different parts of the country. A few
of the more remarkable may be briefly mentioned. There are
two pre-Reformation pews at Lavenham, Suffolk. Several of
Elizabethan date have been cleared away by " restorers," notably
a fine pew of classical design, coeval with the screen, c. 1585, at
Holdenby church, Northants. A good many fragments of this
pew, which used to stand at the east end of the north aisle, remain
in the tower belfry. There is some excellent carving round the
Corporation pew in the parish church of Bridgewater, Somerset ;
but the screenwork in this case came from the old rood screen.
The screen-enclosed pews, locally known as "cages," in the
Lancashire church of Whalley, are undoubtedly survivors of chantry
parclose work. In several cases, as at the east end of the south
aisle of Ightham, Kent, there are now rows of seats within old
parclose screens that still occupy their original position.
286
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
At Ashby St. Ledgers, Northants, are two beautifully carved
Jacobean (uncanopied) pews close to the screen. At Geddington,
in the same county, there is in the vestry a chest made of wood-
work of pews that were destroyed at a restoration ; the pieces
include a panel dated 1602, said to have belonged to the earliest
known dated pew.
To make the state pew still more cosy, and proudly distinctive
MADLEY, HEREFORDS.
from the rest of the church, the fashion set in, early in the I7th
cent., of having them roofed in with canopies or testers. A fine,
though rather late example of a canopied pew occurs at Stokesay,
Salop. There is a more enriched instance at Madley, Herefords.
Other interesting pews of this character may be noticed at
Kedington (1619), Suffolk, at Ellingham, Hants, and at Teversall,
Notts. In the last of the instances the tester is supported by
twisted shafts, which point to the latter part of the i/th cent. At
Rycote chapel, Oxon, are two good examples of canopied pews.
The fairly close resemblance of some of these pews to the
PEWS
287
elaborate tester bedsteads of Elizabethan and Jacobean date led
Swift thus to satirize them in Baucis and Philemon —
" A bedstead of the antique mode,
Compact of timber many a load,
Such as our ancestors did use,
Was metamorphosed into pews ;
Which still their ancient nature keep
By lodging folks disposed to sleep."
STOKESAY, SALOP,
288 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Good work such as balustrading or pierced carving may be
noticed occasionally surviving in the tops of high pews. Derbyshire
has two excellent examples in the opened railed pews of the
chancel of Haddon Hall chapel, c. 1625, and in the fine pews
of Kedleston chancel, c, 1700.
Other instances of early post- Reformation pews or pew screens
that are noteworthy occur at Hayes Barton and Holcombe, Devon;
Herriard (now in front of organ), Hants; Chorley, Lanes.; Breedon,
Leics. ; Blickling, Norfolk ; Barking, Lavenham, Shelley, and Little
Thurlow, Suffolk ; Kirkby Malham, W. R. Yorks. ; and Stratford-
on-Avon, Warwicks. The pew screens in the chancel of Brough
church, Westmoreland, should also be noted ; they are illustrated in
the first volume of the new series of the Architectural Sketch-book.
GALLERIES
Western church galleries were not unknown in our parish
churches in pre-Reformation days. There are two interesting
examples of ea.rly i6th-cent. west galleries beneath the towers
of the fine Norfolk churches of Worstead and Cawston. In
both cases these galleries are of good workmanship, and well
carved and painted. Cawston bears an inscription beginning " God
spede the plow." The following inscription, which has been so
often misread and misquoted, appears in black-letter on the front
of the Worstead gallery : —
" This work was made in ye yer of God MCCCCCI at ye propur cost
of ye cantell of ye chyrche of Worsted callyd ye batchellers lyte yt God
preserve wt all the benefactors of ye same now and ever, Amen, than wer
husbondes Christofyer Rant and Jeffery Deyn."
There is another Norfolk example of much the same character
and date at the church of Aylsham. At Mildenhall, Suffolk, there
is a fine fan-vaulted stone gallery under the tower.
Several other large towers of East Anglia, although they have
lost their west galleries, show by their construction that they were
devised with that object ; for the newel staircase has a doorway, to
give access to such a gallery, on a level with the base of the west
window. This may be noted, inter alia, at Cromer and South
Repps. It is generally supposed that these west galleries were for
the ringers, but this is by no means certain.
GALLERIES
289
In the south porch at Weston-in-Gordano, Somerset, there is a
small gallery above the doorway with a staircase giving access to
it ; there are traces of the same arrangement at the neighbouring
churches of Clapton, Portishead, Kingston Seymour, and Wraxhall
in the same county, and at Westbury-on-Trym, Glos., and Caldecott
Mons. In the case of
Westbury there is a par-
vise chamber above the
gallery. It is believed
that these porch galleries
were to accommodate the
choristers who sang the
" Gloria, laus et honor,"
on Palm Sunday.
In the i /th cent, the
erection of west galleries,
which were frequently re-
served for vocal or instru-
mental music, became
fairly general; and in not
a few cases they were
made sufficiently large to
accommodate a consider-
able portion of the general
congregation. Eventually,
particularly throughout
the 1 8th cent., they ex- CAWSTON, NORFOLK
tended themselves on the
north and south sides of the naves, obscuring the light, filling
up the aisle arcades, and causing grievous disfigurement to the
fabric. Such large galleries were a striking evidence of the mean-
ness of the churchmanship of the times of their erection. Where
our forefathers would have supplied other churches or chapels-
of-ease for increased population, their descendants were content to
run up these cheap wooden contrivances for the seating of additional
numbers.
Nevertheless, not a few of the earlier post-Reformation galleries
of limited dimensions were well built, and of little or no disfigure-
ment to the fabric. In such cases, it is a distinct misfortune that
ruthless renovators have swept away so many of these erections,
U
29o ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
which bore evidence of the good intentions and fair taste of the
donors.
Among the best of the earlier examples of good west galleries
of the 1 7th cent, may be mentioned the handsome one at St.
Peter's, Wolverhampton, of the year 1610; another at Lyme
Regis, Dorset, with inscription recording its erection by John
Hassard in 1611 ; a third at Farnborough, Hants, with Jacobean
balustrade work in the front ; a fourth at Worth, Sussex ; and a
fifth at Bishops Cleeve, Glouc. (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., vii., 67, 68).
The church of Odiham, Hants, has two noteworthy oak galleries.
In the western recessed bays of the nave, on each side of the
tower, are remarkably good balustraded gallery fronts, and the
work on the stair rail of each of the staircases against the west
wall whereby they are gained is exceptionally effective. In the
first instance, these now separated galleries seem to have formed
part of one continuous west gallery which was set back, and a
portion removed to give way to a new centre west gallery in 1836.
Below the rearranged fronts of the now two west galleries is the
following inscription in raised capital letters, the break of the
tower occurring (quaintly enough) actually in the middle of the
date 16—32 : —
" Rivers Smith gave forty shillings. John Kerye and Richard Flory,
Churchwardens, 1632. Alex. Sandon Serle gave al the balusters not of
wealth but of good will that others. . . ."
The sudden break in the inscription is the result of the 1836
destruction of part of the gallery.
The best gallery left in Shropshire is that at the west end of the
church of Moreton Say ; it is gained by a fine oak staircase. The
front is ornamented with small column and scroll and leaf work.
The floral designs painted on some of the panels appear to be of
later date. The inscription, in capitals, on the face runs —
"This gallery was built ano domi 1634. 10 pownde towards the
coste of it was given by the Right Worll Mrs. Jane Grosivenor of Morton
Say and all ye timber was given by the Rt Worll Arthur Sandford of
Sandford Esquer."
Another handsome example of a west gallery occurs at the
CHURCH CHESTS 2gi
Dorsetshire church of Puddletown, which is dated 1635 There
is another handsome one of the same year at East Brent
Somerset, and at Berrow, in the same county, dated 1637 At the
west end of Newdegate church, Surrey, is a gallery, inscribed on
the front, "this Gallerie was builded by Henry Nicholson, Gent
anno dom. 1627." Other surviving I7th-cent galleries may be
seen in the Surrey churches of Send, Walton-on-Thames, and
Woking.
Among exceptionally good galleries, whose comparative recent
loss we have to deplore, may be mentioned the one at Ightham,
Kent, erected by Sir William Selby in 1619, and the much later
but elaborate one at Upton Magna, Salop., dated 1666.
The usual I7th-cent. name for these extra church fittings
was " scaffold " rather than gallery. Bishop Montagu's Articles of
Enquiry for Norwich diocese, 1638, includes the following :—
" Is your church scaffolded everywhere or in part ? Do those scaffolds
so made annoy any man's seat, or hinder the lights of any windows in the
church?"
Now and again restoring architects have been kind enough to
leave an instance or two of handsome i8th-cent. galleries, as at
Shere, Surrey ; Selworthy, Somerset ; and Cullompton, Devon.
CHURCH CHESTS*
Large chests or coffers, of great strength, having the front formed
of a single panel, were in common domestic and civil use through-
out the middle ages ; and naturally they found their way into
churches, for the safe-keeping of all valuables.
But the oldest and simplest form of chest had no panels, for it
was formed out of the solid timber. It is usual to give to such
chests the name of Dug-out ; the like term, after the same fashion,
is used for early canoes. If a scientific-sounding term be preferred,
the name Monoxylon, as suggested by Colonel Hart, can be used.
These dug-out chests are still to be found in a few churches in
* In the following account of church chests, we are indebted to (l) Roe's Ancient
Coffers and Cupboards, a fine volume published in 1902 ; to (2) Old CAests, an excellent
paper contributed in 1894 to the Birmingham Midland Institute by Colonel Charles
J. tJart ; and to (3) an admirable illustrated article on I3th-cent. chests, by Mr. P. M«
Johnston, in Surrey Arch. Coll.) xx. (1907).
292 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
almost every English county, such as those of Eckington, Worcs. ;
Orleton, Herefords. ; Tettenhall, Staffs. ; Wimborne, Dorset ; Little
Waldingfield, Suffolk; Dunster, Somerset ; and St. Martin's and St.
Margaret's, Leicester. They are more numerous in Warwickshire
than in any other county ; the best and largest examples are at
Bickenhill and Curdworth. The question of the date of these dug-
out chests usually presents much difficulty ; the shape is of no help,
nor, as a rule, is either the cutting or the plain rude ironwork any
guide. Occasionally the ironwork points to a I4th-cent or even
I5th-cent. date ; but, generally speaking, it is safe to assume earlier
periods than these for dug-outs. Competent authorities are convinced
that in many instances dug-outs are of Norman workmanship and
I2th-cent. date, as in the case of Marston Trussell, Northants.
Further, it is possible that in a few cases these dug-outs may be of
pre-Norman date, as in the case of West Grinstead, Sussex.
So soon as the primitive form hewed from the solid is passed by,
a considerable variety of chests of varying construction, design, or
ornament are found in the churches. The commoner form is that
in which heavy slabs of oak are strongly clamped and bound with
iron. This style of chest is of two divisions : first, where the iron
is applied solely with the idea of strength ; and secondly, where
the iron, or parts of it, assumes an ornamental shape, such as a
simple fleur-de-lis termination (as at Rowington, Warwicks.), or
occasionally a far more elaborate scroll treatment. The greater
portion of these heavy iron-clamped chests are of the I4th cent.,
though there is occasional evidence of their belonging to the next
century.
In some instances, as in the remarkable example at Cheshunt,
Herts, these iron-bound chests have coved tops ; these may be
I4th or 1 5th cent.
One of the best-known and earliest examples of ornamental
iron scrollwork is at Church Brampton, Northants ; it has been
illustrated in Parker's Glossary and elsewhere. Viollet le Due con-
sidered that its date was late I2th cent, but it is much safer to
say early I3th cent. Another example of most beautiful iron
scroll-work of somewhat later date occurs at Icklingham, All
Saints, Suffolk.
In the vestry of Rugby church is a chest of the middle of the
1 3th cent., of unusual interest. The centre panel is handsomely
ornamented with scroll ironwork, but the wide stiles are left plain,
CHURCH CHESTS
293
It is raised a little from the floor by four wheels or discs of wood,
and there are also carrying chains at the ends, with rings for the
passing through of a pole.
Another Warwickshire chest, with handsome ironwork, to be
seen in Wooton Wawen church, is also of 1 3th-cent. date ; it stands
on feet formed by the prolongation of the stiles ; and there are
others at Tanworth and Rowington of the same century, with
iron adornments, in the same county.
At the east end of the south aisle of Long Sutton church, Hants,
built c. 1250, is a large chest 6 feet 5 inches by 2 feet 6 inches
wide, and standing on its feet 2 feet 10 inches high. The lid and
hinges are modern ; but the moulding of the feet, which are
formed from the prolonging of the side pieces that flank the great
central panel, make it certain that this is a I3th-cent. chest,
originally constructed for the vestments, books, and other valuables
of the side chapel.
RUGBY, WARWICKS
The third kind of chest, of which so many examples are to be
found in our churches, are those that are panelled and carved,
without any special ironwork features, save occasionally in elabo-
rate locks or key-plates. These, for the most part, are of I4th
and isth-cent. dates ; but a few remain of the I3th cent., and there
are many instances of Elizabethan, Jacobean, and later dates.
With regard to those of the I3th cent., they are characterized
by having the front formed of a great solid slab of wood, or, in a
few instances, of two pieces placed longitudinally. This slab was
flanked by the two front uprights or stiles, often of considerabl
width.
There are several chests at Westminster Abbey of irly
I3th-cent date, of a plain character and lacking any ornamcnta
ironwork ; two of them are of great size, being 14 1
length.
294 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Roundels, variously carved with geometrical designs, after the
fashion of modern chip-carving, were a favourite ornament. Good
instances of this occur at Stoke D' Abernon, Surrey ; Climping
and Arundel, Sussex ; St. John's, Glastonbury ; and Chichester
cathedral. In the last case, the front only of the chest remains.
When drawn in 1903 for this work, this most interesting piece of
woodwork, with unique and delicate treatment of the feet, was
amongst rubbish in the triforium over the south aisle of the
nave.
There is a good example of plain arcading work on the front of
the 1 3th-cent. chest of Graveney, Kent, both on the central panel
and the stiles. The four stiles or uprights of chests of this
CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL
date, whether plain or carved, are usually prolonged below
the chest itself, to raise it from the damp, by forming feet.
Generally these feet have a characteristic roll moulding on the
inner side.
Hampshire possesses a remarkable small example of this kind
of chest. Under the tower of Heckfield church is a diminutive
chest of most exceptional interest. It is just 3 feet long by
17^ inches wide, and standing 20 inches in height. The stiles or
side pieces of the front terminate in feet to keep it clear of the
ground, and are slightly moulded. Within the chest at one
end is a very small inner shelf or tray-box, with lid turning on
wooden pivots, and in every way it corresponds to the few
known examples of early I3th-cent. larger church chests. The
arrangement for the fitting of the lid and for its hinges is most
CHURCH CHESTS
295
HECKFIELD, HANTS
ingenious. About the centre of the lid is a small money slot
There is no doubt that this chest is of early I3th-cent. date and
that the slot is original * In the opinion of several experts, it is
quite possible that it is suffi-
ciently early to belong to the
period in the reign of King
John when Innocent III., con-
firming a similar mandate
given by Henry II. in 1166,
ordered boxes or chests to be'
placed in the parish churches
of England, wherein the faith-
ful were expected to deposit
money for the prosecution of
the fifth Crusade.
It is continually asserted
that the slots in early church chests were for Peter's Pence. But
no one who had studied the question of this ecclesiastical due
would ever make so palpable a mistake. The collectors of this
Roman due were specially appointed officials, who gathered the
money from the different deaneries after a regular fashion and on
a certain fixed date ; the impost would never have been committed
to the comparative insecurity of a parish chest, or at all events
dropped into it coin by coin. These pre-Reformation money slots
were either for contributions to some general parochial fund or
particular stock ; or, in cases where the chest belonged to a gild,
for the monthly, quarterly, or occasional payment from each
member of the fraternity.
Moreover, it must be remembered that several of these slots
have been pierced in old chests long after the date of their con-
struction. Possibly in such cases it was a cheap way of complying
with the general orders of the i6th cent, for the providing of a
Poor Man's Box.
One of the special features of the construction of many of
the I3th-cent. chests is the absence of lid hinges. Their place
was taken by pivots inserted horizontally through the back
uprights or stiles. These uprights were rounded at the top to
* Dr. Cox was the first to note the early date of this chest, and to discover the
choked-up money slot, when visiting the church in June, 1903.
296 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
give play to the lid, and the semicircular tops were fitted into
hollows of like shape formed from wooden clamps, which were
securely fastened on the under side of the lid at each end. The
absence of true hinges rendered the back part of the chest, however
firmly locked in front, peculiarly vulnerable to leverage instruments.
To guard against this, these 1 3th-cent. chests were not infrequently
strengthened by small chains fastened to staples driven through
the back, and attached to iron bands that crossed the lids. Such
chains may be noticed, inter alia, on chests at Shere, Cl imping,
and Westminster.
Essex possesses a particularly fine example of a church chest,
enriched by painting. This grand 1 3th-cent. chest, in the church
of Newport, is of oak strengthened with narrow iron bands. The
front is carved above with a row of small (now uncharged) shields,
and below with a row of plain circles ; whilst between them is a
band of open tracery cast in lead, and fitted into lozenge-shaped
compartments sunk to receive it. The inside of the lid is decorated
with oil paintings within trefoil-headed niches, wherein are figures
of the Crucifixion, the Blessed Virgin, St. John, St. Peter, and
St. Paul. The predominating colours are red and green. Mr. Roe
says —
" The painting on the Newport coffer proves conclusively that oil was
used as a vehicle in England at this early period. It may be regarded as
the earliest national specimen of that art remaining."
In Wilne church, Derbs., there is a fine chest, with a row of
chip-carved roundels at the top of the central panel, and with
narrow pointed arcading below. Mr. Roe considers it to be early
1 4th cent. ; but after repeated examination, we are convinced that it
is quite early in the reign of Edward I. This chest has been badly
treated ; the uprights and lid are of later date.
When we come to the I4th cent., elaborately carved fronts
frequently occur. Most of the finest examples are of Flemish
work. In wills of this and the next century, a " Flaunder's Kiste "
is frequently bequeathed. It is quite possible, however, that a
good deal of such work was done in England by English artificers
after Flemish designs, and hence retained the name. With regard
to Flemish chests, we cannot do better than cite the words of
Colonel Hart —
" The general design of this group of chests is the same, the two end
pieces of the front divided into horizontal panels filled with carvings,
CHURCH CHESTS 297
dragons, aid grotesque figures, and the central portion treated in quite
a distinct manner. In the Alnwick example there are three rows of
carvings, the top one having two hunting scenes, and the other two
winged dragons and foliage. The Flemish chests of St. Peter's church,
Derby, at Brancepeth church, and at, Wath near Ripon are almost
identical. They are about 6 feet 4 inches long and 2 feet 5 inches in
height ; only the fronts are carved, the tops and ends having plain panels.
The end pieces of the fronts are divided into three panels, and at Wath
into two only; the panels are filled with beasts, the tails running into
foliated branches. The central compartment is filled with arcaded work,
having acutely pointed gablets traceried and crocketed. . . . Below the
main gablets are two-light window-like openings, having the peculiar
lanky mullions and tracery that are so essentially characteristic of the
Flemish and German Gothic of the i3th, i4th, and 1501 cents."
The chests of Chevington, Suffolk, the small one at Hacconby,
Lines., and the good example at Kirk Lentham, Yorks., almost
exactly coincide with the description of the three given in the
previous paragraph.
The I4th-cent. example at Dersingham, Norfolk, is valuable,
and unique of its kind. It is carved on the front with the emblems
of the four Evangelists with their names on labels, and there is
much tracery and other patterns. Round the border of the lid
used to run an inscription in Lombardic capitals — Jesus Nazarenus
Crucifixsus Rex Judeorum ; but half of the lid is now missing.
A singularly good example of a i5th-cent. chest occurs at
Brailes, Warwicks. There is a distinct trace about it of the
Flemish chests of the previous century, but the elaborate foliated
tracery and the Tudor roses leave no doubt that it is "Per-
pendicular." In the lower line of ornament is a double-headed
eagle and a dragon, which were possibly the badges of the donor.
Mr. Roe, in his admirable volume, gives a chapter to " Tilting
Coffers" — that is, to those chests on which the incidents of a
military tourney are cleverly carved. There are two chests now
remaining in English churches, namely, at York Minster, and at
Harty, Kent, which have the central panel vividly carved with
incidents of knightly prowess.
They are very similar in general style, though the former
is larger and more elaborate. They both appear to be of early
I5th-cent. date. On the York central panel there are traces
of the original vermilion and gilding. The figures give vivid
representations of St. George and the dragon and the Princess
298 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Cleodolfnda. Mr. Roe considers them both to be of English
workmanship, and the date of the latter "between 1400 and
Agincourt."
CHURCH CHESTS 299
The fine chest of Southwold church has a long carved front with
beautiful flamboyant tracery, whilst under the lock-plate is a small
compartment on which is represented St. George slaying the
dragon. It is of later isth-cent. date than those just named;
it is usually termed a " Flander's Chest," but is more likely to be
of English workmanship.
It is quite the exception to find any pre-Reformation church
chests on which there are dates, initials, or any form of inscrip-
tion ; but there are two old chests in East Anglia which bear
particularly interesting inscriptions. They are both of the second
half of the i$th cent. In the old vestry on the north side of
the chancel of Cratfield church, Suffolk, is a remarkably well-made
chest of unusual height, on the front of which is painted the
following distich : —
" Ralph Walsche gaf thys cheist
Praye for hys sowle to Jhu Creiste."
In Blickling church, Norfolk, there is an old chest with five
locks bearing the following English inscription : " Mastyr Adam
Ilee mad ye Chyst and Robert Filipis payed yerfor God havee
marcy on yar Soules."
It is not a little remarkable to note that church chests showing
1 5th-cent. tracery are very rarely met with ; some of those with the
linen-fold patterns are probably of that period. Several, however,
have found their way into private collections.
Chest cupboards, opening in front instead of by a lid, came in
during the i$th cent. ; they will be separately considered.
When our English churches were being stripped wholesale of
their valuable ornaments and vestments, in the time of Edward VI.,
many of the church chests lost their use, and there are instances of
their sale being recorded. In the majority of cases it would only
be the least attractive and cheapest kind of chest that would be
retained for parish registers and documents. The evidence from
inventories and other records as to the ordinary parish church of
old days possessing two or three chests or coffers (under a variety
of names, such as "ark," "counter," or "hutch") is overwhelming.
As a rule there was a chest for every chantry. They were par-
ticularly numerous in the larger churches. An inventory of the
collegiate church of St. Mary, Warwick, of the year 1464,
mentions —
300 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
" It. in the lowe house under the vestry ij old irebound coofres.
" It. in the vestrye j gret olde arke to put in vestyments.
" It. in the Sextry above the Vestrye i olde arke at the auters ende,
j old coofre irebonde having a long lok of the olde facion, and i lasse
new coofre having iij loks called the tresory cofre, and certeyn almaries.
" It. in the inner hous there j nyewe hie almarie with ij dores to kepe
in the evidence of the Chirche, and j gret olde arke and certeyn olde
Almaries.
" It. in the house afore the Chapter hous j old irebounde cofre having
hie feet and rings of iron in the endes thereof to heve it bye. And therein
liuth certein bokes belonging to the Chapter."
The synod of Exeter, 1287, insisted that every parish should
provide cistam ad libros et vestimenta. In the 1297 visitation of
churches in the peculiar of St. Paul's, chests are frequently men-
tioned in the inventories of church goods. At Barking there was
a cista repositories cum serura, as well as / cofru sine serura.
Occasionally chests are found of a large size so thickly covered
with iron plates or bands that hardly any of the oak foundation is
apparent. Such examples, as, for instance, those of Stonham Aspall,
Suffolk, and Ravensthorpe, Northants, are probably of late I5th or
early i6th-cent. date.
Into the question of Elizabethan, Jacobean, Carolean, Common-
wealth, or later church chests we do not propose to enter. They
are usually plainly panelled, and are fairly numerous. Such chests
are often dated. As examples may be mentioned, Combs, Suffolk,
1599; Chelmorton, Derbs., 1630; Flintham, Notts., 1633; Burling-
ham St. Andrew, Norfolk, 1664 ; Wem, Salop., 1686 ; and
Fillongley, Warwicks., 1729.
The vast majority of English church chests were made of
oak. The chests at Eckington, Worcs., at Minster, Kent, and at
Cleeve Prior, Surrey, are of elm. Of cypress there is certainly one
example, namely, at Cheveley, Cambs. Cypress was often used for
domestic chests, because the scent of the wood kept away moths ;
they were costly, as the wood came from abroad. Parker, in his
Glossary, supposes that cypress was equivalent to cedar, but this is
an error. There are various cedar chests of I7th-cent date in
England, made after cedars had grown large in our own country.
They are usually ornamented with " poker-work ; " two or three
have found their way into churches in comparatively modern days.
The following is an alphabetical list of old parish chests. It is
the first that has been attempted, and lays no claim to be exhaustive.
CHURCH CHESTS 301
Aldenham, Herts. Great chest, 9 feet 8 inches long, clamped all over
with iron ; twelve massive hinges.
Alnwick, Northumberland. Flemish; i4th cent. ; 7 ft. long. (Illus. Roe.)
Anstey, Herts. Iron-bound; late i5th or early i6th cent.
Arundel, Sussex. i3th cent ; roundels.
Ashbocking, Suffolk. Massive, iron-bound, four locks; probably ijth
cent.
Ashbury, Berks. Plain, massive; early.
Ashfield Magna, Suffolk. " Fine old chest, strapped with iron."
Attleborough, Norfolk. Plain, iron-bound ; i6th cent. (Illus. Roe.)
Baddesley Clinton, Warwicks. i3th cent.
Barley, Herts. Two plain chests ; probably 1 6th cent.
Barrow-on-Soar, Leics. Traceried panels; i5th cent.
Bersted, South, Sussex. i3th cent. ; roundels.
Barton Mills, Suffolk. " Old, iron-bound."
Beeston, Norfolk. Linen-fold panels.
Bentworth, Hants. Good Jacobean.
Bickenhill, Warwicks. Dug-out; 8 feet long; two divisions; heavily
banded with iron ; hinges of Norman shape ; end of 1 2th cent.
Binsted, Hants. Jacobean ; three locks.
Bishop Stortford, Herts. Iron.
Bitterley, Salop. Iron-bound ; i4th cent
Bletchworth, Surrey. Dug-out ; iron-bound ; 7 feet 3 inches long.
Blewbury, Berks, (a) Plain; isth cent, (b) 14* cent. ; good iron straps
and locks.
Blickling, Norfolk. Inscription. See previous account.
Bosham, Sussex. 1 3th cent
Bradford Abbas, Dorset. Dug-out.
Brailes, Warwicks. See previous description and illustration.
Brancepeth, Durham. Flemish ; i4th cent.
Broughton-in-Preston, Lanes. " Rough hatchet-hewn chest, with o
mouldings." (Illus. Roe.)
Broxbourne, Herts. "Two old oak chests" in priests' room over t
chapel.
Buckminster, Leics. Early; coved lid; curious ironwork.
Burlingham St. Andrew, Norfolk. Chest, dated 1664. „ .s * ,
Buxted, Sussex. Third quarter x3th cent. (Illus. Journal Bnt. .
Assoc., 1857.)
Castor, Northants. Dug-out. /•«:•/«
Chelmorton, Derbs. Chest inscribed-**//* Button of Flagg g«
this 1630.
Cheswardine, Salop. Panelled; c. 1600.
Cheveley, Cambs. Cypress chest; Mth cent.
Chevington, Suffolk. Flemish; 1 4th cent.
302 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Cheshunt, Herts. Strong iron-bound chest, with tastefully wrought-iron feet ;
triangular iron handles ; iron links at ends for carrying by an inserted
pole ; has been fined with lead ; money slot. The triangular handles
CHESHUNT, HERTS
and the links at the end exactly resemble the chest in Chapel of the
Pyx, temp. Edward III.
Chichester cathedral, (a) Large chest; 8 feet 6 inches long; banded
with iron; Norman; locks later, (b) Beautiful front of i3th-cent.
chest. See previous description and illustration.
Chobham, Surrey. Good plain i3th cent. ; two iron bands, ending in
fleur-de-lis. (Illus. Roe.)
Church Brampton, Northants. Beautiful iron scrollwork; i3th cent.
(Illus. Parker's Glossary.)
Church Broughton, Derbs. Large; 1 7th cent.
Churchill, Leics. Dug-out.
Cleeve Prior, Worcs. Dug-out; elm.
Clifton, Notts. Coved top; iron bound; c. 1500.
Climping, Sussex. Fine i3th-cent. chest; roundels on the stiles; pointed
arcade work centre panel ; poor condition ; money slot. (Illus. Roe.)
Clungunford, Salop. Carved chest ; 1 6th cent.
Colchester, St. Martin's. Two Jacobean chests.
Coleshill, Warwicks. " Fine old chest."
Combs, Suffolk. Panelled; dated 1599. (Jour. B. A. Assoc., 1872.)
Corfe, Dorset. Small; 1672 ; cost 8,y.
Coton, Cambs. Early, long and narrow ; 1 3th cent.
Cound, Salop. Late i3th-cent. ; slightly coped lid; carrying rings and
chains at ends. (Fully illustrated Reliqtiary, N. S., ix. No. 2.)
Coventry, St. Michael. A.D. 1500; front covered with carving. (Illus.
Hart)
Little Coxwell, Berks.
Cratfield, Suffolk. See previous description.
Crayke, N. R. Yorks. Two dug-outs.
Crondall, Hants. Iron-bound small chest; probably i4th cent.
CHURCH CHESTS 303
Curdworth, Warwicks. Dug-out, 10 feet long ; iron banded ; two compart-
ments.
Datchworth, Herts. "Fine oak chest of unusual shape and size
until lately painted white."
Denton, Norfolk. Made out of old painted panels of rood screen
Derby, St. Peter's. Fine i4th-cent. Flemish chest. (Illus. Roe.)
East Dereham. Flemish chest of much beauty; i6th cent.- secular;
has only been in the church for about a century.
Dersingham, Norfolk. See supra. (Illus. Cotman's Archit. Remains.)
Didcot, Berks. " An old wooden chest"
Ditchling, Sussex. Late i3th cent.
Dunmow, Essex. End of i6th cent. ; beautiful inlaid panels. (Sketch-book.)
Earl Stonham, Suffolk. i3th cent. ; roundels.
Eckington, Worcs. A small dug-out of elm ; in bad condition.
Enstone, Oxon. Dug-out.
Evesham St. Laurence. Early i6th-cent. chest; good example of
dovetailing.
Faversham, Kent. Beautiful front of architectural work; second half
1 4th cent.
Felpham, Sussex. i3th cent. ; like Stoke d'Abernon.
Felton, Norfolk. Carved and partly inlaid ; initials I. T. F. ; late i6th cent.
Fillongley, Warwicks. A heavy iron-bound chest. On the front a coat of
arms painted, and inscription — The gift of Will1" Avery Gent, of
Blackall, Fillongley, 1729.
Fincham, Norfolk. Three locks, heavy lid, iron bound.
Fishlake, W. R. Yorks. Chest of i4th cent.
Flintham, Notts. Dated 1633.
Fownhope, Herefords. Large dug-out, 8 feet long.
Frettenham, Norfolk. Front and ends arcaded.
Furneaux Pelham, Herts. Iron-bound chest ; staples at sides for inserting
lifting poles.
Garway, Herefords. Dug-out.
Gilling, N. R. Yorks. Early i6th cent. ; well carved.
Gimingham, Norfolk. An old iron-bound chest.
Glastonbury, St. John's, Somerset. Fine i3th cent., but lacking lid ; stiles
and centre panel carved with roundels, etc., with stars and dog-tooth
in relief; three lock-plates. (Sp. Gard. Sk. £k.t iv., 9.)
Godalming, Surrey. i3th cent.
Grappenhall, Lanes. Dug-out; 5 ft. 8 ins. long; now in Warrington Museum.
Graveney, Kent. i3th cent.; arcading on central panel and stiles.
(Illus. Roe.)
Greens Norton, Northants. Massive, heavily plated with iron, three locks.
West Grinstead, Surrey. Interesting dug-out; hollowed in the centre,
leaving a solid mass at each end ; very early.
304 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Guestling, Sussex. Early i4th cent. ; front and ends richly panelled.
(Illus. Parker's Glossary.) It has now, alas ! " disappeared."
Hacconby, Lines. i4th cent. ; small ; 3 feet 8 inches long. (Illus. Roe.)
West Haddon, Northants. Dug-out ; 8 feet long ; moved to Northampton
Museum in 1888.
Haddon Hall chapel, Derbs. Large i5th cent. ; heraldic, two shields,
(a) Vernon, (b) Pembrugge, Vernon, and Pype quartered. (Illus.
Le Blanc Smith's Haddon Hall.)
Halesowen, Salop. Dug-out.
Hardwick, Bucks. Two old chests, one i4th and one i6th cent.
West Harling, Norfolk. " Very old, graceful in shape and well finished."
Harty, Kent. Early i5th cent. (Illus. Roe.)
Hatfield, Herts. Dug-out ; money slit ; nail-studded and banded with
iron ; early 1 3th cent.
Heckfield, Hants. i3th cent. See previous description and illustration.
Hempstead, Norfolk. Linen-fold panels.
West Hendred, Berks. Plain, but probably i4th cent.
Hereford, All Saints. Early i4th cent. ; good tracery.
Hoo, Kent. Dug-out.
Horning, Norfolk. Dug-out; ironwork; first half i3th cent.
Horsham, Sussex. 1 3th cent. ; plain.
Horsley, West, Surrey. Intersecting iron straps ; i3th cent.
Huddington, Worcs. Ends late i4th; carved with large sexfoils and
smaller quatrefoils ; front, linen-fold pattern, remarkably early for this
design : query, is front later ?
Huttoft, Lines. Middle of i4th cent. ; richly panelled on all four sides.
(Illus. Parker's Glossary.)
Icklingham, Suffolk. Beautiful i3th-cent. chest; 5 feet 10 inches long by
2 feet broad and 2 feet high; seven hinges, two handles back and
front and one each end, and three strap-locks; it is covered with
beautiful scroll-work of hammered iron.
Kingston, Somerset. Good Jacobean chest.
Kirk Leatham, Yorks. Fine Flemish chest ; like the one at Wath.
Knowle, Warwicks. Two dug-outs.
Landbeach, Cambs. Large, iron clamped.
Lapworth, Warwicks. Dug-out.
Layer Marney, Essex. Lord Marney, by will, 1524, left to the church
much plate, and for its custody a strong coffer with two locks.
Lichfield, St. Mary. Two Elizabethan chests, one carved and inlaid.
Litcham, Norfolk. Carved ; i4th cent.
Littleport, Cambs. Massive, very heavily clamped; dated 1672.
Locking, Somerset. i3th-cent. chest, with some original ironwork.
South Lopham, Nprfolk. A large dug-out ; 8 feet long.
Louth, Lines. See previous description.
CHURCH CHESTS 305
Lubenham, Leics. A fine example of a Flemish chest.
Ludham, Norfolk. Old chest, with coved half-trunk lid ; i4th cent.
Lyng, Somerset. Dug-out.
Marston Trussell, Northants. Dug-out.
Martham, Norfolk. Coved lid, iron clamps; probably i4th cent.
Mathon, Herefords. Iron hinges and straps, ending in fleur-de-lis.
Maxstoke, Warwicks. Dug-out.
Midhurst, Sussex. i3th cent.
Minster, Kent. A rough chest of elm, with coved lid of solid oak (half a
tree) ; probably Norman, possibly earlier.
Monyash, Derbs. Beneath the tower is an old chest of exceptionally large
dimensions ; it is 7 feet 2 inches long, 21 inches high, and 19 inches
wide. It is continuously encircled with iron bands throughout, which
are about 7^ inches apart. The age of this massive receptacle points
to it having been probably constructed to hold the vestments and altar
plate for the i4th-cent. chantry.
Moreton Moorell, Warwicks.
Morley, Derbs. Fine old chest ; 6 feet 6 inches long.
Mortlake, Surrey. Walnut wood, inlaid, (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk.> iv., 25-27.)
Mountnessing, Essex. Dug-out.
Mugginton, Derbs. Three hasps ; probably early.
Munsley, Herefords. Dug-out.
Newchurch, Kent. Fine i4th cent.
Newdigate, Surrey. Dug-out.
Newport, Essex. Very fine i3th-cent. chest; inside of lid painted.
Northallerton, N. R. Yorks. " Old, iron bound."
Northampton, St. Sepulchre's. Dome-topped chest ; i6th cent. ; three locks.
Northchurch, Herts. Early isth cent. ; elaborately carved.
Odiham, Hants. Large chest; dated 1662.
Offchurch, Warwicks. Dug-out.
Oldham, Lanes. Probably 15* cent.
Orleton, Herefords. Two dug-outs; i3th cent.
Orston, Notts. Plain; c. 1500.
Oxford, St. Mary Magdalene. Flemish; i4th cent; known as the "Jewel
Chest."
Pershore Abbey, Worcs. A fine chest; c. 1400; massive panelling in
small squares ; good tracery on the angle posts.
Peterborough cathedral. Late isth cent. ; tracery.
Polesworth, Warwicks. Elizabethan.
Portslade-on-Sea, Sussex. " Old oak chest."
Rainham, Kent. Second half T4th cent. ; good, like Faversham ; now
mutilated. (Illus. Parker's Glossary.}
Ravensthorpe, Northants. c. 1500 ; large, massive, heavily bound with iron.
Redenhall, Norfolk, Richly carved; inlaid panels; late i6th cent
x
3o6 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Rowington, Warwicks. See previous description and illustration.
Rugby. Middle of i3th cent. ; ornamental scroll iron-work on centre
panel; stiles unusually wide; mounted on wooden wheels. (Dlus.
Hart.)
Salisbury cathedral. i3th cent.
Salle, Norfolk. Iron-bound chest in vestry, with three locks.
Salton-in-Ryedale, Yorks. Early 1 3th cent. ; six pieces of ornamental
ironwork; panelled lid, much later. (Illus. Assoc. Arch. Soc., 1880.)
Saltwood, Kent. c. 1300; beautiful traceried centre; stiles figure
ornaments.
Sawbridgeworth, Herts. Large, 7 feet long ; early, but much altered.
Sawley, Derbs. The old oak chest has an elaborate lock that shoots four
bolts at once.
Scarcliffe, Derbs. A big clumsy chest of great size, 10 feet long by 2 feet
broad; on the lid F. H., 1671.
Screveton, Notts. Chest, 6 feet 9 inches long; 21 iron clamps; probably
1 4th cent.
Shanklin, I. of Wight. Given in 1519 by Prior Silksted of Winchester.
Shelford, Notts. i6th cent.
Shere, Surrey. Plain, massive ; i3th cent. ; 7 feet 3 inches long.
Shustoke, Warwicks. Great dug-out chest, 9 feet long ; said to weigh half
a ton.
Sibthorpe, Notts. Small, on feet; c. 1250.
Great Snoring, Norfolk. Chest; 1632.
Southacre, Norfolk. Fine i4th cent.
Southwark, St. Saviour. Very fine late Elizabethan chest, of great beauty ;
bears device and initials of Hugh OfHey, Sheriff of London; 1588.
(Illus. Roe's Old Oak Furniture.}
South wold, Suffolk. Fine isth-cent. chest. See previous description.
(Illus. Roe.)
Spetchley, Worcs. Dug-out.
Staindrop, Durham. Great chest, flat bands of iron.
Stafford, St. Chad. Trefoil-headed panels ; 1 3th cent. ; no ironwork.
Standon, Herts. Iron band ; six handles.
Long Stanton St. Michael, Cambs. Good i3th cent. ; two panels in front.
Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey. Early i3th cent. ; rude ; three roundels in front.
(Illus. Roe.) See previous account.
East Stoke, Notts. i5th-cent. chest, under tower.
Stidd, Lanes. Small, probably i5th cent.
Stonham Aspall, Suffolk, c. 1500; large, heavily bound with iron.
Studley, Warwicks. Dug-out.
Low Sundon, Beds. i4th-cent. chest; " interesting specimen."
Long Sutton, Hants. i3th cent. See previous description.
Tanworth, Warwicks. Beautiful i3th-cent. example; 8 feet 3 inches long j
good scrolled ironwork, three coeval locks. (Illus, Hart.)
WOOTTEN WAWEN, WARWICKSHIRE
BRAILKS, WARWICKSHIRE
CHURCH CHESTS
CHURCH CHESTS 307
Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk. Early i6th-cent. panelled chest, with
gabled lid.
Tilstock, Salop. Carved, 1686.
Tithby, Notts. Large chest, with very good iron work; probably early
1 4th cent.
Upton, Notts. i3th cent. ; lifting rings. (Sp. Gard. Sk. Bk., i., 9.)
Upton Snodsbury, Worcs. The chest is dated 1681, and bears the names
Aermel Greene Gent, Jno Cole churchwarden.
Walberswick, Suffolk. Remains of two old chests in the parvise.
Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, (i) Fine late i4th cent. ; elaborately carved ;
tracery and crocketed canopies ; one of the stiles and foot missing.
(Illus. Suff. Arch.) ix.)
(2) Solid; semicircular lid; banded with iron; early i3th cent.
(Illus. Suff. Arch., ix.)
North Walsham, Norfolk. Large isth-cent. chest, entirely covered with
iron bands ; ten locks.
Wath, Yorks. Flemish; 1 4th cent.
Watton, Herts. Parish chest, " a specimen of veritable antiquity."
Wem, Salop. Carved; dated 1686.
Wennington, Essex. i3th cent.; small, like Heckfield.
Westminster Abbey. Seven i3th-cent. chests.
Wigan, Lanes. Fine work; late i6th cent. (/. o' G. Sk. Bk., i., 69.)
Willingdon, Sussex. " Old oak chest."
Wilne, Derbs. Interesting late i3th cent. See previous account.
Wimborne, Dorset. Dug-out, 6 feet long, but cavity inside only 22 inches
long by 9 inches broad and 6 inches deep ; goes by the name of the
" Relic Chest."
Wixford, Warwicks. i3th cent.
Wootton Wawen, Warwicks. Fine chest on feet; middle or second half of
1 3th cent. ; handsome scrolled ironwork. (Illus. Bloxam.)
Worth, Sussex. Early 1 6th-cent. panelled chest, with gabled lid.
York Minster. Early i5th cent. See previous description. (Illus. Roe.)
CHAPTER IX
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS— COPE CHESTS— BANNER-
STAVE LOCKERS
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS
IN addition to the large chests or coffers used for the safe
keeping of vestments, ornaments, documents, and other
valuables, English churches were not infrequently supplied
with more convenient receptacles. The chest-cupboard was a
much more handy form. By this expression we mean those flat-
topped, chest-like cases that open in the front with a door or doors,
instead of at the top with a lid. This is the kind of cupboard
usually spoken of in old inventories as a hutch.
At Minehead, Somerset, there is a singularly good and well-
carved example, both sides of which are figured in Mr. Roe's work.
It is there termed " Flemish," but the arms and other details are
essentially English. It is carved both back and front, and was
probably domestic in its origin, and intended to stand in the centre
of a room. In the front are three carved panels, the outer ones
hinged as doors, one of which has an elaborate traceried rose, and
the other the eagle of St. John ; underneath are two drawers
carved with flamboyant tracery. At the back are four panels, the
two centre ones of which bear respectively the arms of England
and France quarterly, and a dolphin between three mullets (Fitz-
james). Richard Fitzjames was vicar of Minehead in 1484, leaving
in 1496 for the bishopric of Rochester, when he probably gave the
chest to the church. He was translated to the bishopric of London
in 1506.
In the parish church of Louth, Lines., is another of these chest-
cupboards, which is also illustrated by Mr. Roe. The ironwork of
the hinges is good and original. It possesses little architectural
detail, and shows Renaissance indications. There are three panels
in the front ; the other sides are plain. The central panel has the
308
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS 309
badge of the crowned Tudor rose. The side panels, which serve
as the doors, have the crowned busts of a king and queen, evidently
intended for Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York. This interesting
old piece of church furniture is known to this day as " Sudbury's
Hutch." There can be little or no doubt that it was the gift to the
church of Thomas Sudbury, vicar of Louth, who died in 1504.
The earliest of these hutches remains to be noted. At Cley-
next-the-Sea, Norfolk, is a chest in the parvise, of solid iron-bound
oak, 3 inches thick ; it has two small doors opening in the front.
It is of I4th- or quite early 1 5th-cent. date.
In Rossington church, Yorks., there is a chest-cupboard of a
later date. The central p.inel opens, and it has plain double hinges.
ROWINGTON, WARWICKS.
The frieze of strap ornament marks it emphatically as early
Elizabethan.
In Rowington church, Warwicks., there is another very similar
hutch, with the central panel opening, and with a frieze of strap-
work. In this case the chest is mounted on turned legs, two of
which have been shortened to permit it to stand on a step.
It is said that there are two or three other plain examples of
this kind of chest in East Anglian churches, but we have no notes
as to their whereabouts.
Chests and coffers were undoubtedly commoner than any form
of wooden almery or standing cupboard in our churches. But
they were not unknown even in village churches at an early date.
Thus in a visitation of 1297 to the church of Iklchamp, in Essex.
mention is made of a lock-up cupboard, annariolium cum serura.
There is a hutch of oak with a rounded top in the cathedral
3io ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
library of Canterbury. It is usually pointed out as Norman, but
the ironwork shows that it cannot be older than the i6th cent. It
proves, on further examination, to be only a lining provided in
post-Reformation days to fit a recess in one of the Norman arcades.
At Chester cathedral, in the canons' vestry, is an old I3th-cent.
press renowned for the beautiful ironwork of the hinges.
In the vestry of York minster there is a standing cupboard,
armoire, or almery, 5 feet 9 inches high, 4 feet 10 inches wide, and
with a depth of I foot. It has an embattled cornice, and is cer-
tainly of I5th-cent. date. The seven doors work on elaborate
ALMERY, CARLISLE CATHEDRAL
strap-hinges. It has unfortunately been cut down at the base,
having apparently rotted through damp. The right-hand narrow
cupboard extends the whole height, and was probably intended for
the pastoral staff. Mr. Roe illustrates and describes this almery
in detail.
At Carlisle are two painted almeries of the i$th cent., one of
which is here illustrated.
" They are painted with conventional representations of the thistle,
and have long strap-hinges with pierced ends, under which may be traced
remains of crimson velvet. One of these almeries is painted round with
a border of rosettes, enclosing the initials T. G., probably those of Thomas
Gondibour, who was friar in the latter part of the i5th cent."
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS 311
There used to be another highly interesting I5th-cent. almery,
with strap-hinges and other ornamental ironwork at the church of
Wetheral, Cumberland ; but it disappeared several years ago, it is
supposed during a " restoration."
There is also a handsome detached i6th-cent. almery, with a
coped top, in Coity church, Glams. ; it is described and illustrated
by Mr. Roe.
At Hambledon church, Bucks., is a much enriched and interest-
ing piece of furniture, which has been termed a " double chest," but
clearly comes under the generic name of almery or armoire. There
is an old and firmly rooted local tradition that the carving once
WETHERAL, CUMBERLAND
formed part of a bedstead belonging to Cardinal Wolsey. The
arms of the cardinal appear on one of the panels. At Fingest,
three miles from Hambledon, was a manor house of the bishops of
Lincoln, which see was held by Wolsey in 1514 5 but he was not
then a cardinal, and the cardinal's hat appears over the arms. The
carving of the front of the armoire, which is 5 feet 6 inches square,
is divided into eight panels. The first of the upper tier, to the
left has the cardinal's arms, with the royal arms above ; the second
the'arms of Bishop Foxe of Winchester ; and the third and fourth
two small unidentified medallion heads. The first of the lower
tier has an unrecognized coat-of-arms, and the three others intricate
3i2 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
designs. There seems no doubt that this fine piece of woodwork
was not originally designed for church use. Mr. J. C. Fox, who
has recently described it (Bucks Records, viii., 1903), gives good
reasons for supposing that it was made for Lord Sandys, of the
Vyne, Basingstoke, in 1515. He was on intimate terms with both
Wolsey and Foxe.
There is the remnant of an almery or armoire of i$th-
cent. date, now used for choristers' surplices, in the parish
church of Aylesbury, Bucks. It is formed of heavy baulks of oak
pegged together, and has a moulded cornice of bold proportions.
The front originally possessed doors, as hinge marks are visible
on the uprights. It is described by Mr. Roe, and a drawing of a
section of the cornice moulding given in Old Oak Furniture (\<y^>^}.
A later form of almery, known as a " dole cupboard," was a
receptacle for bread for distribution among the poor. It always
had a railed or pierced front, so that there might be a good current
of air. In a recess of the south transept of the great abbey church
of St. Albans are three of these food almeries or dole cupboards.
They are shallow receptacles, and their fronts are fitted with
slender ornamental rails ; each one is capable of containing about
a dozen small loaves. Mr. Roe considers that the most elaborate,
which is carved with strap ornaments, is of the time of Charles I. ;
the two plainer almeries are of Charles II.'s date. At Christ's
Hospital, Abingdon, Berks., is a late Elizabethan almery, which
combines the functions of a dole cupboard and a table. There is a
i/th-cent. dole cupboard at Kingsthorpe, Northants.
At Ruislip, Middlesex, there is a beautifully carved dole-
cupboard of four shelves, whereupon is still placed every
Sunday two shillings' worth of bread in accordance with a bequest
of 1692.
Several well-carved shelves or cupboards for the reception of
dole bread, of i/th-cent. date, have disappeared from our
churches during the pitiless " restorations " of the last half century.
A most ornamental one with double shelves disappeared from the
church of Ightham, Kent. The dole itself, however, continues to
be given every Sunday after morning service ; the baker on
Saturdays now deposits twelve penny loaves, in accordance with a
benefaction of 1627, and six fourpenny loaves of a later bequest, in
a covered basket which stands in the porch.
It may be as well here to follow up the subject by a few words
ALMERIES OR CUPBOARDS
on the small squared recesses or hutches so often found in chancel
and other walls, for the reception of altar vessels, altar books, linen,
the chrysmatory, etc., and which are usually described as almeries
or aumbries. The word "almery" admits of a great variety <
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
spelling. In almost every case it is plain to see that these almery
recesses were originally fitted with doors, and the doors doubtless
locked.
In not a few cases where old churches are well ordered, the
almeries, usually found in the north wall of the chancel near the
altar, have been refitted with doors and locks, and put again, after
centuries of neglect, to their original sacred purposes. There are,
however — and this is more interesting from the antiquarian stand-
point— a fair number of instances where the old mediaeval doors, or
parts of them, yet remain. There are several old doors remaining
to the wall almeries of Northampton-
shire, as at Floore, Kingsthorpe, and
Rotherthorpe.
At Ringstead, Northants, there is, in
the vestry, an old almery recess with
original oak door, and the whole recess
is cased with a double lining of wood.
In the south chancel wall of the same
church are two trefoil-headed almeries,
one over the other, to the east of the
piscina niche.
At Drayton, Berks., there is an almery
recess with wooden doors and early iron-
work. One at Salisbury cathedral retains
the original doors. Below the stone
gospel-desk, against the north wall of
the chancel of Chaddesden, Derbs., is a
small wall almery with door remaining.
The almery recess of Barrington, Cambs.,
also preserves its wooden doors. At
Northleach, Glos., the almery has a stone shelf, and still retains
half the door and the hinges. In the north chancel wall of
Rattlesden, Suffolk, there is a fine almery recess beneath a muti-
lated canopy ; the original iron hinge-pins remain, as well as the
grooves in the sides for a shelf.
As a rule these wall almeries are plainly squared, and lack any
mouldings ; but there are some exceptions. At Freeby, Leics.,
there is an almery with moulded jambs. The almery below the
gospel lectern at Spondon, Derbs., has a late trefoiled head. In
Seaton church there is a lancet-headed almery in the north wall of
GOSPEL LECTERN AND ALMEKY,
CHADDESDEN, DERBS.
GOSPEL LECTERN AND ALMERY,
SPONDON, DERBS.
the chancel, with the iron hinge-hooks ; in the east wall are two
other almeries of different size, but each has a trefoil head ; the
one north of the altar retains an
original wooden shelf. At the churches
of Furneaux Pelham, Herts, and
Eglingham, Northumberland, there are
also lancet-headed wall almeries. In
the north aisle of Salisbury cathedral
there are two large triangular-headed
almeries ; there are almeries of a like
shape in the Sussex churches of Bin-
sted and Sullington. Occasionally
these almeries in chancel walls are of
an oblong shape, and in such cases
they were, perhaps, intended for the
storage of altar or other candles. In
a few instances wall almeries are
found at the west end, and it is quite
possible that their primary use was for the reception of the salt,
tapers, etc., that were required at baptism.
Now and again almeries are found in the east wall of the
chancel, as at Upton, Northants ; Fishtoft, Lines. ; and Burpham,
Climping, Rogate, Sompting, and Wivelsfield, Sussex ; in such
cases it has been stated, but without any warrant, that they were
intended as a receptacle for the pyx. It is, however, much more
likely that such an almery would be utilized for the safeguarding
under lock and key of relics. At Martock, Somerset, there is an
almery in the east wall behind the altar, level with the floor ; this
arrangement seems almost certainly to point to the careful guarding
of some important relic.
Recesses that appear to have been undoubtedly intended
for relics occur at Grantham and Westborough, Lines. The
celebrated great almery for relics at Selby abbey unfortunately
perished in the fire of 1906.
There is no doubt that in some cases a more or less ornamental
wooden casing was affixed to the wall covering the recess, and
forming a frame for the door. We have noticed traces of this in
about a score of churches, and on examination it is probable that
many more indications of this custom will be brought to light.
There is a striking instance in a small Hampshire church of the
316 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
former existence of a wooden framework ; in the south wall of
the chancel of Upton Grey is a plain, unmoulded, pointed niche
over a piscina drain, and another rather lower-pointed niche im-
mediately beyond it. The walling each side of this is drilled with
several small circular holes for plugs, and it is obvious that they
held a wooden casing or front to these two niches, both of which
would be closed with doors. Probably this work would be of an
ornamental character in carved wood and ironwork, such as are still
to be found closing the opening of almeries in the churches of
Gotland, one or two of which are as early as the I3th cent.
Almeries on the north side of the altar are fairly common in
Sweden ; but it is only in Gotland that the doors and frames
have been preserved.*
Now and again wall almeries or lockers are found of considerable
size. One of the most remarkable of these large almeries is the
one on the north side of the chancel of Pattishall, Northants. It
is 5 feet 2 inches high, 2 feet I inch in width, and 1 5 inches deep ;
it has a trefoiled head, and all round is the groove, f inch deep,
into which the door fitted. The approximate date is known, for
over the apex of the opening is a stone thus lettered in relief —
P JoJtem Gyllyng. John Gilling was vicar of Pattishall 1317-1349.
One of the largest known almeries is at Langford, Oxon ; it is
of six divisions, each of which had its own door.
COPE CHESTS
There can be no doubt that many a parish church of mediaeval
England would possess a cope chest of special shape, in order to
prevent the undue creasing of the processional vestment, which was
often of such costly material, and so lavishly embroidered on the
hood and orphreys.
Now, however, it is in vain to look for these interesting but
cumbersome chests, save in the cathedral churches, where the use
of the cope so long lingered. The shape of the true cope, when
laid out flat, is semicircular, and if folded once is quadrant, or
the fourth segment of a circle.
At York minster there are two good examples of cope chests,
* On this subject, Dr. Hans Hildebrand wrote an interesting and well-illustrated
paper in the Kongl. Vitterhet. Historic och Antiquitels Akadamieas Manadsblad, for the
third quarter of 1889.
BANNER-STAVE LOCKERS
317
each of which is a quadrant of 6 feet 6 inches in diameter. The
lids are in two halves, and have hinges and iron scrollwork of
much beauty. They are of oak, covered with leather at the top
and sides. Colonel Hart, who is an expert in ironwork, considers
that these chests are of different dates, one being of the I2th cent,
and the other of the latter end of the I $th cent.
" The leaves and flowers of the second example have been formed by
beating the iron when hot into chilled iron dies ; and this method of work
was peculiar to the end of the i3th cent."
Salisbury cathedral possesses an interesting example, for
though it lacks carving or ornamental ironwork, it is semicircular
in shape, allowing the cope
to be placed in it without
any folding. This chest
is half of a circle 12 feet
6 inches in diameter.
Gloucester cathedral also
possesses a semicircular
cope chest ; like the one
at Salisbury, it is lacking
in any interesting detail.
The example at Wells
cathedral is a quadrant,
and probably of late 1 3th-
cent. date. There is COPE CHEST, WELLS CATHEDRAL
another plain quadrant
instance at Westminster abbey, which most likely belongs
1 4th cent.
Wales is outside the scope of this work ; but in this case, as
cope chests are so rare, it may be well to mention that there M
a good panelled example of late date, on legs, at is,
Brecon.
BANNER-STAVE LOCKERS
In some churches there are found lofty narrow niches or wall
closets from 7 to 12 feet high, and only I foot or 18 inches w.de
and barely a foot in depth. They are usually towards the west
end of the building. In some cases the aperture extends upwards
3i8 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
in the wall above the external top, and in one or two instances the
aperture extends downwards below the external base. Almost
every example shows the iron hinges of the original door, or traces
of where they had been driven, and the grooves for the door may
always be noticed. These tall narrow lockers are chiefly found in
^^t&jaegt *^.
mi 8
. *. .•», ,'»
BARNEY, SUFFOLK
ST. MARGARET'S, LOWESTOFT
East Anglian and Northamptonshire churches. There is only one
instance known in which the door still remains, handsomely
pierced with openings for ventilation. This example is at Barnby,
Suffolk, in the south wall of the nave, near the west end ; it is
6 feet 8 inches in height, n inches wide, and I foot in depth,
BANNER-STAVE LOCKERS 319
The woodwork is of i5th-cent date. The door has been reversed
at some later period when it was refitted with comparatively
modern hinges ; the tracery then at the top of the door was
obviously designed for the bottom position. It has, however,
recently been restored to its right position.
Another fine example is to be seen at the west end of the old
church of St. Margaret, Lowestoft ; it has an ornamental beading
of two cinque-foiled arches, with a shield over them ; above it is
part of a battlemented cornice. The late Canon Manning was
the first to draw attention to the probable use of these lofty narrow
lockers, in 1885 (Archaeological Journal, xlii.) ; his conjecture that
they were intended for the keeping of processional crosses seems
almost certainly, though only partially, correct. It would be more
accurate to describe them as intended for the safe keeping of the
shaft of the processional cross, for the altar cross was usually made
in such a way that it could be mounted on a staff for processional
use. Here, too, would be kept the wooden processional cross for
use in Lent, and more especially the staves for banners with which
almost every church was supplied.
The tall locker of this description at Kingsthorpe, Northants, is
in the south chancel chapel. At Castle Rising, Norfolk, there
is an unusually large receptacle of this nature in the east wall of
the chancel.
The following is a list of these banner-stave lockers, so far as
they have yet been noticed : —
Glos. — Bristol cathedral.
Hereford*.— Hereford, All Saints.
fferfs.—Kelshall, in N.W. angle of north aisle.
Norfolk— Castle Rising, Catfield, Cromer, Palling, Strumpshaw, South
Walsham St Mary, Waxham (8 feet high).
Northants— Kingsthorpe, Northampton St. Sepulchre, Earls Barton,
Hannington.
Oxon— Broadwell, very lofty.
^/£_Barnby, Blyford, South Cove, Gisleham, Henstead, Laxfield,
Lowestoft, Rushmere, Shadingfield, Wrentham.
Warwicks. — Nuneaton abbey church.
CHAPTER X
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH
THE mediaeval churches of England were lighted artificially
in two ways, by lamp and by candle. As has been said
elsewhere,* the lighting for practical purposes — that is to
say, to enable each worshipper, if so minded, to follow the prayers
in print or MS., or to join in responses, chants, or hymns not
known by heart — was a method of procedure altogether unknown.
The ordinary or necessary lights for a church would be few and
far between. The usual offices were said by daylight, save at the
early winter masses. Gilds were in the habit of attending at the
late first evensongs of festivals, but then special provision was made
for lighting. In the larger quires, where the night offices were
kept, the light before the high altar would give at least a dim
glimmer, whilst there were usually two candle sockets to the great
lectern in the centre of the chancel, on which lay large copies of
the grayle and antiphonar. Every mass had, of course, its own
light or lights, and the great festivals, especially those of Christmas,
Candlemas, and Easter, had their special illuminations.
Cressets and mortars, which were cups hollowed in stone and
filled with grease or oil with a floating wick, were now and again
placed near doorways and at other points of vantage for general
lighting purposes. They were specially used at cloister corners
and on dormitory stairways in religious houses. These cresset
stones are occasionally met with in old churches. Not a few of
these interesting relics of a former method of lighting churches and
monasteries have been flung aside by those ignorant of their use.
"Cresset" was originally the Middle English term for a cup of
earthenware or metal fastened to the top of a pole and containing
* "Lights of a Mediaeval Church," by Dr. Cox, in Curious Church Gleanings (1896),
where the great variety of devotional lights and of funeral serges or torches are fully
discussed.
320
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 32£
a light ; it was generally used as a portable lantern. From the
cup or cresset containing the oil and wick of a light, the word
"cresset" was transferred to the hollow in a stone in which a
stationary light was burned, and hence stones containing such
cavities are termed "cresset stones." The Rites of Durham
describe three of these, one in the church itself and two in the
dormitory. The following is the account of the first of these :—
" There is standinge on the South pillar of the Quire doore of the
Lanthorne, in a corner of the same pillar, a foure-squared stoun, which
hath been finely wrought, in every square a large fine image, whereon did
stand a four-squared stone above that, which had twelve cressetts wrought
in that stone, which was filled with tallow, and every night one of them
was lighted when the day was gone, and did burne to give light to the
monkes at midnight, when they came to mattens."
In a paper in the Archaological Journal for 1882 (vol. xxxix.)
on these cresset stones, examples at Calder Abbey and Furness
Abbey, with sixteen and five circular depressions respectively, are
described. Mention is made in the same article of a cresset stone
of Purbeck marble, with four circular depressions, at Wool church,
Dorset ; of one of granite, with seven holes, at Lewannick church,
Cornwall ; of a Norman corbel-bracket at Dearham church, Cum-
berland, with a single cresset hole ; and of others at Carlisle,
Monmouth, and York. At Waverley Abbey a cresset stone has
recently (1902) come to light with four depressions. At the
restoration of North Wingfield church, Derbs., in 1872, a cresset
stone of five holes was found built into the north wall of the
north aisle in two pieces. During the same year, and in the
same county, another broken cresset stone came to light when
the old church of Parwich was pulled down. Two cresset stones
may be seen in the church of Romsey, Hants ; they were found
in 1867. There is one of five holes in the church at Wareham.
With regard to lamps, as distinguished from mere cressets or
cups of stone, their chief use was devotional and in the chancel.
A perpetual lamp burned, as a rule, night and day before the high
altar in all the larger and more wealthy churches, as early as the
1 3th cent. The continual light of the sanctuary lamp, in honour
of the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, is continuously referred
to in charters, inventories, and church accounts from the I3th to the
1 6th cents. The lamp, in this instance, seems hardly ever to have
Y
322 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
been superseded by candle or taper ; but in the case of lights in
chapels and before particular altars or images, lamps often gave
way to candles as time went on, for they were found to give a
better and a steadier light, and could more easily be kept in order.
The lamp entries of extant churchwarden accounts, either in
town or country, almost invariably refer to the single sanctuary
lamp. In Bishop Hobhouse's volume on the early warden accounts
of six Somersetshire parishes the only lamp entries are of that
nature. Thus at Yatton Jd. was paid, in 1518, "for hanging up
ye lampe in ye chansell," and 2,d. " for a lyne to ye lampe." Twenty
years later id. was paid "for makynge clene ye lampe in ye chanselle."
The will of John Bedham, 1472, provided that the wardens of
St. Mary-at-Hill, London, should "fynde and susteyn forevermore
a lampe with oyle in the quire and high Chauncell of the same
Chirche, to burne alwey as well on Dayes as on nyghtes before the
blessed Sacrament." At the beginning of the following century
there are various different entries for glasses for the lamp at the
cost of id. each, and oil was provided at ^d. the quart. It appears
clear that this church, which was well provided with a great variety
of candlesticks, possessed only a single lamp, for there is an entry
in 1512-13 "for mendyng of the basen of the lamp."
As to the candlesticks of St. Mary-at-Hill, a I5th-cent. inventory
shows that there were " on the high auter ij gret Candylstykes &
iij small ; * and on sant Stephens Auter ij Candylstykes. Item iij
small Candylstykes of laton for Tapurs. Item iiij Candylstykes
of laton with braunches for Talough candell." The high-altar
candlesticks were of silver, parcel-gilt, weighing forty-eight ounces.
Mention is made elsewhere in these accounts of standard
candlesticks, and of others that were attached to a desk or lectern
in the quire. The high-altar candlesticks were sometimes used in
procession. A note of 1486 tells of a highly interesting candle-lit
procession in this city church on Christmas day : —
" It hathe been acustomyd that uppon Cristmas day at the magnificat
in the Evensong, be ordeyned for everye preste, clark and childe xv small
candelles waying all ij Ib. di. Arid every persone havyng a surplice shall
have one of thise small candelles brennyng in their handes & so to go on
procession to the tombe of Mr. Cambryge syngyng a Respond of Seynte
Stephen with the prose therto : that done, a versicle with the colet of
* The opinions of modern ritual purists, who insist on only two candlesticks on an
altar, are frequently set at nought by old inventories.
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 323
St. Stephen, And in goyng into the Queer a Antemprne of oure ladye -
a schyp." CandllStlCkCS °f S*lver with «he tapres on yt & a Sencer Jith
ALTAR CANDLESTICKS came into general use about the begin-
ning of the i3th cent. The usual number was two, and those that
remain are, in almost all instances, in pairs.* The earliest
examples, and the most interesting and beautiful, are the set pre-
served at St. Thomas's, Bristol, which date from very early in the
1 3th cent. Their provenance is unknown; their affinity is with
Germany rather than with France, but it is quite possible that they
PRICKET CANDLESTICK, I2TH-CENT.,
FROM PAINTING, CRYPT, CANTER-
BURY CATHEDRAL
CLAPTON- 1 N-GORDANO, SOMERSET
are of British workmanship. They are in two pairs, the larger
ioj and the smaller 5^ inches in height ; they resemble each
other generally, but the smaller are a little less ornate in decora-
tion, and have only one swelling on the stem instead of three.
They are of copper, originally gilt, and encrusted with Cliamplevt
enamel, much of which has been lost. In shape they consist of a
spreading, triangular, pyramidal base, a slender shaft with globular
swellings, one and three respectively, and a flat expansion for
head. At a later date sconces of latten have been added. The
decoration is romanesque, with geometrical figures, scrolls, and
monsters. Their preservation, on the whole, is good.
* The Constitution of Archbishop Raynold of Canterbury, 1322, lays down : Tern-
fore quo missarum solennior pcraguntur atcendantur duo candele vel ad minus una.
324 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The other examples are later in date, belonging to the I5th
and i6th cents. The pair now at Christ Church, Hoxton, are
typical of nearly all. These are of brass, 13^ inches in height, and
have a bold base, well moulded ; the shafts are decorated with
circular mouldings, and terminate in an expanded basin with
battlemented mouldings, from
which rises a pricket. Those at
Clapton-in-Gordano, Somerset, are
latest in date, and are almost Re-
naissance in character ; they have
circular bases, spirally twisted
stems, and sconces instead of
prickets.
The references to gifts of a pair
of candlesticks for the altar are
frequent in pre-Reformation wills.
In Northamptonshire there was a
bequest, in 1533, of £10 to buy a
pair of silver altar candlesticks for
Wellingborough ; and a smaller
sum, in the same year, to the
church of Moreton Pinkney, for
two candlesticks to stand before
the high altar.
Very occasionally there was a
gift of a single altar candlestick.
Thus a " candyllstike " was left to
St. Clement's altar at the church
of St. Giles, Northampton, in
1528; but in this and like cases
the bequest meant a candlestick
or taper-stand to be placed in front
of the altar.
The most remarkable and the
oldest church candlestick in England, probably one of a pair of altar
lights, is the early I2th-cent, richly wrought gilt candlestick, of
base silver, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was
formerly in the abbey church of St. Peter, Gloucester. Abbot
Peter, the donor, ruled from 1107 to 1113. It stands 23 inches
high, has three dragons' heads for feet, and is ornamented throughout
THE GLOUCESTER CANDLESTICK
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 325
with pierced foliage and monsters in relief. Round the top is
inscribed— Lucis onus virtutis opus doctrina refulgens predicat ut
vicio non tenebretur homo. On a ribbon that runs round the shaft
\s-Abbatis Petrigregis et devotio mitts me dedit ecclesie sancti Petri
Gloecestre. Round the inside of the pricket bowl is a later inscrip-
tion, recording the gift of the candlestick to the church of Le Mans
by Thomas de Poche".
At Canterbury cathedral is a silver-gilt pricket candlestick
(probably one of a pair), 17^ inches high exclusive of the pricket.
It is of early i6th-cent date.
Several of the cathedral churches and collegiate chapels of
England are supplied with fine examples of the silversmith's art in
altar candlesticks of post-Reformation times.
The silver attar candlesticks of Rochester cathedral bear the
hall-mark of 1653, and those of Chester 1662.
In Salisbury cathedral, standing on the altar of the Lady
Chapel, are a pair of silver-gilt candlesticks of fluted pillar form
with square base ; they measure 26 inches in height, including the
pricket. The hall-mark is for 1663. An inscription under the
base shows that they were the gift of Sir Robert Hyde, Recorder
of Salisbury, and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; he
died in 1665.
In 1683 Lord Beaumont gave two silver candlesticks, weigh-
ing 53 ounces, for the altar of York Minster. They are plain
circular candlesticks, and are silver-gilt. The hall-mark is
1672-3.
The candlesticks at present used on the high altar are of older
date. They are of silver-gilt, with fluted stems, standing 15 inches
in height, and were the gift of Archbishop Sancroft, who was for a
short time, in 1664, Dean of York, On the base of one of them
are the impaled arms of Canterbury and Sancroft.
The silver-gilt altar candlesticks of Norwich cathedral stand
2o£ inches high, and have the date-mark of 1665. They are
inscribed — Ad sacros usus Eclesics CatJiedralis sancta et individua
Trinitatis Norwici Donavit civitas Norwicensis.
The silver altar candlesticks of Exeter cathedral date from
1 68 1. A particularly fine pair of chased candlesticks of great size,
on tripod stands, dated 1684, belong to Westminster Abbey. The
cathedral church of Durham has a fine pair, ornamented with
fluted work and chased flowers, of the year 1767. The two fine
326 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
silver altar candlesticks of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, are
of the year 1741 ; they are i8£ inches high. There are a still
finer and much larger pair at Trinity College, Cambridge, with
prickets, dated 1773.
The following brief references to other church candlesticks,
arranged alphabetically, will be found to include most of the note-
worthy old examples of various dates, left in English churches.
At Aston Cantlow, Warwicks., are wooden candelabra of the
1 5th cent.
At Buckland, Surrey, are two very handsome silver candlesticks
with fluted columns, of the year
1691 ; their height is 9^ inches.
The church of Hackness, near
Scarborough, possesses a pair of
singularly beautiful, small altar
candlesticks, adorned with flowers
and foliage in white enamel on a
ground of blue enamel, with the
outlines of the pattern and the rims
of brass ; they are probably of
early I7th-cent. date.
At Halam, Notts., there are two
hollow copper pricket candlesticks,
of late Renaissance pattern, 22
inches high.
At Harthill, Yorks., there are a
very fine pair of altar candlesticks,
silver-gilt, bearing the London
mark of 1675 ; they each bear an
inscription to the effect that they
were the gift of " Peregrine, second Duke of Leeds."
The church of Hatton, Warwicks., has a pair of silver candle-
sticks with baluster stems, 1 1£ inches high; they are hall-marked 1683.
At Leigh Delamere, Wilts., are a magnificent pair of silver
altar candlesticks. They are of Spanish origin and early I7th-cent
date ; they were presented to this church in 1843.
The two altar candlesticks of Lutterworth church, Leics., long
pointed out as Wycliffe relics, are in reality of Laudian date ; they
are of gilded wood.
A pair of brass altar candlesticks in the church of St.
HACKNESS, N. R. YORKS.
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 327
Augustine, Norwich, are ornamented with strap pattern : they are
of the time of Charles II.
At Mowsley, Leics., are a pair of gilded wooden altar candle-
sticks of carved Renaissance work; they date from 1662. At
Pakefield, Suffolk, are two altar candlesticks of gilded wood i8th
cent. (S/. Card. Sk. Bk., vi., 63).
St. Anne's, Soho, has two small silver altar candlesticks with
fluted columns and square feet, 8 inches high, and bearing the date-
mark of 1679. They are inscribed— The gift of Alvia de Veitx to
y parish of St. Ann*, Westminster, 1722.
The cathedral church of Southwell possesses a highly interesting
pair of great brass candlesticks, originally 4 feet 6»- inches high, to
which io* inches have been added. They formerly belonged to
Newstead Priory, and were recovered from the lake about 1780,
together with a fine brass eagle lectern. They stand, like the
eagle, on lion feet, and have tapering nozzles.
In the chapel at Staunton Harold, Leics., is an elaborate set
of Eucharistic vessels dated 1654. This set includes a handsome
pair of silver-gilt altar candlesticks, i8| inches high.
At Swithland, Leics., are a pair of handsome silver altar candle-
sticks, 9| inches high, bearing the date mark of 1701.
The church of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, possesses a pair of silver
candlesticks, given by Lady Abigail Yeomans for " the use of the
Communion," between 1716 and 1727 ; they are named on the
benefaction board within the church.
A candlestick of Limoges enamel, said to be c. 1200, belongs
to the church of Weston, Norfolk, doubtless one of a former pair.
THE ROOD LIGHTS. — Among the various lights of an English
mediaeval church, the most important, next to the sacrament light,
were those which burned before the rood. At festival times it was
customary, out of devotion to the rood, to use the front of the loft
itself or the rood-beam — which was sometimes even known by the
name of candle-beam — for the support of a variety of lights.
Mediaeval wills, as well as church accounts, supply innumerable
entries as to this custom. Mr. Vallance points out that the most
usual way of setting lights before the rood, at all events in Kent,
was on pricket spikes in the midst of bowls, of latten or pewter.
Of such bowls, as many as a hundred are known to have existed at
one time at Chilham, sixty at Westwell, twenty-four at North Cray,
twenty at Bromley, seventeen at Eastwell, twelve at Little Chart
328 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
and at Ridley, and four at St. Paul's Cray, all in Kent. Candle-
sticks— that is, prickets mounted on a stem — were of less common
use, but the particular method of lighting up the rood-beam on
special festivals varied much in different parts of England. When
the destruction of remaining " Popish trash " was ordered in Lincoln-
shire churches in 1566, the churchwardens of Fulletby testified that
they had burnt " a pece of wood whereon stood xxiiij candels in
the tyme of Quene Marie." This was evidently the rood-beam.
In addition to the row of lights along the beam or gallery front,
there was always a special light, sometimes a lamp, and at other
times a great candle or taper immediately in front of the rood,
which burnt either perpetually or at stated times, irrespective of
festivals. Thus one testator
bequeaths " a pound of wax
to be thereof a taper per-
petually every year to be made
to burn in the rood-loft before
the rood ; and the said taper
every year to be new made
against the Eve of the Na-
tivity." This taper was to be
kept at the cost of the inheri-
tors or occupiers of a specified
piece of land containing four
acres. In another case, a
testator left the means to main-
tain a light "to burn before
the Rood from the second peal to Matins till High Mass be done,
and from the second peal to Evensong, till Evensong be done, for
evermore."
The chief light suspended before the rood not infrequently took
the form of a circle or crown, containing from twelve to twenty candles
or tapers. These chandeliers were generally known as " rowells "
or " roelles " in East Anglia, and in some other parts of England ;
they often appear under this title in wills. Thus in 1494, Jane
Taillour bequeaths wax to make tapers for the " xij lyghtes bren-
ning afore the roode in ye rowelle" in the church of Blyford.
The "roode roel" of the church of Crondall, Hants, is mentioned
in a bequest of 1 503. Pulleys remain in the roofs of some churches
at the east end of the naves, as at Ubbeston and Wissett, Suffolk ;
CORONA OF LIGHTS, OR " ROWELL "
THE LIGHTS OF A CHURCH 329
these were, doubtless, used for raising or lowering a rood light,
which was suspended independently of the rood light. Such
pulleys are sometimes pointed out as intended to serve for the
suspended pyx with the reserved sacrament ; an idea, we need
scarcely say, which is absurd in such a position. One case is known
of the survival of a pyx pulley, or rather lever— namely, at West
Grinstead ; but that is in the chancel roof in front of the high altar.
CHANDELIERS OR CANDELABRA. — Brief consideration must
also be given to chandeliers, of which a few early ones are still to
be found. The most accessible as well as one of the most beautiful
is that which still hangs in the Temple Church at Bristol. This is
of latten, about 3 feet in height, having twelve branches arranged
in two tiers, the lower of eight, the upper of four. The branches,
which are gracefully curved and richly foliated, terminate in sconces.
The branches rise from globes which are held together by slender
uprights, forming a sort of cage, within which is a beautifully
executed statuette of St. Michael triumphing over the dragon. On
a pedestal on the upper orb is another statuette — the Virgin,
crowned, holding the infant Jesus in her arms. The lower globe
terminates below in a grotesque head with a large ring in its mouth,
for convenience in drawing down the chandelier for lighting or
cleaning. The date of this chandelier, whose workmanship is
excellent, is about the end of the I4th cent.
A somewhat similar chandelier with the same statuettes is to
be seen at St. Michael's Mount, and another, with the Virgin and
Child only, at Llanarmon-in-Vale, Denbigh. Other examples are
found at St Nicholas-at-Wade, Kent, and Lew Trenchard, Devon.
At Rowlston, Herefords., there are a pair of old bracket chandeliers,
each consisting of a branch of metal with a cresting of cocks and
fleur-de-lys, furnished with prickets for lights.
Much interest pertains to bequests of branched candlesticks
and chandeliers, but the citation of a single Northamptonshire
example must suffice. In 1531 there was left to the church of
Braybrook " a candylstick of v flowers & v tapers of v ponde waxe
to be sete before our lady."
At the beginning of the 1 8th cent, a fashion set in of lighting
English churches with well-designed chandeliers of brass, having
two tiers of branched candlesticks on gracefully curved stems
springing from a central globe. This globe generally bears the
name of the donor and the date. Examples of these handsome
330 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
chandeliers, often irreverently known as "spiders," are found here
and there all over England, although some were ejected by
" Gothic " restorers. Among earlier good examples may be noted
those of St. Helen, Abingdon, 1710; Kingsclere, Hants, 1713;
and Whitchurch, Salop., of the same year. Somewhat later good
instances occur at Lingfield, Surrey ; Mayfield, Sussex ; Ightham,
Kent ; Tilstock, Salop. ; and Over Stowey, Somerset. The city of
Bristol and its immediate neighbourhood is particularly rich in
examples of these chandeliers, owing, no doubt, to the early estab-
lishment of the manufacture of brass in that city, A.D. 1705.
At Bilton, Warwicks., is a fine brass chandelier, which came
from a church at Bois le Due in Brabant.
In Penrith church, Cumberland, are two large gilt chandeliers
of exceptional value, owing to their connection with the memorable
invasion of England by Prince Charles Edward in 1745. Each
bears the following inscription : —
" These Chandeliers were purchased wth ye fifty guineas given by the
most noble William Duke of Portland to his Tenante of ye Manor of
Penrith : Who under his Graces Encouragement associated in defence of
the Government and Town of Penrith against the Rebels in 1745. The
Rebels after their retreat from Derby were put to flight from Clifton and
Penrith by his Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland after a short
skirmish nigh Clifton Moor, which began at 4 in ye afternoon of Wednesday
ye 1 8 Decr 1745. Rebell Prisoners taken by ye Tent5 of Penrith and y°
neighbourhood were upwards of 80."
CHAPTER XI
CHURCH LIBRARIES AND CHAINED BOOKS
CHURCH LIBRARIES
THE destruction or dispersion of the monastic libraries, as a
necessary corollary of their overthrow, must have been
acutely felt by students throughout the country. By
degrees it came about, after the country had settled down from
their overthrow, that libraries were here and there re-established
in connection with parish as well as cathedral churches.
The custom, however, of keeping books, other than service books,
in cathedral and parish churches, began long before the monasteries
were dissolved. Belinus Nansmoen, a Bristol merchant, left by
his will of 1416 to the church of St. Mary, Redcliffe, the Sixth
Book of the Decretals, and the Constitutions of Pope Clement V.,
to be shut up in that church, so that the vicar and chaplains might
study them when they pleased.
Such books were frequently fastened by chains for security in
the days before printing had begun ; thus at Salisbury cathedral
one of the canons, who died in 1452, gave some books to the
library, in two of which occurs a memorandum in a I5th-cent
hand on the inside of the cover, to the effect that they were to be
chained in the new library.
In the old churchwardens' account-book of All Saints, Derby,
discovered in an attic at Meynell Langley by Dr. Cox, there is an
entry of about the year 1525 giving a curious list of chained
books : —
" These be the bokes in our lady chapell tyed with chanes y' were
gyffen to Allhaloes Church in Derby —
" Imprimis, one boke called Summa Summarum.
" Item. A boke called Summa Roumundi.
" Item. Anoyer called pupilla oculi.
332 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
" Item. Anoyer called the Sexte.
" Item. A boke called Hugucyon.
" Item. A boke called Vitas Patrum.
" Item. Anoyer boke called Pauls pistols.
" Item. A boke called Januensis super evangeliis dominicalibus.
" Item. A grette portuose.
" Item. Anoyer boke called Legenda Aurea."
In 1537 the Bible in the vulgar tongue was ordered to be placed
in the churches for the perusal of the people. An ancient desk
and chain in the library of Lincoln cathedral is probably one which
was used for that purpose. When Erasmus was visiting England
he saw in the nave of Canterbury cathedral some books fixed to
the pillars, among them being the gospel of Nicodemus.
Out of 2000 volumes in the library of Hereford cathedral, some
1500 are chained ; this is probably the largest collection of chained
books in existence. At Wells cathedral the library was at one
time chained ; many chains still hang from the shelf, although
there are no books attached. Two of the oldest chained church
libraries are those of Wimborne and Grantham, the latter founded
in 1598. The church libraries of Cartmel and Langley Marish
were established in the first half of the i/th cent. ; and Humphrey
Chetham bequeathed in 1651 chained collections to the collegiate
church at Manchester, to the Lancashire parish church of Bolton-
le-Moors, and to the chapels of Gorton, Turton, and Walmsley.
The church libraries at Manchester and Walmsley have, alas ! long
since disappeared.
The following is a list of the more important church libraries
placed in alphabetical order : —
Aylesbury, Bucks. In a wainscote press in the north transept is a small
collection of theological books.
Basingbourne, Cambs. A library in the tower of 800 volumes, chiefly
theological, was bequeathed by Sir Edward Nightingale in 1717.
Basingstoke, Hants. There is a library, chiefly of Puritan theology, in the
room over the porch.
Bath, Abbey Church. In the vestry a library of about 300 volumes,
chiefly folios ; founded towards the end of the reign of James I.
Beccles, Suffolk. The old church library in the room over the porch was,
in 1840, after many of the books had been lost, handed over to the
public library.
Beverley, St. Mary's, E. R. Yorks. In the north transept was a small
CHURCH LIBRARIES 333
library chiefly of theological folios. A visitor in 1852 found them
most dilapidated, stating that, "the fires in the church had been
usually lighted from this literary source for some time." A second
visit m 1865 proved that the library was reduced to one book, a copy
of the Hexapley. At the present moment we believe that there is
nought but the catalogue.
Bolton-le-Moors, Lanes. The chained books left to this church by Hum-
phrey Chetham in 1651 are now deposited in the Grammar School
library.
Boston, Lines. Archbishop Laud in 1635 ordered that the room over the
porch was to be repaired and decently fitted up as a library. Among
the rarities are a first Prayer Book of Edward VI., and a folio
Chaucer. This library was restored and enlarged in 1907.
Bridgenorth St. Mary, Salop. In the vestry a library of 800 volumes,
chiefly divinity, founded by Dean Stackhouse in 1743.
Bromham, Beds. This small library was founded by Lord Trevor in
1 740, " for the use of the Ministers of the Parish of Bromham," as
stated on a slab let into the outside wall.
Broughton, Hunts. In this church there is a small library.
Bury St. Edmunds, St. James, Suffolk. A valuable library was founded
in this church in 1595. In 1847 the contents, consisting of 4 old
MSS. and 475 printed books, were removed to the Guildhall.
Cartmel, Lanes. This church has one of the oldest parochial church
libraries of post-Reformation date. It was, at all events, founded
before 1629, for under date July i4th of that year is the following
entry in the churchwardens' accounts : — " It is ordered and agreed
upon that the Churchwardens seate in the body of the churche shall be
enlarged both in the wideness and in the deske that the bookes given
unto the churche may be more convenientlie laid and chained to
remaine there according to the directions of the donors." The
greater part of the present library was added by Thomas Preston,
who, by will of 1692, bequeathed the books that were formerly his
father's to Cartmel church, " to be placed in the new vestry there."
The library consists of nearly 300 volumes, including some rarities in
general literature. There is one volume of i5th.-cent. date (1491),
and many of the i6th cent.
Castleton, Derbs. In the vestry a library of about 1000 volumes left to
the parish by a former vicar, the Rev. F. Farran, who died in 1817.
A large proportion are old-fashioned books of divinity. The " lions "
of the library are two early copies of the English version of the Bible,
1539 and 1611.
Chelmsford, Essex. The remains of a good theological library bequeathed
by Dr. Kingsbridge for the use of the town and neighbourhood are in
a room over the south porch.
334 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Chirbury, Salop. A chained library of 180 volumes, dating from 1530 to
1684. Originally all chained, now chains on no. Removed to
parish schoolroom.
Christchurch, Hants. There is a library of about 100 chained volumes.
Finedon, Northants. In the parvise over the porch is a library of about
1000 volumes, given to the church in 1788 by Sir J. E. Dolben, Bart.
Grantham, Lines. A library occupies a small room over the south porch.
It was founded in 1598 by Rev. Francis Trigg, rector of Wellbourn.
There are three wall book-cases, each 6 feet long and 6 feet high.
Seventy-four of the books are chained. Another library given to the
church by Dr. Newcome, dean of Rochester in the i7th cent, is now
kept at the west end of the south aisle.
Henley-on-Thames, Bucks. Library in vestry bequeathed by Dean Aldrich,
rector of Henley, who died 1737.
Hereford, All Saints. A library of about 200 chained volumes of old
divinity is in the vestry. Blades, in his Books in Chains, tells of
an Oxford Street bookseller purchasing these about 1850 of the
churchwardens for ^100. After they had reached London, and were
about to pass into the hands of an American dealer, some local feeling
was fortunately aroused, and after much trouble they were re-bought
and restored to the church.
King's Lynn, St. Margaret's, Norfolk. This library includes a mutilated
black-letter copy of the Sarum Missal, as well as many fine copies of
the Fathers.
Langley Marish, Bucks. On the south side of the church is a small room
built in 1623, to accommodate a large library given by Sir John
Kidderminster, " as well for the perpetual benefit of the vicar and
curate of the parish of Langley as for all other ministers and preachers
of God's Word that would resort thither to make use of the books
therein." The cupboards and general fittings and adornments of this
room are admirable of their kind, and have been preserved unaltered.
Manchester cathedral. Humphrey Chetham in 1651 left 202 chained
books to be kept in the Jesus Chapel of the collegiate church. Their
disappearance, says Mr. Chancellor Christie, is one of the most
discreditable chapters in the history of Wardens and Fellows.
Melton Mowbray, Leics. There is a library in the north transept aisle of
this church.
More, Salop. Library of 250 volumes, chiefly i6th- and lyth-cent. theology,
kept in tower. Presented in 1684 by Richard More, of Linley, with
the object of " teaching the minister sound doctrine."
Newark, Notts. At the parish church there is a library of theological
books, founded by Bishop White, of Peterborough, about 1690.
Nantwich, Chester. In this church library are preserved many old books,
of which the following are the most noteworthy : (i) A Sarum
CHURCH LIBRARIES 335
Missal, printed 1533, with emendations and erasures made by Henry
VIII.'s commissioners; (2) Exposition of the Sarum Hymns and
Sequences, two volumes bound in one, Wynkyn de Worde, 1502, the
only known copy of so early a date ; and (3) Eikon Basilike, 1648.
Northampton, All Saints. Large library in vestry, contains a black-letter
Chaucer, 1542. The majority of the books were left by Dr. Crane,
prebendary of Westminster, at the close of the i8th cent.
North Denchworth, Berks. Library over church porch; in 1693 the
chained books numbered 100. When the church was restored in
1852 the library was taken to the vicarage, and the chains removed
save in a few cases. Of the original library only two or three books
remain, namely, a Cranmer's Bible, four volumes of Aquinas, one of
Ancient Homilies, Burnet on the Articles, given by the author, and a
Life of Christ, by Ludolphus Saxo, which once belonged to Bishop
Juxon, with chain attached. It used to contain the Golden Legend
(Caxton, 1483) ; this volume was sold in 1843 to the Bodleian.
Oakham, Rutland. Library of some 200 volumes, early lyth cent., left
by Lady Harrington.
Salford, Lanes. Humphrey Oldfield, by will of 1684, left his theological
books to be placed in the chancel, together with three pounds for the
woodwork and chains that they might not be stolen. After many were
lost, the remnant of 72 volumes were removed to the Salford Free
Library.
Shipdham, Norfolk. There is an old library in the room over the south
porch, which contains some great rarities, such as " the floure of the
commandments," printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1509. The most
valuable volumes are kept at the adjacent rectory.
Skipton, W. R. Yorks. This large church library, founded by Silvester
Petit (1640-1719), was removed in 1880 to the Grammar School.
Sutton St. Mary, Lines. There is a library in the parvis of the church.
Swaffham, Norfolk. A valuable library of about 400 volumes in the priest's
chamber over the vestry. The greatest rarity is a version of the
Vulgate, printed in 1483, an edition which is neither in the British
Museum nor in the Bodleian. There is also a book of illuminated
Hours, c. 1420, and a valuable parish church chartulary called the
Black Book of Swaffham.
Tong Salop. Library of between 400 and 500 volumes, chiefly i7th-cent.
theology, kept in vestry. Given by Lord Pierrepoint for the
the minister.
Totnes, Devon. Library established in 1566; contains folio
some of the Fathers.
Turton, Lanes. Here is an oak case with shelves and folding doors, fii
with two iron bars, to which are chained the books presen
Humphry Chetham in 1651.
336 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Walmsley, Lanes. The chained library bequeathed to this chapel by
Humphry Chetham in 1651 has long since disappeared.
Warwick, St. Mary. Library in vestry.
Wimborne Minster, Dorset. This famous chained library of about
240 volumes is in a room over the vestry; they belong chiefly to the
1 7th cent. The chains are made of rod-iron bent into a figure of
eight ; each chain is about 3 feet long, and has at one end a ring
which runs along an iron rod, and permits of the book being moved
some little distance.
Yarmouth, Norfolk. In this great church there is a library of about
320 volumes, including a copy of Cranmer's Bible, a Missal, a
Hebrew MS. roll of the Book of Esther, and Mathew Paris' history,
1571. In the church in connection with this library is an old
revolving reading-desk, most ingeniously contrived to arrange the
works of reference the reader may require, and to bring them before
him by giving the desk a turn. It has six shelves, each about 4 feet
long, and is so cleverly arranged that the shelves maintain severally
one angle whilst the framework revolves.
Among other church libraries, not specified in the above list, the
following may also be mentioned : —
Halifax, W. R. Yorks. ; Brent Eleigh, Suffolk ; Sutton Courteney, Berks. ;
St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford; St. Peter's, Maldon, Essex; and
Gillingham, Dorset.
There are also several instances in which libraries have been
bequeathed as heirlooms to parsonage houses ; as at Whitchurch
and Middle, Salop., and Stanground, Hunts.
CHAINED BOOKS
It has been generally supposed that the first idea of chaining
books in a church originated with the order made by Henry VIII.
in 1537 as to the placing of Bibles in churches for parishioners to
read at their pleasure ; but this is far from being the case. Various
long wills prior to the Reformation prove the early use of this
custom. William Lyndwood, bishop of St. Davids, author of the
Provinciate, by will of 1443 directed that a chained copy of his
book should be kept in the upper part of St. Stephen's chapel,
Westminster, to serve as a standard for future editions.
Sir Thomas Lyttleton made the following bequest in his will
of 1481 : —
CHAINED BOOKS 337
"I will and bequeth to the Abbot and Convent of Hales-Oweyn a
book of myne called Catholicon to theyr own use for ever, and another
boke of mine wherein is contaigned the 'Constitutions Provincial' and
' De Gestis Romanorum ' and other treaties therein, which I will be laid
and bounded with an yron chayn at mycostes, so that all priests and others
may se and rede when it plesith theym."
Thomas, Earl of Ormond, left the following directions by will
of 1515:—
" I will my sawter boke, covered with whyte lether and my name
written with mye owne hande in the ende of same shall be fixed with a
cheyne of iron at my tombe, ther to remain for the service of God."
There can be little doubt that this was a psalter in the vulgar.
He was buried in the church of St. Thomas Aeon on the north
side of the high altar.
The practice of chaining single books in churches received
a great impetus by the injunction of Edward VI. in 1547, ordering
each parish to "provide within three moneths one Boke of the
whole Bible of largest volume in English, and within one twelve-
month the Paraphrasis of Erasmus, the same to be sette upp in
some convenient place within the churche." This injunction was
repeated in 1559, afld although neither of these orders made
mention of chains it seems probable that the churchwardens in
general would adopt this means of protecting their property. We
know that this was a fact in very many cases, not only from books
that remain, but from the evidence of certain extant churchwarden
accounts. Thus in the accounts of Wigtoft, Lines., under 1549,
occurs the entry, " payd for a chayne for ye paraphrases 4^."
Archbishop Parker required Jewel's Defence of tJie Apology
to be placed in the churches, and Archbishop Bancroft ordered
that Jewel's collected works (edit. 1609, 1611) should be similarly
placed in addition to Erasmus' paraphrase.
Another work which was — unfortunately so far as historic truth
is concerned — commonly placed in churches in the i6th cent, was
Fox's Book of Martyrs.
The following is a much longer list than any hitherto compiled
of old books, chained or otherwise, which are now to be found in
parish churches, either singly or in small groups.* The latest
* A considerable number of these are taken from Blades' valuable work entitled
Books in Chains, published in 1890.
Z
338 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
instance of chaining a book in a church occurs at Grinton, in the
year 1752.
Abingdon, Berks. Bible (1611), and ten others.
Appleby, Westmoreland. Fox, in three volumes.
Arreton, I. of Wight. Fox.
Ashton-under-Lyne, Lanes. A black-letter Bible, originally chained to a
desk, is preserved in a glass case in this church.
Backford, Cheshire. A chained Bible (1617).
Barcheston, Warwicks. Erasmus, and two others with chains.
Barrowden, Rutland. Old chained books, now in a book-case made out of
a Jacobean pulpit.
Barthomley, Cheshire. Four chained books, somewhat vaguely described
as Lives of the Saints.
Baschurch, Salop. Chained Bible.
Bledington, Gloucs. Black-letter Bible.
Borden, Kent. Fox.
Bowness-in-Windermere, Westmoreland. Erasmus, Jewel (1609), and
Homilies.
Bramhall chapel, Cheshire. A large number of chained books.
Breadsall, Derbs. On an old double reading-desk, with folding lids, that
can be fastened by a single padlock on the top, are four volumes on
each side, all secured with chains, namely, Jewel (1609); Burnet's
Reformation, 2 vols. (1679 and 1681); Cave's Fathers of the Church ;
Cave's Antiquitates Apostolica, (1684); Cave's Primitive Fathers (1687);
Cases to recover Dissenters (1694) ; and Josephus' Works (1702).
Bridlington, Yorks. Jewel (1611) and three others.
Bristol, St. Mary's RedclifFe. Desk for chained Bible.
Bromsgrove, Worcs. Jewel (1609); chained to desk.
East Budleigh, Devon. Jewel, Bible (1634), Fox (1684).
Bunbury, Cheshire. Chained book.
Canterbury cathedral. Chained Bible.
Cavendish, Suffolk. Jewel and Homilies ; chained to a double desk.
Chedworth, Glos. Chained Jewel.
Chelsea, Middlesex. Fox (1601), and four others, all chained.
Chew Magna, Somerset. Jewel (1560).
Cirencester, Glos. Desk for chained books.
Cublington, Bucks. A chained volume of Fox in the rectory ; formerly in
the church.
Cumnor, Berks. Bible (1611).
Darfield, Staffs. Two chained books of Homilies.
Dronfield, Derbs. Jewel (1569); chain attached to cover. Five folio
volumes of Poolers Synopsis Criticorum (1674).
East Leake, Notts. The Dipper Dipped (1607), chained.
CHAINED BOOKS 339
East Winch, Norfolk. Bible (1611).
Egginton, Derbs. Erasmus ; traces of chain.
Fairford, Glos. Lectern with chained early edition of Calvin's Institutes
and Whole Duty of Man (1725).
Frampton Cotterell, Glos. Chained Jewel (imperfect) on old lectern.
Geddington, Northants. Jewel, 1611, chain attached.
Great Chart, Kent. Fox.
Great Doddington, Northants. Three chained books— Homilies (1676),
Bible (1613), and Erasmus.
Great Durnford, Wilts. Jewel.
Grinton, N. R. Yorks. Burkitt on the New Testament, chained. " For the
use of the inhabitants of Grinton 1752."
Hamstall-Ridware. Chain for the Bible.
Hatneld, Yorks. Jewel, chained.
Hill Morton, Wilts. Chained Bible.
Hodnet, Salop. Chained books on a Jacobean stand.
Impington, Cambs. Several damaged chained books, including three folios
of Fox.
Kettering, Northants. Chains and covers of two books.
Kidderminster, Worcs. Jewel.
Kingsthorpe, Northants. Fine chained books, all given by Edward
Mottershed, who died 1643. They are Erasmus (1547), Jewel (1609),
and three volumes of Fox (1641).
Kinver, Staffs. Desk, 7 feet long. Fox (1583), Jewel (1609), and two
others.
Kings Teignton, Devon. Fox, and other books.
Kingston, Somerset. Bible (1617), on a stand.
Kirklington, N. R. Yorks. Dean Comber's Companion to the Templt,
chained.
Leigh, Lanes. Two chained volumes, Cases to recover dissenters (1685).
Lessingham, Norfolk. Fox, imperfect.
Ley land, Lanes. Fox, Jewel, and two others, chained.
Lingfield, Surrey. Bible and Jewel, chained on a double desk.
Little Petherick, Cornwall. Fox, in three volumes ; chained.
London, All Hallows, Lombard Street. Erasmus, 2 vols. (1548, 1552),
Bible (1613).
London, St. Andrew Undershaft. Erasmus, Fox (1596), Jewel (1611),
Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World (1621).
London, St. Clement's, Eastcheap. Pearson On the Creed, and Comber's
Companion to the Temple.
Luton, Beds. Bible, and Fox.
Lyme Regis, Dorset. Chained Bible and Prayer-book (1637).
Great Malvern, Worcs. Comber's Companion to the Temple.
Mancetter, Warwicks. Erasmus, Fox, and Jewel.
340 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Munslow, Salop. Chained Bible.
Northampton, St. Giles. Two chained books — Calvin's Isaiah (1609)
Homilies (1676).
Newport Pagnell, Bucks. Jewel and Fox ; chained.
Quatt, Salop. Fox (not now chained).
Ramsey, Hunts. Chained books.
Rochester, St. Nicholas, Kent. A Collection of Cases (1717).
Shirland, Derbs. Jewel (1609).
Shorwell, I. of Wight. Chained Bible (1541).
Sittingbourne, Kent. Fox.
Southampton, St. Michael's, Hants. Fox, Bible, and two Commentaries.
Stratford-on-Avon, Warwicks. Bible (1611).
Tavistock, Devon. Erasmus (1548), Jewel (1560).
St. Teath, Cornwall. Fox in three folio volumes.
Tilstock, Salop. Two volumes of Fox, now in vestry.
Towcester, Northants. Chained Bibles, Homilies, and Fox.
Tredington, Worcs. Jewel and black-letter Apocrypha, chained.
Ubley, Somerset. Chained Erasmus (1522).
Upton Magna, Salop. Jewel, chained.
Walgrave, Northants. Bible (1611), and Homilies (1676); both chained.
Whitchurch, Salop. Fox (1566), chained.
Wiggenhall, Norfolk. Bible, Fox, Jewel, and Homilies, chained to a
wooden desk.
Wolverley, Worcs. Jewel.
Wootton Wawen, Warwicks. Calvin's Institutes (i573)> Jewel (l6ll)>
Andrew's Sermons (1632), and nine other volumes, all chained to a
curiously planned desk in the church. These books were given by
George Dunscombe, vicar, who died in 1652.
Worcester, All Saints. Bible (1603).
Wrington, Somerset. Bible (1617), Fox, Jewel, and two others.
York Minster. Bible (1611).
York, St. Crux (removed to All Saints). Jewel, on an old lectern.
CHAPTER XII
CHURCH EMBROIDERY
OF the immense wealth of embroidered vestments and hangings
possessed by the English churches at the time of the Refor-
mation we have ample evidence in the inventories of that
epoch. Unfortunately almost the whole of it has disappeared ;
much of it found its way to the melting-pot for the sake of the
precious metals contained in the gold and silver thread which was
lavishly used ; much more passed into private possession, and has
since perished ; only about a hundred specimens remain in England
in a more or less mutilated condition, though there is reason to
believe that more than have been yet recognized are to be found
in the treasuries of churches in France, Spain, and Italy, where
English embroidery was always valued, and where a good deal was
imported at the time of the Reformation. A flattering if undesir-
able testimony to the value attached to it on the Continent is to be
found in the action of Pope Innocent IV., as related by Matthew
Paris. According to his account, the Pope, having seen and
admired the robes of certain English ecclesiastics embroidered in
gold thread, ascertained that they were worked in England, and
sent briefs to nearly all the Cistercian abbots in that country
requesting them to have forthwith forwarded to him their em-
broideries in gold, which he preferred to all others— as if, says
Matthew, these objects cost them nothing.
The reputation of the English needlework dated from very
early in the Saxon period, and its excellence seems to have been
maintained through the whole of the middle ages ; the extreme
richness and beauty of the later work is perhaps better exemplified
by such paintings as those at Ranworth and Southwold, and by
some of the monumental effigies and brasses, than by the mutilated
and worn fragments now surviving.
The art of embroidery was one of the most important subjects
34'
342 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
of instruction in the mediaeval convents ; and not only was its
production a business or profession, but it was the favourite pursuit
— almost the only accomplishment — of the ladies of the Saxon and
Anglo-Norman laity. There were, moreover, schools, apart from
the nunneries, for its teaching ; one such is known to have existed
in the neighbourhood of the monastery of Ely, perhaps as early as
the 7th cent.
As an art embroidery ranked in dignity with sculpture and
painting ; during the earlier half of the period it was certainly in
advance of either sculpture or decorative painting, and fully abreast
of the contemporary miniature painting ; probably at no time
during the whole epoch did painting attain anything like the
technical perfection reached by the embroiderer.
English embroidery became so celebrated as to be known at
an early date as Opus Anglicanum. Matilda, the wife of the
Conqueror, left by her will to the abbey of her foundation at Caen
a chasuble worked at Winchester by the wife of one Alderet,
together with a cope worked in gold and another vestment, all of
English workmanship. From that date down to the i6th cent, the
references to costly ecclesiastical as well as secular embroidery are
constant in historical documents and rolls. It is doubtful whether
any of the great churches of the Continent were as lavishly supplied
with costly vestments and hangings as was the case with English
minsters. At Lincoln they numbered upwards of six hundred,
wrought with an infinite variety of embroidery, and sprinkled with
gold and precious stones, on the most costly of textile fabrics.
There was hardly a village church of England, however humble
and remote, the value of whose vestments did not far exceed the
average income of the beneficed clergy.
The Liberate and Issue Rolls give some idea of the exceeding
costliness of the richer of these works of art. In 1241 Henry III.
paid £24 is. 6d. to Adam de Basinges for an embroidered cope of
red silk for the Bishop of Hereford, and £17 to the same artificer
for two embroidered chasubles for the royal chapel. In 1317
Queen Isabella paid 100 marks to Rose, wife of John de Bureford,
citizen of London, for an embroidered cope to be presented to the
Pope. John, Bishop of Marseilles, in his will of 1345, made a
special bequest of his albe that was wrought with "English
orfrais." Cardinal Talairand, a little later in the same century,
described the English embroideries on a costly set of vestments ;
CHURCH EMBROIDERY
343
now in the museum of that town, and
which is said to have come from the
church of San Giacomo. They are all
magnificently embroidered with scrip-
tural or legendary subjects ; the date
of the first is about 1300, and the two
others are somewhat later in the i4th
cent.
The pieces of embroidery now re-
maining very frequently take the form
of pulpit cloths, altar cloths, and altar
frontals. Some few of the altar
frontals, as in the case of the pair at
Chipping Campden, may retain their
original form ; but most of them, and
all the members of the two other
groups, are made up from vestments,
usually, if not invariably, copes. A
considerable number of copes remain
unaltered, and in addition there are
preserved some three chasubles, several
palls, two burses of painted linen, and
a few fragments of uncertain origin.
The more extensive preservation of
copes may be due to the fact that
they were not Eucharistic vestments,
and so were retained for a time in the
reformed ritual of the English Church, their use gradually dying
out. At Durham cathedral, where the use of the cope lasted till
a date late in the i8th cent, no fewer than four old copes
are preserved.
The earliest pieces of needlework now preserved are the loth-
cent. stole and maniple at Durham, removed from St. Cuthbert's
shrine in 1827. They were originally worked for Frithstan, who
JONAS THE PROPHET:
BISHOP FRITIISTAN'S STOI.R
344 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
was Bishop of Winchester from 909 to 931 ; they were presented
to St. Cuthbert's shrine by King Athelstan, when he worshipped
there, soon after Frithstan's death. These still beautiful examples
of early English embroidery, together with some fragments of silk
vestments from the same shrine, are admirably described and fully
illustrated by Dean Kitchin in Victoria History of County DnrJiam,
i. 241-249.
Of the Norman period nothing is known to exist, but of 1 3th-
cent. work is the very valuable " Syon " cope, now to be seen at
the Victoria and Albert Museum. It belonged to the nuns of
Syon monastery, Isleworth, but is said to have been worked by
nuns of a convent near Coventry (probably Nun Eaton) in the
second half of the I3th cent. Examples of the 1/j.th cent, are more
numerous, and include some of the Durham copes and the two
chasubles preserved at Madeley. Perhaps still more of the re-
maining examples belong to the next century and one or two to
the i6th cent. ; the last of our series, an altar cloth at Biddenham,
being as late as c, 1 540.
The usual ground was velvet, but damask was also employed ;
the work was not embroidered directly on to the background — at
least in the case of velvet — but was done on canvas, and then cut
out and stitched on to the ground (opus consuetuvi). The stitch
employed was the feather-stitch (opus plumariiim\ but the chain-
stitch, worked in circles, was also employed, especially for the flesh
tints. The copes were adorned with orphreys or strips embroidered
in gold with figures of saints in niches, and in some of the most
costly, as in the case of one of the Carlisle copes, the whole fabric
was cloth of gold.
In addition to those mentioned below as yet extant in different
churches, there is a considerable selection of English ecclesiastical
embroidery at South Kensington from the I3th to the i6th cents.,
consisting of chasubles, copes, altar frontals, and detached orphreys,
many of them of recent acquisition. They are fully described in
the Tapestry and Embroidery Catalogue issued in 1888, and in its
several continuations.
Several of the city companies possess valuable and beautifully
embroidered funeral palls or hearsecloths of pre-Reformation date :
Fishmongers' Company, I4th cent. ; Merchant Taylors', Saddlers',
Vintners', and others, 1 5th cent. They are of an elaborate character ;
the late 1 5th-cent. pall belonging to the Brewers' consists of a central
CHURCH EMBROIDERY 345
panel of rich cloth of gold with side and end flaps of embroidered
velvet. The embroidery represents the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin, between the arms of the archbishoprick of Canterbury and
the Brewers' arms ; the whole is powdered with ears of barley.
Although not deposited in churches, these palls are mentioned in
this place, for they were of course solely for Church use at the
time of burial.
There are also a few pieces of Early English embroidery in
churches of this country under the Roman obedience. Stoney-
hurst, for instance, claims to have one of the old Westminster copes,
and in the chapel at Wardour Castle, Wilts., there is a beautiful
cope as well as two altar frontals from the same abbey.
At Hardwick Hall, Derbs., there are two large pieces of
mediaeval embroidery which were used for a long time as coverings
for the altar rails in the chapel ; they are composed of the hoods
and orphreys of a large number of copes as well as of parts of one
or two chasubles. They were exhibited by Dr. Cox before the
Society of Antiquaries in June, 1887.*
A LIST OF PRE-REFORMATION EXAMPLES IN ENGLISH CHURCHES
Alveley, Salop. Altar frontal of alternate stripes of crimson and cream in
rich woven silk, powdered with embroidered lilies and pomegranates.
In centre are " figures of faithful departed awaiting in the bosom of
Abraham, their final reconciliation, while round them flame-winged
cherubim sing their eternal song of praise."
Barley, Herts. Altar cloth trimmed with cope orphreys.
Baunton, Glos. A remarkable i5th-cent. altar frontal ; is made of alternate
stripes of red and yellow silk, powdered with double-headed eagles.
In the centre is an applied representation of the Rood, with St. Mary
and St. John. Below is a most curious rebus. An eagle rising grips
by the back a white ass ; below the ass is a golden barrel or tun, from
the bung-hole of which issues two seeded or flowering branches. The
most likely solution of this rebus is that it stands for the name of
the donor, one John As(h)burton ; the eagle standing for John, and
the plant growing out of the tun being intended for burs, or the bur
plant.
Biddenham, Beds. Altar frontal ; 1541.
Great Bircham, Norfolk. Ancient cope of crimson velvet woven with gold.
* A fairly good book was published by Mr. Hartshome on English AfeJiaval
Embroidery. The subject has, however, been more fully discussed and illustrated by
F. and H. Marshall in Old English Embroidery; its Technic and Symbolism, 1894.
346 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
St. Briavell's, Glos. Pre-Reformation altar frontal.
Buckland, Glos. Cope; 1 5th cent
Careby, Lines. Altar frontal from red velvet isth-cent. cope.
Carlisle cathedral. Three ancient copes; one with richly embroidered
orphreys, i5th cent. ; two cloth of gold, i6th cent.
Catworth, Hunts. Five cushions covered with portions of an old i4th-
cent. cope.
Chapel Allerton, Somerset. Frontal from an old cope, now in Taunton
Museum.
Chedzoy, Somerset. Altar frontal from cope.
Chipping Campden, Glos. A red velvet cope, powdered with gold stars
and crowns; the orphrey has eight saints under canopies with twisted
shafts; late i4th or early i5th cent. A pair of altar frontals, c.
1500, of rich white silk damask ; the nether frontal to hang in front
of the altar, and the upper frontal to hang behind the altar as a reredos.
Both are powdered with gold water-flowers, whilst the former has a
representation of the Annunciation and the latter of the Assumption.
No other complete ancient pair of English altar frontals is known.
Cirencester, Glos. Pulpit cloth formed from isth-cent. cope.
Cogenhoe, Northants. Fragment with Tudor roses.
Compton Verney, Warwicks. Stole; 1 4th cent.
Corby Castle, Cumberland. Cope.
Culmstock, Devon. Altar frontal and cope.
Little Dean, Glos. Hearse cloth or pall formed from a pair of late isth-
cent. tunicles.
Drayton, Norfolk. Altar cloth of fragments of cope orphreys (recently
stolen).
Dunstable, Beds. A hearse cloth or pall, c. 1515, which belonged to
the fraternity of John Baptist at Dunstable ; the centre panel is of red
cloth of gold, whilst the flaps of purple velvet are richly embroidered.
Durham cathedral. Five copes — (i) a magnificent blue cloth of gold;
(2) purple velvet ; (3) red velvet ; (4) blue velvet ; (5) crimson satin.
The last of these, with the beheadal of Goliath, was presented by
Charles I.
Ely cathedral. Cope of green velvet ; i4th cent.
Forest Hill, Oxon. Cope.
Hessett, Suffolk. Corporas case on painted or stained linen. On the
obverse is the vernicle within a quatrefoil, with the Evangelistic
symbols in the spandrels, all within a twisted border, originally red
and gold. On the reverse is the Holy Lamb, all within a quatrefoil,
enclosed by a similar twisted border. Late i4th cent.
Hullavington, Wilts. An elaborately embroidered chasuble.
Kettleston, Norfolk. Fragment of vestment.
K-innersley, Herefords. Fragment of vestment,
CHURCH EMBROIDERY 347
East Langdon, Kent. This little church possesses the interesting fragment
of a richly ornamented velvet cope of the second half of the isth
cent, which for a long time was used as a pulpit hanging. The
principal ornament of the cope is an elaborate representation of the
Annunciation. This grand fragment of mediaeval work is well described
and illustrated in the eleventh volume of Archaologia Cantiana.
Lyme Regis, Dorset. Fifteenth-cent, tapestry against west wall ; marriage
of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York.
Lutterworth, Leics. Fragment of vestment.
Lyng, Norfolk. Altar cloth, 6 feet 9 inches by 3 feet 8 inches, formed
from two i5th-cent. copes and a chasuble.
Madeley, Salop. Two chasubles ; 1 4th cent.
Minsterworth, Glos. Altar frontal made from a cope.
Mottisfont, Hants. Altar frontal.
Newnham, Glos. Altar cloth from i4th-cent. vestment
Northleach, Glos. Altar frontal formed of two copes.
Norwich, St. Gregory. Pall and altar frontal.
Norwich, St. James. Altar frontal of cope orphreys.
Othery, Somerset. Cope; 1 5th cent.
Oxney, Kent. Pulpit cloth from cope.
Peterborough, St. John Baptist. Large cushion of velvet and orphreys of
an old cope.
Pillon, Somerset. Pulpit cloth from cope.
Romsey, Hants. Altar frontal ; 1 5th cent.
Salisbury cathedral. Chasuble; 1 6th cent.
Salisbury, St. Thomas. Altar frontal of cope orphreys.
Skenfrith, Mons. Cope.
Sleaford, Lines. Altar frontal.
Steeple Aston, Oxon. Two large portions of a cope, which originally
formed a magnificent white silk cope of Opus Anglicanum. It has
been cut up to form a desk cloth and altar frontal respectively. Early
1 4th cent.
Stoulton, Worcs. Altar frontal from r4th-cent. cope.
Sutton Benger, Wilts. Desk hanging ; made up of ten strips of embroidery
sewn side by side, with figures of apostles, saints, and prophets undei
canopies. The figures belong to two sets of twelve each, which again
contained two sets of three. This suggests that they originally forme
the orphreys to a pair of tunicles for a deacon and sub-deacon,
were probably made up into their present form in Elizabethan or e
Stuart times.
Tedburn, Devon. A blue velvet cope ; late 14* cent
OMn^y Of St Mary the Virgin. Pall or desk doth; made
out of one or more ,5th-cent. copes of blue velvet, powdered with
348 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
water-flowers, formerly belonging to, and in use in, the church of
Emneth, Norfolk.
Winchcombe, Glos. Altar cover formed of two vestments; now at
Sudeley Castle.
Wool, Dorset. Velvet pulpit-cloth formed from cope, now in Dorchester
Museum.
Worcester cathedral. Cope, c. 1236; fragment of cope, i3th cent.
Wymondham, Norfolk. Corporas case of " steyned " linen with shields
of arms.
York, St. Mary Bishop Hill. Cope.
PIECE OF STEEPLE ASTON FRONTAL
Although the embroiderers' art died out in England with the
Reformation, and has only been resumed for church purposes in
comparatively recent years, there are a few instances of decently
worked church hangings of the intermediate period. The following
seem worthy of particular mention : —
Aldworth, Berks. Green cloth altar cover, worked with date 1703, and
churchwardens' initials.
Arne, Dorset. A curious linen cloth given by Wake, rector of the mother
church of Wareham, in 1661, wrought in silk, with inscriptions as to
the attributes of the Trinity.
Anstey, Herts. Altar frontal — large plum-coloured velvet frontal, probably
CHURCH EMBROIDERY 349
made to cover the top and sides as well as the front of a very small
altar. Large oval medallion worked upon the frontal in green and
gold, the purple colour of the frontal forming the background. The
T TT S
medallion is surrounded by rays, and has -' in the centre
1637
Bacton, Herefords. Altar cloth of white silk shot with gold, beautifully
embroidered with fruit, foliage, and figures. Presented by Mistress
Blanche Parry, Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth.
West Barsham, Norfolk. Linen cloth used at Holy Communion; date
1637.
Bitton, Glos. Altar frontal — plain blue cloth intended for one of the
small altars of the period, to cover the top and some part of the sides.
In the centre I. H. S. surmounted by a cross with three nails and a
heart is worked in white silk below. Round the edge (which is not
fringed) is worked in simple capital letters in white silk : — " The :
gift : of : John : Seymour : the : church : Bitton : in : the : county :
of : Gloucester : for : the : communion : table : in : remembrance :
of : his : dear : Graidfather : Sr : John : Seymour : who : died :
& : was : interred in : Ye : middle : of : this : holy : square." The
Seymour crest is worked in white and gold in each corner.
Bourne St. Mary, Hants. An old altar cloth of the year 1687, with the
date and the churchwardens' initials embroidered on the super frontal,
is preserved in a glass case in this church.
Cheswardine, Salop. Funeral pall, gold and silver tinsel letters; 1770.
Cogenhoe, Northants. Remains of Elizabethan altar frontal.
Hollingbourne, Kent. Embroidered velvet coverings for the altar and the
pulpit desk, wrought by the Ladies Culpepper during the Common-
wealth, and presented at the Restoration.
Mattingley, Hants. In this church is preserved a once handsome altar
cloth of gold-fringed crimson velvet, with good embroidered designs
and the date " Anno domini 1667."
Norwich, St. Peter Mancroft. Tapestry near the font, dated 1573-
Portsmouth, Parish Church. The crimson velvet altar cover, together with
a pulpit-cloth, was given by Thos. Ridge in 1693, and has been in
use ever since. The altar cover is embroidered in gold thread with
the sacred monogram in a wreath of branches together with the
date.
Shalden, Hants. A pulpit cloth, date 1655, worked in yellow c
green cloth.
Trusley, Derbs. Altar cover of blue cloth embroidered with arms
crest of William Coke; worked by his wife Catherine, and her
daughters, Catherine, Suzanna, Mary, and Frances, whose
appear on the cloth. It was first used at the reopening of 1
in 1713. Fragments of this cloth are now framed in the vestry.
350 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Westminster Abbey. Several copes, temp. James II.
Weston Favell, Northants. Altar cover representing the Last Supper,
worked in 1698 by Jane, wife of Sir John Holman, Bart.
VVhickham, Durham. Altar cloth with impaled arms and crests of Bowes
and Blakiston, and initials E. B., referring to Dame Elizabeth Bowes,
the heiress of Gibside, who died 1736.
VVhiston, Northants. Altar cover dated 1704, with initials M. P., for Hon.
Mary Paget, who worked it.
CHAPTER XIII
ROYAL ARMS— TEN COMMANDMENTS
ROYAL ARMS
IT is generally assumed that royal arms in churches were not to
be found in pre- Reformation days. This was probably the
case as far as special tablets or frames were concerned ; but
it is well known that they frequently occurred in stained glass, and
even occasionally on priestly vestments and altar frontals. Although
their use became prominent and emphatic in England at the time
of the Reformation, there is no necessity for associating their
occurrences with reformed principles. The royal arms of Spain
frequently occur at the present day in the churches of that country,
and sometimes even over altars ; and until within the last year or
two the royal arms of the House of Savoy might be seen at the
west end of the Roman Catholic church in Sardinia Street,
London.
There is no known order of Henry VIII. as to his arms in
places for divine worship ; but immediately on his death in 1 547
those who were in sympathy with further reform, knowing the
views of the Protector and the rest of the Council, of the boy-king
Edward VI., took immediate action in this as in other directions : —
" The curate and church wardens of St. Martin's in Ironmonger Lane,
in London, took down the images and pictures of the saints and the
crucifix out of their church and painted many texts of Scripture on the
walls and in the place where the crucifix was they set up the King's
Arms with some texts of Scripture about it; upon this the Bishop and
Lord Mayor of London complained to the council. And the curate and
churchwardens being incited to appear answered for themselves. ... In
conclusion they said, what they had done was with a good intention, and
if they had in anything done amiss, they asked pardon and submitted
themselves." *
* Burnet's History of the Reformation, ii. 13.
351
352 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
The crucifix named in this quotation would undoubtedly mean
the Rood over the screen. The " Injunctions " of Edward VI.
make no mention of the royal arms ; but it is known that in a few
cases up and down the country the young king's arms were set up.
The churchwardens' accounts for both Long Melford and for
Wangford, Suffolk, for 1547-48 contain payments for painting up
the king's arms. At St. Dunstan's-in-the-East, in 1550, "a small
hanging of red and blew sarsanet with the Kynges Arms" was
purchased. The inventory of Wix church, Essex, for 1552 mention
"a cloth stayned and wrytte with the Scriptures, the Kings
Majesties Arms in the middle, which cloth is hanging upon the
Candellbeam." There are like entries in the inventories of several
other Essex churches of the same date.
In the reign of Elizabeth the custom of placing the royal arms
in a prominent position in the churches considerably increased. It
is known that in the defacing of the Roods, particularly where it
was painted on the tympanum of the chancel arch, the Queen's
arms not infrequently took its place. Instances of this are named
under screens.
The arms of Elizabeth remain in the church of Beckington,
Wilts., with the date 1574 and "God save the Queen." They may
also be seen in the church of Basingstoke, Hants, in beautifully
ornamented borders, with the year 1576, and at Greens Norton,
Northants, with " E.R., 1592." They also occur, undated, over the
screen of Ludham, Norfolk, with Vivat Regina ElizabetJta.
The arms of James I. are still to be found in a few churches,
as at Blisland, Cornwall, 1604, and at Winsford, Somerset, 1609.
Beneath the arms in the latter case appear the following texts : —
" I advertise thee to observe the mouth of ye king and that for
ye word of the oathe of God." To this is appended the better-
known text from Eccles. x. 20, beginning, " Curse not the king."
There are but very few cases in which the arms of Charles I.
remain in our churches, for they were generally pulled down and
destroyed during the Commonwealth. Suffolk affords two instances,
Mellis, 1634, and Ashbocking, 1640 ; in the former case the arms
are in excellent preservation. At St. Feock, Cornwall, the royal
arms are dated 1638.
The following license, granted by Archbishop Abbot in the
time of Charles L, and entered in his register, is worth citing
in full :—
ROYAL ARMS 353
" George by the providence of God, Archbishop of Canterbury etc
To our wellbeloved in Christ Thomas Hanbage, paynterstayner, sendeth
greetmge in our Lord God everlastinge. Forasmuch as wee are given to
understand by certificate under the handes of diverse men of the Arte,
trade or mysterie of Paynterstayners of London, that you are a man of
honest life and of civill carriage and behaviour, and that as well for your care
and diligence as for your knowledge and experience in the said Art, Trade,
or mysterie of a Paynterstayner, you are able to form and complete any
worke you shall undertake in that kind. And whereas there ought to be
had an especiall care that all churches and chapells within this Kingdome
of England be beautified and adorned with Godly sentences and more
especially with his Majesties Armes and the Tenne Commandments, yett
in some places the same is altogether neglected, and in other places
suffered to be defaced. We, therefore, as much as is in us, duely weighing
the premisses, and having a care for the redresse thereof, doe hereby give
you the sayd Thomas Hanbage, leave, license, and authority to go and
take a review of the ruines of the parish Churches within my diocese of
Canterbury, and in and through all the peculiar jurisdictions of us and of
our cathedrall and Metropolitan Church of Canterbury, and after a view so
had to shew yourself ready and willing to paynte his Majesties Armes with
the Tenne Commandments and other holy sentences upon some eminent
places within the Chauncells or Bodyes of the sayd churches, where now"
they are wantinge, and where those Armes be defaced, in colours or
otherwise, that for the better adorninge of the said Churches the same be
beautified with Helmett, Crest, and Mantle, as in most Churches of
England the same are now adorned, you takinge for your paynes and
honest and reasonable allowance, wishing hereby all Persons, Vicars,
Curats, Churchwardens, Sidemen, and all other officers of the severall
Churches aforesaid, that they to their best powers give you admittance as
is fit in the performance of the premisses. In witness whereof Wee have
caused the Scale of our office (wch wee use in this behalf) to bee putt to
these presentes. Dated 24 Oct. 1631, and in the 21* yeare of cure
Translation."
At the Restoration of the monarchy the placing of the royal
arms in churches became for the first time compulsory. In the
parish registers of Warrington, Lanes., an entry relative to the
laying of a church rate under date July 30, 1660, thus begins—
" Whereas it is generally enjoined by the Great Counsell of England,
that in all churches thorowout the Kingdom of England his Majesties arms
shallbe sett upp. . . ."
At North Walsham, Norfolk, the royal arras of Charles II.,
2 A
354 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
dated 1660, are palimpsest ; they bear on the back the arms of the
Commonwealth. At Corfe, Dorset, the arms painted on panel
bear " C.R. 1660."
A fair number of the arms of Charles II. may still be found in
various churches ; where they are undated, as at Gimingham and
West Harling, Norfolk, and Catesby, Northants, it may generally
be assumed that they are of the year 1 660-61.
It is always of interest to note the occurrence of the royal arms
in the churches of any particular district, for these trophies of
successive reigns are at the least noteworthy, and their abolition or
destruction is ©ne of the many sorry notes of the restorations
of last century. These arms have been noted in but five of a
large group of North Devonshire churches, between Bideford,
Hartland, and Torrington. At Frithelstock the royal arms are
executed on a large scale in plaster, and bear the date 1677 ; they
are against the north wall of the nave, and look somewhat absurd
under a coat or wash of dull grey colour. At Milton Damerel the
arms, also in plaster, are over the north door of the aisle ; they
are dated 1664. The royal arms are also handsomely executed in
plaster in Langton church ; they are on the north wall, so as to be
readily observed by those entering by the main entrance. There
is no date, but the initials are G. R., and they pertain to George I.
The probable date is 1714 or 1715, when a special effort was made
to secure the Hanoverian arms being placed in all churches, as
there had been much quiet resistance to them on the part of
incumbents of Jacobite tendencies. The arms at West Putford
are also opposite the south entrance, and bear the date 1714. The
arms at Lancross are now at the west end of the church, but
they also used to be against the north wall ; they are of the
year 1731.
The loyal county of Cornwall used to be noted for the large
number of elaborate royal arms, mostly of Restoration date. The
large majority of these have been cleared away by the deplorable
lack of taste and lack of appreciation of historic continuity shown
during the last half century. We have only noticed three examples
of that date out of forty churches in North-East Cornwall. Over
the south door of the church of St. Kew are the royal arms most
effectively executed in plaster, dated C. R., 1661, with the unusual
motto below of " God save the King." At St. Minver the royal
arms are well painted, and bear the date 1660; they hang against
ROYAL ARMS 355
the south wall. At St. Merryn the royal arms in plaster, with the
date 1660, have been moved to the north wall of the tower, and
are in a much-begrimed condition. Blisland has the rare distinc-
tion of retaining the royal arms of James I., with the date 1604.
At St. Breward the arms, with the date 1700, have been suffered
to remain.
At Lanteglos, South Cornwall, there is a highly interesting
rudely painted board against the north wall, on which are depicted
the national emblems of rose, thistle, fleur-de-lis, and harp. In
the south aisle of the same church there are the painted arms of
Charles II, with the date 1668.
But there is something far stranger to notice in Cornish
churches than the discarding of the display of royal arms. Corn-
wall distinguished itself at the outbreak of the great civil strife by
its self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of Charles I. The King,
touched by their gallant rally to his person and government,
addressed a special letter of thanks, dated September loth, 1643,
" To the inhabitants of the county of Cornwall," wherein in apt
terms he commented on their extraordinary zeal, and desired " to
publish it to all the world, and perpetuate to all time the memory
of their merits." It was ordered that this letter should be read in
all churches and chapels in the county, and a copy " to be kept for
ever as a record of the same." Copies of the letter, painted on
white wooden tablets, were placed in every church. Doubtless
some would be removed when the Commonwealth gained the
ascendency, and where Puritanism was rampant ; but less than a
hundred years ago the majority of the churches had this notable
historic tablet still displayed. Many have been cast out during
" restoration," or suffered to perish within memory, as at St Sennen
and St. Leven. We believe this letter can now only be found in
about a dozen of the churches of Cornwall. It exists in only one
of the forty and odd churches of the north-east of the county —
namely, at the west end of the church of St. Minver. It is passing
strange that Cornishmen, whatever may be their present views of
that great national struggle, have suffered so many of these
remarkable memorials to pass into oblivion in comparatively
modern days.
At St. Michael's Church, St. Albans, are the arms of Charles
II., "C.R., 1660," painted on wood; they were in 1901 under
canvas which bore the arms of George III.
356 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Beneath the tower of the church of Odiham, Hants, hang the
painted arms of Charles II. with " C. R." and the Restoration date
1660 ; they are arranged within the Garter, and below them is the
exceptional and timely motto Beati Pacifici. At Bramley, in the
same county, the arms are dated 1660.
Dated arms of Charles II. do not often occur late in the reign,
but at Normanton-on-Soar, Notts., they bear the year 1683, and
at Screveton, in the same county, 1684.
, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The setting up of the Ten Commandments in churches as a
reminder to worshippers of the duty they owed to God and their
neighbour was not unknown in the mediaeval Church of England,
as is testified by more than one inventory and bequest ; but the
general custom came in soon after Elizabeth's accession, in con-
sequence of a letter from the Queen to the commissioners in matters
ecclesiastical, in 1560, complaining of the desolate and unclean
condition of many of the churches. They were ordered to see
that tables of the Ten Commandments were set up in the churches,
to be not only read for edification, but also " to give some comely
ornament and demonstration that the same was a place of religion
and prayer."
There are one or two examples of compliance with this order
still extant. In the Lady chapel of Ludlow church there is a board
of "The X commandemems of almighty god," dated 1561, and
painted after a much-abbreviated fashion in black letter within an
ornamental border.
The Norfolk churches of Aylmorton, Shipdham, and Gateley also
possess Elizabethan tables of the Commandments ; in the last
instance this table was formerly on the tympanum over the Rood
screen.
In the church of Lanteglos, South Cornwall, against the north
wall are the Ten Commandments in black letter within a large
square panel of wood ; the initials are in red, and the whole is
surrounded by a painted border. The spelling is quaint ; the sixth
commandment reads, "Doe no murther." This is undated, but
doubtless early Elizabethan.
In the chancel of Bengeworth, Glos., is a table of the Com-
mandments with the letters cut in boxwood ; it is dated 1591.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 357
At Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, there is the Our Father
in black letter in the north transept, dated 1635, and the Creed in
the south transept.
The Commandments, with the Our Father and the Creed, of
early i/th-cent. or late Elizabethan date, remain painted on the
walls of Wistantow, Salop., in ornamental borders. At Ruyton, in
the same county, the Commandments, in black letter, are dated
1668.
Slate has for a long time been put to a great variety of uses in
North-East Cornwall, including a remarkable variety of memorials
in churches, with effigies and much ornament in low relief. In the
1 6th, i/th, and i8th cents, slate was used for the Commandments.
In two cases "restorers" of last century ejected and broke up
ornamental slate tables of Elizabethan date. At the west end of
the south aisle of St. Tudy are slate tablets inscribed with the
Commandments ; they are well lettered, and have good head and
tail strips of ornament. They are of some age, and it seems a
pity that they were displaced during restoration. The Command-
ments on slate are also to be found in the church of Michaelstow ;
in that instance they are relegated to the north aisle.
GENERAL INDEX
Abbey Dore, 2, 6, 8, 93, 118
Abbot, Archbishop, 352
Abbot Milton, 114
Abbots Langley, 202
Abbots Leigh, 202
Abbotsbury, 151
Abbotsham, 196, 269
Abbotskerwell, 113
Abbotsley, 119
Abdon, 215
Abergavenny, 8, 25, 26, 256, 260
Holy Trinity, 124
St. Mary, 124
Abingdon, 13, 27, 329, 338
Christ's Hospital, 312
Abyssinian churches, 83
A ck worth, 170, 174, 178
Acle, 126, 177
Acton, 262
Acton Burnell, 215
Adderbury, 8, 27, 131
Adderley, 132, 178, 215
Addington, 274
Addlethorpe, 123, 272
Adel, 231
Adisham, 204, 271
.#£lfric, 29
Affpuddle, 149, 150, 197, 270
Ainderby Steeple, 174
Ainsworthy, John, 147
Albury, 81, 119, 214, 221, 237
Alcombe, 235
Alconbury, 64
Aldborough, 150
Aldeburgh, 280
Aldenham, 119, 202, 247, 301
Alderley, 188, 189
Aldham, 280
Aldingbourne, 8, 223
Aldington, 260
Aldringham, 280
Aldwark, St. Martin, 2
Aldwinck, St. Peter, 174
Aldworth, 70, 103, 264, 348
Alfold, 139, 281
Alford, 122, 123, 134, 135, 152,
278
Alfred, King, 83
Alfriston, 78, 223
Algarkirk, 64
Allen, Mr. Romilly, 166, 168, 201,
204, 209, 210, 213, 228, 229
221,
Allen's History of Lambeth, 156
Allerston, 230
Allestree, 107, 108
A I merits or Cupboards, 308-316
Almondbury, 142, 231, 232
Alms Boxes, 240-243
Alms Dishes, 56-57
Alne, 152, 229, 230
Alnham, 170
Alnwick, 297, 301
Alpheton, 138
Alphington, 113, 195, 196
Alrewas, 218
Alsop-en-le-Dale, 246
Altars, 1-8
Altar and Processional Crosses, 53-54
Altar Candlesticks, 323-327
Altar Frontals, 343-350
Altar Rails, 17-20
Altar Reredoses, 20-27
Altar Tables, 8-17
Altcar, 205
Alternon, 106, 191, 192, 193, 267
Altham, 205
Althorp, 123
Alton, 242
Alvaston, 57
Alveley, 345
Alverscot, 8
Alvington, 113
Alwington, 269
Amberley, 223
Ambrosden, 214
Amesbury, 140, 227
Amotherby, 229, 230
Amnleforth, 230
Analysis of Gothic Architecture, Brandon's,
223
Ancaster, 123, 208
Ancient Coffers and Cupboards, 291
Ancient Sculptures, 259
Ancroft, 180
Andre', Mr., 222
Andrewes, Bishop, 48
Andrewes' Sermons, 340
Annaby, 208
Anstey, 66, 202, 247, 260, 301, 348
Antingham, 209, 2IO
Antiquary, the, 4, 51, 266
Antony, 267
Apethorpe, 129
Appleby, 37, 33»
360 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Appledon, 204
Appledore, I2O
Appledram, 139, 223
Appieton-le-Street, 229, 230
Archaologia Aeliana, 251
Archaologia Cambrensis, 94
Archizologia Cantiana, 257
Arcfuzological Journal, 163-4, 169, 319,
321
Ardeley, 119
Ardingley, 139
Aldington, 26, 186, 187
Ardwick-on-Dearne, 231
Argles, Dr., 252
Arlesey, 26, 77, 186
Arlington, 223
Armenian churches, 83
Armitage, 218
Arms, Royal, 351-356
Arne, 8, 348
Arnold, 76, 77
Arnsby, 206
Arreton, 14, 338
Arrington, 64, 188, 264
Art Journal, 259
Arundel, i, 8, 91, 92, 139, 150, 223, 294,
301
Arundel, Archbishop, 70
Arundell arms, 265
Asgarby, 208
Ash, 161
Ashbocking, 301, 352
Ashbourne, 38, 109, 195
Ashburnham, 174
Ashburton, 113
Ashbury, 51, 187, 301
Ashby-cum-Ernby, 123
Ashby-cum-Fenby, 208
Ashby-Folville, 121, 206
Ashby St. Ledger's, 128, 129, 286
Ashchurch, 116
Ashe, 61, 118
Ashendon, 77, 103
Ashfield, 280
Ashfield Magna, 301
Ashford, 204
Ashfordby, 121, 271
Ashington, 196
Ashley, 84
Ashmanhaugh, 126, 272, 273
Ashover, 107, 109, 163, 194, 195
Ashprington, 113, 196
Ashstead, 222
Ashton, in, 112, 113, 149, 269, 275
Ashton-under-Lyne, 338
Ashurst, 204, 223
Askerswell, 197
Askew, William, 180
Aspatria, 194
Aspenden, 242
Astbury, 80, 105, 174, 189, 259
Asthall, 3
Astley, 261
Astley Abbots, 153
Aston, 8, 59, 119, 195, 215, 231, 261
Aston arms, 182
Aston Cantlow, 150
Aston Ingham, 164
Aston-le- Walls, 211
Aston-on-Trent, 14
Aston Rowant, 8, 78, 214
Aston Somerville, 116
Aston Upthorpe, 186
Astwood, 103, 187
Aswardby, 123, 207, 208
Athelington, 138, 280
Athelstane, 251
Atherington, 109, in, 113, 268, 269
Athorne, 199
Atkinson, Mr., 189
Attleborough, 126, 301
Atwick, 229
Auckland, 64, 259
Audlem, 176
Aughton, 205
Aunsby, 208
Avebury, 225, 227
Aveley, 116, 199
Aveton Gifford, 113
Avington, 70, 1 86
Awliscombe, 113
Aycliff, 270
Aylesbury, 103, 187, 259, 312, 332
Aylestone, 121, 242, 271
Ayliffe, 4
Aylmerton, 126, 273, 356
Aylsham, 125, 126, 170, 210, 260, 288
Aymestrey, 118
Aysgarth, 142, 282
Axbridge, 27, 216, 217
Axminster, 113, 114, 151
Babbacombe, 37
Babcary, 153
Babingley, 126
Babington arms, 107
Backford, 338
Back well, 135
Baconthorpe, 78, 136
Bacton, Herefords., 33, 38, 349
Bacton, Norfolk, 33, 273
Bacton, Suffolk, 138, 280
Badingham, 168, 169
Badlesmere, 271
Badley, 129, 138, 280
Badsey, 150
Bagborough, 217
Bainton, 211, 228, 229
Bakewell, 107, 109, 195, 259
Balderton, 129, 130, 213, 214, 275
Baldock, 119, 202
Balsham, 104, 259
Baltonsborough, 70, 278
Bampton, 27, 75, 78, 112, 113, 260
Bancroft, Archbishop, 337
Banham, 126
Banner- Stave Lockers, 317-319
Banstead, 222
GENERAL INDEX
Banwell, 132, 135, 150, 217, 278
Bapchild, 120
Baptism and Christian Archeology, 160
Barcheston, 338
Barcombe, 223
Bardney, 8
Bardney Dun, 8
Bard well, 138
Barham, 27
Barking, 136, 138, 280, 288, 300
Barkway, 24
Barley, 301, 345
Barmston, 229
Barnack, 129, 211, 252
Barnard Castle, 198
Barnard iston, 138, 158, 220, 280
Barnborough, 142
Barnby, 142, 242, 318, 319
Barnby-in-the-Willows, 274, 275
Barnetby-le-Wold, 123, 164, 207, 208
Barnham, 223
Barnham Broom, 126
Barningham, 33, 138, 280
Barnoldby, 208
Barn well, 188
Barrett, Mr. C. R. B., 137
Barrington, 188, 314
Barrow, Derby, 70
Barrow, Salop., 242
Barrow, Suffolk, 138, 170, 220, 280
Barrowby, 207, 208
Barrowden, 338
Barrow-on-Humber, 123
Barrow-on-Soar, 301
Barrow-on-the-Hill, 206
Barsham, 138, 220
Barthomley, 189, 338
Bartlow, 64, 188
Barton, Cambs., 104
Barton, Notts., 66, 214
Barton Bendish, 126
Barton Blount, 195
Barton-in-Fabis, 152
Barton-le-Clay, 264
Barton-le-Street, 18, 61, 229
Barton Mills, 280, 301
Barton-on-Humber, 123
Barton-on-the-Heath, 236
Barton Pidsea, 229
Barton St. David, 278
Barton Stacey, 118
Barton Turf, 125, 126, 272, 273
Barwick, 150, 278
Baschurch, 338
Basing, 151, 201
Basingbourne, 332
Basingstoke, 89, 242, 332, 352
Basingstoke, the Vine Chapel, 259, 312
Bassingbourne, 104
Batcombe, 114
Bath Abbey, 217, 332
Batley, 231
Battle, 223
Battleden, 186
Battlefield, 24
Baucis and Philemon, 287
Baulking, 62, 84
Baunton, 345
Baxter, Richard, 154
Beachamwell, 33
Beapul, John, 109
Beaudesert, 139
Beaumont arms, 268
Bebington, 189
Beccles, 332
Beck arms, 107
Beck, Bishop, 55
Beckenham, 247
Beckermet, 6
Beckingham, 213
Beckington, 217, 227, 352
Beckley, 70, 158, 237
Bedale, 3, 8, 142
Beddingham, 223
Beddington, 138, 139, 150, 221, 261
Bede, the Venerable, 7, 251
Bedfield, 138
Bedford, St. Paul's, 103, 148, 186, 259
Bedingfield, 34, 280
Bedingham, 126
Beeby, 93, 121, 206
Beedon, 186
Beeford, 35
Beer Ferrers, 113
Beesby, 77
Beeston, 149, 214, 301
Beeston-next-Milehain, 33
Beeston-next-Sea, 126
Beeston Regis, 33, 126
Beeston St. Mary, 273
Beetham, 162, 225, 281
Beighton, 8, 33
Belaugh, 125, 126, 209, 210
Belbroughton, 228
Belchamp, 309
Belgrave, 206, 256, 260
Belper, 2, 8
Belton, 121, 131, 136, 138, 158, 207, 208,
215
Bempton, 229
Benacre, 220
Benches, 261-282
Benefield, 257, 260
Bengeworth, 3, 356
Bennet-Goldney, F.S.A., Mr., 251
Bennington, 119
Benniworth, 122, 123
Benskin arms, 57
Bensly, Dr., 24
Bentley, 200, 280
Bentworth, 62, 178, 201, 270, 301
Bepton, 78
Bere Ferrers, 196
Here Regis, 197, 270
Berkeley, 116, 200
Berkhamsted, 119, 271
Berkswell, 139
Berrington, 21$
362
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Berrow, 291
Berrynarbor, 113, 196
Berry Pomeroy, 93, 113
Berwick, 34, 78, 139, 223
Berwick Bassett, 140
Berwick St. James, 31, 34
Berwick St. John, 150
Besford, 141
Bessingby, 228, 229
Bessingham, 126
Bettws-y-Crwyn, 131, 132
Bettwys Newydd, 124
Beverley, 22, 27, 46, 142, 150, 229, 251,
252, 256-259, 261
Beverley " Fridstool," the, 251
Beverley, St. Mary's, 142, 178, 228, 229,
261, 332
Beverstone, 116
Bexley, 260
Bicester, 150
Bickenhill, 139, 292, 301
Bicker, 123
Bicknoller, 61, 135, 278
Biddenden, 35, 120, 204
Biddenham, 264, 344, 345
Biddestone, 216, 217, 227
Biddulpb, 217, 218
Bideford, iio, 113, 195, 196, 268
Bigbury, 80, 149, 197
Biggleswade, 259
Bighton, 200
Bignor, 100, 139, 222, 223
Bildeston, 261
Billericay, 270
Billesdon, 206
Billingford, 126, 138, 158
Billinghay, 123
Billingsley, 215
Bilsthorpe, 213, 275
Bilton, 78, 97, 330, 349
Bincombe, 197
Binfield, 158
Bingham, 129, 130, 213
Binham, 126, 260
Binham Abbey, 168
Binsted, 223, 301, 315
Birkenhead, 189
Birling, 271
Birmingham, 250
Birts Morton, 8, 141, 242, 281
Bisbrooke, 131
Bishampton, 158, 227
Bishop Cannings, 253, 254
Bishop's Cleeve, 8, 290
Bishop Sherborne, 261
Bishop's Hull, 278
Bishop's Lydeard, 135, 277, 278
Bishop's Stortford, 119, 202, 260, 301
Bishop's Sutton, 83
Bishopsteignton, 191, 196
Bishopstone, 223, 261
Bitchfield, 208
Bitterley, 78, 132, 215, 301
Bitton, 349
Blackawton, 113, 196
Black Bourton, 150
Blackmore, 198
Blade's Books in Chains, 337
Blake, Dr., 141
Blakeney, 78, 126, 209, 210, 260
Blakenham, 136
Blaston St. Giles, 33
Bleadon, 150
Bledington, 338
Bledlow, 80, 187
Bletchingley, 158, 222
Bletchley, 242
Bletch worth, 301
Bletsoe, 77, 186
Blewbury, 187, 301
Blickling, 210, 246, 288, 299, 301
Blid worth, 156
Blight's Cornish Churches, 266
Blisland, 106, 193, 352
Blisworth, 211
Blithfield, 136, 261, 276
Blockley, 140, 141
Blofield, 126, 210
Blore, 136, 276
Bloxam, Mr., 17, 19, 46, 74, 78, 121,
165
Bloxham, 130, 131, 214
Bloxworth, 158
Blundeston, 138, 280
Blunham, 26
Bluntisham, 203
Blyborough, 208
Blyford, 13, 62, 220, 236, 319, 328
Blyth, 90, 130
Blythburgh, 66, 77, 79, 81, 137, 138,
153, 168, 178, 219, 220, 240, 242, 245,
263, 279, 280
Ely thing Hundred, 136, 219, 237, 279
Blythorne, 203
Blyton, 208
Boarhunt, 158, 166, 200
Boconnoc, 14, 189, 193
Bodmin, 37, 149, 189, 190, 191, 193, 265,
267
Boke of Nature, 284
Bologna, 343
Bolnhurst, 103, 264
Bolton, Yorks., 8, 178
Bolton-juxta-Bowland, 178, 231
Bolton-le-Moors, 271, 333
Bolton Priory, 4, 143
Bond, Mr. Bligh, 87, 109
Bonsall, 195
Books, Chained, 336-340
Boothby, Pagnell, 123, 208
Bootle, 178, 194
Borden, 246, 338
Boreham, 199
Bosbury, 1 1 8, 166, 201, 202
Boscastle, 266
Boscombe, 153
Bosham, 64, 78, 223, 261, 301
Boston, 123, 239, 256, 257, 258, 260, 333
GENERAL INDEX
363
Bosville, Adam, 170
Botley, 200
Bottesiord, 8, 208
Bottisham, 64, 104
Botus Fleming, 193
Boughton Malherb, 149'
Bough ton-under-Blean, 120
Bouringsleigh Chapel, 113
Bourne, 104, 178, 207-8, 237, 259, 264
Bourton-on-Dunsmore, 224
Bovey Tracey, 113, 149, 269
Bow, no
Bow Brickhill, 103, 148
Bowden Magna, 165
Bowes, 167, 229, 230
Bowness, 194, 339
Boxgrove, 91, 139, 223
Boxworth, 259
Boyton, 193, 227
Bozeat, 128, 1295.236, 274
Brabourne, 204
Braceborough, 208
Brackenfield, 107, 109
Bradbourne, 195
Bradestone, 158
Bradfield, 40, 116, 165, 210, 220, 231
Bradfield Combust, 218, 220
Bradfield St. George, 280
Bradford Abbas, 114, 197, 198, 301
Brading, 61
Bradley, 38, 178, 195, 207, 208
Bradninch, no, 112, 113
Bradock, 193, 267
Bradstone, 269
Bradwell, 100, 180, 214
Bradwell-juxta-Coggeshall, 88, 116
Bradworthy, 20, 113
Brailes, 224, 297, 301
Brailsford, 38, 195
Bramcote, 214
Bramfield, 62, 136, 137, 138, 242, 280
Bramford, 136, 138, 220, 232, 241, 242
Bramley, 20, 62, 200, 271, 356
Brampton, 219, 257, 260
Bramshaw, 2OI
Bramshott, 2OI
Brancaster, 33
Brancepeth, 8, 33, 93, 115, *98, 259, 270,
297, 301
Brandesburton, 229
Brandon, 138, 261, 280
Brandon's Analysis of Gothic Architecture,
223
Brantingham, 229
Brasted, 120
Bratoft, 123
Bratton, 227, 261
Bratton Clovelly, 113
Braunston, 121, 206, 269
Braunton, 113
Bray, 187
Braybrook, 211, 329
Breadsall, 13, 24, 109, 267, 338
Bream, 217
Breamore, 86
Brean, 154
Breaston, 152
Breckles, 126, 209, 210
Brecon, St. John's, 317
Bredon, 141, 281
Breedon, 170, 206, 288
Bremhill, 140
Brent Eleigh, 336
Brent Knoll, 263, 278, 279
Brereton, Sir Randulph, 105
Bressingham, 149, 273
Bretforton, 227
Brewardine, 201
Brickhill Bow, 187
Brickland, 221
Bricklehampton, 70, 227, 236
Bridekirk, 34, 35, 166, 178, 193, 194
Bridestowe, 88, 109, 113
Bridford, in, 112, 113, 149
Bridgeham, 126
Bridgnorth, 8, 215, 333
Bridgwater, 134, 135, 150, 261, 285
Bridlington, 204, 244, 338
Bridport, 198
Brighton, 222, 223
St. Nicholas, 139
Brightstone, 201
Bright Walton, 186
Brigstock, 150
Brimpton, 132, 135, 262
Bringhurst, 206
Brington, 203, 274
Brinsop, 118, 201
Brinsted, 90
Brinton, 210, 273
Brisley, 126, 273
Bristol, All Saints, 33
Cathedral, 23, 26, 68, 80, 152, 256, 257,
259, 319
Mayor s Chapel, 20, 70
St. John Baptist, 158
St. Mary-le-Port, 80
St. Mary Redcliffe, 331, 338
St. Nicholas, 80
St. Philip, 199, 200
St. Thomas, 323
Temple Church, 329
Britford, 281
British Museum, 24, 31, 34
Brittany, 171
Brixton, 8
Brize Norton, 131
Broadchalk, 227
Broad Hempston, 70, 113
Broads, district of the, 125
Broad was, 13, 154
Broadwater, 8, 78, 261, 281
Broadway, 116, 242
Broadwell, 165, 319
Broad Windsor, 197
Broad wood, 113
Broadwood Widger, 113, 269
Brockdish, 126
364 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Brockenhurst, 200
Brockley, 138, 280
Brock, Mr. Lpftus, 123
Brockworth, 149
Brodsworth, 231
Bromeswell, 280
Bromfield, 215
Bromham, 186, 264, 333
Bromley, 203, 204, 327
Brompton, 230
Bromsgrove, 338
Bromyard, 201, 250
Brooke, 168, 215
Brookland, 120, 164, 177, 203, 204
Broome, 227
Broomfield, 277, 278, 279
Brough, 153, 288
Broughton, 24, 63, 130, 131, 202, 203,
211, 333
Broughton Astley, 236
Broughton Brant, 208
Broughton Castle, 3
Broughton-in-Furness, 205
Broughton-in-Preston, 301
Broxbourne, 301
Bruere, Bishop, 259
Bruchier, Archbishop, 221
Bruisyard, 280
Brundall, 164
Brushford, 113, 135
Bruton, 279
Bubwith, 179, 229
Buckden, 203
Buckenham, 24
Buckerell, 113
Buckfastleigh, 196
Buckhorn Weston, 32, 33
Buckland, 187, 270, 320, 346
Buckland-le-Moors, 113
Buckland Monachorum, 113, 197, 269
Buckland Newton, 242
Buckland Weston, 114
Buckler's Essex Churches, 116, 198
Buckminster, 64, 121, 145, 301
Bucknell, 151
Buckrose deanery, 141
Bucks Records, 312
Buckworthy, 196
Budock, 106, 267
Bugbrooke, 128, 129, 21 1
Bugthorpe, 229
Builder, the, Iio
Building of Barnack Church, the, 253
Bulkington, 17
Bulphan, 199
Bumpstead Steeple, 116
Bunbury, 26, 73, 105, 174, 247, 338
Bungay, 151
Bunny, 64
Burford, 25, 27, 150, 214, 215
Burgate, 138, 170, 179, 219, 22O
Burgate, Sir W., 179
Burgh, 123, 152, 234
Burghill, 97, 118, 164
Burgh-next-to-Aylsham, 168
Burgh wallis, 9, 231
Burham, 204
Buriton, 118
Burkitt On the New Testament, 339
Burlescombe, 113
Burley, 215
Burlingham St. Andrew, 126, 300, 301
Burlingham St. Edmund, 19, 126, 149,
15.8
Burlingham St. Peter, 126
Burnby, 141, 142
Burneston, 174
Burnham, 103
Burnham Deepdale, 209, 210
Burnham Norton, 125, 126, 149, 210
Burnley, 205
Burnsall, 230, 231
Burpham, 281, 315
Burrington, no, 113, 135
Burrough, 206
Bursledon, 200
Burstall, 138
Burston, 222
Burstwick, 229
Burton, 100, 139, 189, 222, 223, 281
Burton Agnes, 229
Burton-Bradstock, 198
Burton Goggles, 64, 77
Burton Dassett, 9, 14, 18
Burton Fleming, 229
Burton Hastings, 224
Burton, Henry, 16
Burton Joyce, 9, 130
Burton Latimer, 129
Burton-on-Trent, 218
Burton Overy, 12 1
Burwarton, 215
Burwell, 208, 259, 264
Burwash, 170, 223
Bury, Hunts, 79, 81, 203
Bury, Sussex, 90, 100, 139
Bury St. Edmunds, 81, 146, 232, 280, 333
Bury's Ecclesiastical Woodwork, 130
Butterfield, Mr., 141
Butterwick, 123, 228, 229, 230
Buxhall, 220, 261
Buxted, 223, 301
Buxton, 126
Byfleet, 152, 222
By ford, 173
Bygrave, 119
Bywell St. Peter, 212
Cabourn, 208
Caddington, 186, 271
Cadney, 123, 208
Caenstone, 191, 192
Caerwent, 154
Caistor, 26
Caldecot, Cambs., 104, 264
Caldecot, Rutl., 131, 150, 215
Caldecote, 237
Caldicot, Mon., 289
GENERAL INDEX
365
Calder Abbey, 5, 321
Caldwall, 206
Callington, 4, 9, 191, 193, 193, 239
Came, 140
Calthorpe, 210
Calverleigh, 113
Calverley, 105, 231
Calverley's Early Sculptures of Cumberland,
J93. 194
Calverton, 213
Calvin's Instituted, 339
Camborne, 7, 9, 106, 149, 193
Cambridge, King's College, 79, 80, 104,
146, 257, 259
Pembroke College, 55, 56
St. Andrew, 104
St. Benet's, 4, 9
St. Botolph, 104
St. Edward and St. Mary the Less,
1 88
St. Michael, 259
St. Peter's, 187, 188
Sidney Sussex College, 326
Trinity College, 326
Camden, 251
Camm, Dom, 122
Campsall, 231
Candlesticks, 323-327
Cannington, 135
Canon Pyon, 118, 201, 259
Canons Ashby, 12
Canterbury, 235, 249
Canterbury Cathedral, 2, 31, 56, 81, 91,
120, 161, 163, 179, 234, 248, 250,
251, 310, 325, 338
Holy Trinity, 271
Patriarchal Chair, 249, 250
Royal Museum, 250
St. Alphege, 120, 204, 234
St. Augustine's Chair, 248, 249, 250
St. Dunstan's, 15
St. George, 204
St. Margaret's, 57, 162, 204
St. Martin, 52, 167, 203, 204
St. Mary Magdalene, 204
St. Mildred, 204, 271
St. Peter, 204
Cantilupe, Bishop, 42
Capel-le-Ferme, 84, 120
Cape Town, 136
Carbrooke, 126, 273
Car Colston, 9, n, 73, 213, 242, 275
Candinham, 267
Careby, 346
Carhampton, 133, 134, 135
Hundred of, 132
Carlisle Cathedral, 36, 48, 67, 256, 257,
259, 3io» 32i, 344, 346
Carlton, 103, 186, 188, 261, 264
Carlton Husthwaite, 155
Carlton-in-Craven, 231
Carlton Rode, 126
Carlton Scroop, 123, 207, 208
Carlton South, 123
Carmiaowe Arms, 154
Carnaby, 229
Carsington, 34
Carter of St. Columbarms, 193
Carter's Ancient Sculptures, 259
Carthew's History of the Hundred of Latin-
ditch, 125
Cartmel, 3 93, I2I> 357, 26o ^2
Cartmel Fell, 121
Carysfort, Lord, 51
Cases to Recover Dissenters, 338-339
Cassington, 260
Castell, Prior Thomas, 270
Castle Acre, 126, 145, 149, 260, 273
Castle Bromwich, 34
Castle Bytham, 77, 122
Castle Gary, 135, 150, 217
Castledon, 210
Castle Frome, 201
Castle Hedingham, 1 16, 259
Castle Morton, 141
Castle Rising, 209, 210, 319
Castlethorpe, 187
Castleton, 333
Caston, 33, 179, 219
Castor, 301
Catacleuse, 191, 192
Catesby, 129, 354
Catfield, 125, 126, 150, 210, 319
Catharine of Portugal, 56
Catmore, 186
Catsfield, 78
Cattarick, 142, 170, 179, 230
Catton, 149, 231
Catworth, 62, 149, 346
Cavendish, 81, 138, 280
Cavenham, 138
Caversfield, 187
Caversham, 93
Cawston, 58, 126, 240, 242, 260, 273, 288.
289
Caxton, 188
Cayton, 208, 230
Cerne Abbas, 59, 114, 151
Chacombe, 38
Chaddesden, 70, 79, 109, 165, 314
Chaddesley Corbett, 73, 227, 281
Chagford, 113
Chained Books, 336-40
Chaldon, 221
Chaldon Herring, 197
Chale, 149
Chalford, 200
Chalices, 29-31
Chalk, 120, 204
Challington, 186
Challock, 120
Champlevt Enamel, 3
Chancel Screens of Yorkshire, Tket 14!
Chandeliers, 329-30
Chapel Allerton, 346
Chapel Royal, Savoy, 159
Charlecoml>e, 150
Charles II., 56
Charles Edward, Prince, 330
Charlton, 140
Charlton Kings, 200
Charlton Mackrell, 279
Charlton-on-Otmoor, 130, 131, 152
Charlwood, 138, 139, 150
Charney, 186
Charsfield, 280
Chartham, 120
Chastleton, 275
Chasubles, 342-50
Chatteris, 104
Chawleigh, 113
Cheadle, 105
Checkley, 217, 218
Cheddar, 16, 135, 150, 217, 278, 279
Cheddington, 187
Chediston, 62, 153, 219, 280
Chedsworth, 149
Chedzoy, 150, 279, 346
Chelborough, 197
Chellaston, 24
Chellington, 264
Chelmorton, 107, 108, 179, 195, 246, 300,
301
Chelmsford, 19, 116, 333
Chelsham, 138, 139, 221
Chelsworth, 220
Cheltenham, 62
Chelvey, 158
Chenduit family, 238
Chenies, 187
Chepstead, 139
Chepstow, 208
Cherington, 225, 227
Cheriton, 113, 196, 200
Cherry Hinton, 104, 188, 264
Chesham Bois, 158, 264
Cheshunt, 119, 292, 302
Chessington, 221, 281
Chesterblade, 79, 8l, 150, 217
Chester Cathedral, 33, 73, 189, 256-9,
310
Chesterfield, 107, 109, 194, 195
Chesterford, 97
Chesterton, 17, 73, 214, 264
Chests. See Church Chests.
Cheswardine, 302, 349
Chetham, Humphrey, 332-4
Chettisham, 188
Cheveley, 104, 300, 302
Chevington, 220, 280, 297, 302
Chew Magna, 135
Chewton Mendip, 217, 279
Chichester Cathedral, 9, 20, 23, 24, 27,
3i, 34, 55. 91, 92, 256, 261, 294,
302
Hospital, 139, 261
Chidham, 223
Chieveley, 187
Chignall Smealey, 164
Childerditch, 199
Childrey, 148, 164, 186
Chilham, 162, 327
Chillingham, 180
Chilton, 80, 103, 187, 220
Chilton Folliot, 227
Chilveston, 274
Chinnor, 131, 214
Chippenham, 81, 104, 264
Chipping, 152, 180, 205
Chipping Camden, 80, 343, 346
Chipping Norton, 3, 9, 27, 214
Chipping Sodbury, 145, 149
Chipping Warden, 26, 79
Chipstead, 221, 222
Chirbury, 334
Chisledon arms, 268
Chislehurst, 120
Chithurst, 9, 223
Chittlehampton, 149
Chivelston, 113, 149
Chobham, 161, 302
Choir Stalls and their Carvings, 258
Chollerton, 167, 212
Cholmondeley, Elizabeth, 105
Cholmondeley, Richard, 105
Chorley, 205, 288
Choulesbury, 187
Christnatories, 187
Christchurch, 3, 5, 9, 20, 21, 26, 118, 256,
258, 259, 334
Christian Malford, 140, 227
Christow, 113, 269
Chronicle of Jocelyn, 146
Chudleigh, 113, 196
Chulmleigh, no, 113
Church Brampton, 292, 301
Church Broughton, 109, 194, 195, 301
Church Chests, 291-307
Churchdown, 270
Church Embroideries, 341-50
Churchill, 302
Church Knowle, 14
Church Langton, 242, 271
Church Lawford, 97
Church Layton, 175
Church Libraries, 331-6
Church of Our Fathers, The, 7
Church Plate, 28-59
Churchstanton, 135
Churchstow, 113
Church Stretton, 51, 215
Churston Ferrers, 109, 113
Cirencester, 47, 116, 149, 199, 346
Clanfield, 214
Clapham, 242
Clapton, 34, 277, 279, 289
Clapton-in-Gordano, 24, 27, 323-4
Clare, 81
Clarke, Mr. Somers, 84
Claughton, 33
Clavering, 116
Claverley, 215
Clawton, 113, 196
Claybrook, 121
Clay Colon, 274
Clayhanger, 113,269
GENERAL INDEX
367
Claypole, 3, 9, 54, 123, 149, 208
Clay worth, 238. 271;
Clee, 208
Cleeve Prior, 228, 300, 302
Cleobury Mortimer, 132, 215
Cleve, 273
Clevedon, 279
Cle vying, Robert, 181
Clewer, 186
Cley-next-the-Sea, 9, 152, 168, 260, 309
Cliffe, 33, 153, 158, 260
Cliffe Pypard, 140
Clifton, 103, 186, 302
Climping, 28, 139, 150, 215, 223, 294, 296,
302, 315
Clovelly, 153, 196
Clun, 215
Clungunford, 302
Clyst St. George, 197
Clyst St. Lawrence, 113
Coates, 222-3
Cobham, 65, 120, 204, 260
Cockerington South, 123
Cockersand, 142
Cockfield, 138, 150, 261, 280
Cocking, 78, 223
Cockington, 113, 149, 269
Coddenham, 138
Coddington, 262
Codford St. Peter, 227
Coffinwell, 196
Cofton, 33
Cogenhoe, 211, 237
Coity, 311
Colby, 33
Colchester, St. Martin's, 199, 302
St. Nicholas, 18
Cold Ashby, 211
Cold Aston, 149
Cold Overton, 26
Coldwaltham, 281
Colebrooke, 113, 267, 269
Coleby, 208, 272
Coleman, Lancelot, 14
Colemore, 118, 200
Coleridge, 113
Colerne, 78
Coleshill, 186, 223-4, 3°2
Colkirk, 126, 210
Collecting Boxes, 245-7
Collingham, South, 9
Colly Weston, 211
Colmworth, 186
Colne, 121, 205, 227
Colsterworth, 208
Colston, 240
Colston Basset, 121
Colton, 107
Columb, Major, 9, 193
Colyton, 112-13, 268-9
Colyton, Rawleigh, 19°
Combe, 150
Combe Basset, 227
Combe Bisset, 140
Combe-in-Teignhead, 113
Combe Keynes, 33
Combe Martin, 112, 113
Combe Pyne, 31, 33
Combe, St. Nicholas, 135
Combeston, 104, 264
Combs, 138, 261, 280, 300, 302
Commandments, The Ten, 356-7
Compsall, 142
Compton, 9, 92, 122, 138, 139, 221
Compton Bassett, 91, 140, 158
Compton Beauchamp, 65, 187
Compton Bishop, 150
Compton Martin, 135
Compton Verney, 346
Coneysthorpe, 247
Coney Weston, 220
Congresbury, 135
Coningsby, 123
Conisborough, 231
Coniscliffe, 259
Connington, 254
Cookham, 9
Cookley, 219, 279, 280
Cope Chests, 308, 316-17
Copes, 342-50
Copford, 116
Copgrove, 231
Cople, 102, 103, 264
Coplestone Arms, 268
Coplestone, Jno., 268
Coptic Churches, 83
Corbett, Bishop, 284
Corby, 64, 211
Corby Castle, 346
Corfe, 302, 354
Corfe Castle, 198
Corhampton, 253
Cornwood, 149
Corn worthy, 113
Corpusty, 126
Corringham, 123
Corsham, 140
Corston, 140
Gorton, 9
Corton Donham, 279
Cosby, 121
Cosin, Bishop, 48, 115, 198, 270, 285
Cossey, 33
Costessay, 126
Costock, 274, 275
Cotes-by-Stow, 122, 123, 149
Cothele, 106
Cothelstone, 217, 279
Cotman's Architectural Remains, 303
Coton, 104, 187, 188, 302
Cottam, 228, 229
Cottered, 119
Cotterstock, 129, 262
Cottesmore, 215
Cottishall, 126
Coughton, 223, 224, 281
Cound, 302
Countisbury, in, "3
368
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Covehithe, 219
Coveney, 64, 188, 264
Covenham St. Bartholomew, 180, 208
Covenham St. Mary, 77
Coventry, 144
Holy Trinity, 16, 8l, 150, 170, 224,
242, 261
St. Mary, 207
St. Michael, 139, 150, 224, 261, 302
Covington, 62
Cowden, 158, 204
Cowfold, 223
Cowlam, 228, 229
Cowling, 64, 138, 280
Cox, Dr. J. C., 229, 295, 320
Cox's Canterbury, 235, 249
Cox's Derbyshire Churches, 63, 108, 235
Cranage, Rev. D. H. S., 132, 215
Cranbourne, 149, 197, 198
Cranbrook, 176
Cranfield, 186
Cranham, 116
Cranley or Cranleigh, 138, 139, 150
Cranse, 59
Crantock, 106, 180, 193
Crasswell, 59
Cratfield, 137, 138, 168, 261, 279, 280,
299, 302
Crawley, 66, 67, 186
Crayke, 142, 153, 155, 282, 302
Creaton, 19
Crediton, 64, 68
Crediton, Bishop, 196
Greeting St. Mary, 37, 138
Cresset, 320
Crewe Arms, 57
Crewe, Bishop, 115
Crewe, Nathaniel Lord, 17
Crich, 7, 67, 79, 108, 109, 195, 21 1
Cricklade, 226, 229
Cripps, Mr., 29, 47
Croft, 78, 81, 123, 142
Crofton, 231
Cromer, 33, 126, 288, 319
Crondall, 200, 302, 328
Cropredy, 79, 93, 130, 131
Cropthorne, 281
Cropwell, 174
Cropwell, Bishop, 214, 274, 275
Crosby-on-Eden, 194
Crosby Ravensworth, 48, 225
Croscombe, 135, 152, 217, 279
Cross Canonby, 194
Crosses, Altar and Processional, 53-4
Crosthwaite, 170, 180, 194
Crostwight, 126, 210, 273
Croughton, 21 1
Crowcombe, 135, 150, 217, 278, 279
Crowhurst, 150, 221
Crowland, 123
Crowle, 79, 81, 236
Crowmarsh, 6 1
Croxall, 57
Croxton, 77
Croxton Kerial, 271
Croydon, 81, 188
Croyland, 91
Croziers, 54~6
Crudwell, 281
Cruets and Flagons, 45-8
Cruwys Morchard, in, 113
Crystal Palace, Ecclesiastical Court of the,
75
Cubberley, 17, 20, 270
Cubbington, 224
Cublington, 80
Cuckfield, 223
Cuddington, 103, 187
Cudworth, 217
Cuirbonilli Cases, 57-8
Culbone, 133, 135, 217
Cullompton, 94, no, 113, 291
Culmstock, 113, 193, 346
Culpho, 280
Culverthorpe Hall, 271
Cuming, Mr. Syer, 245
Cumnor, 131, 264
Cupboards, 308-316
Curdworth, 224, 292, 303
Curry Rivel, 135, 279
Curteys, Joan, 184
Curteys, John, 184
Curzon Arms, 57
Cuxwold, 208
Dacre, 119
Dacre Arms, 282
Dacre, Lord, 76
Dalby, 230
Dale, 109, 233
Dalham, 280
Dallington, 49, 211
Dallingworth, 97
Dalton, 198, 223, 229
Dalton-in-Furness, 170, 205
Danby, 230
Dan by, Lord, 56
Darenth, 203, 204
Daresbury, 105
Darfield, 231, 282, 338
Darley, 107, 195
Darlington, 92, 115, 198, 259, 270
Daroca College, 343
Darsham, 180, 219, 279, 280
Darsingham, 297
Darston, 279
Darlington, 113
Dartmouth, 19, no, 113, 149
Datchworth, 119, 202, 303
Davenham, 89
Daventry, 40
Davidstow, 106, 265, 267
Dawlish, 109
De Vere arms, 116
D'Estria's screen, Prior, 91
Dean, 103, 148, 242
Dean Prior, 196
Deane, 118, 205
Dearham, 194, 321
Debenham, 9, 261, 280
Deddmgton, 93, ,3, 2I4
JJedham, 177
Deeping St. James, 208
Deerhurst, 19, 166, 199, 200
Denardiston, 220, 261
Denbury, 113
Denchworth, 187
Denford, 129, 256, 260
Dennington, 138, 279, 280
Dent, 152
Denton, 78, 123, 126, 222, 221
Deopham, 126
Deptford, 155
Derby, All Saints, 17, 57, w_2
st. Ppfpr i^s ,„ ' '*'' ej z
GENERAL INDEX
ow-''>
at. Wirburgh, 235
Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, i
Derbyshire Churches, 63, 2T<;
Dering, Dr. Heneage, 141
Dersmgham, 126, 149, 297, T.QT.
Derwent, 37
Desford, 206
Despenser, Bishop Henry le, 25
Detling, 79, 81
Devizes, 29
Devonshire Association, Reports of, 109
Devonshire, Little Guide to, no
Dickleborough, 126
Didcot, 186, 303
Didling, 223, 281
Digby, 123, 272
Digswell, 64
Dilwyn, 118
Dinton, 12, 13, 14
Diss, 49
Distington, 174
Ditcheat, 135, 261
Ditcheridge, 227
Ditchfield, 63
Ditchingham, 209-10
Ditchling, 70, 223, 303
Dittisham, 113, 149
Ditton, 187
Ditton Priors, 132
Dodbrooke, 113
Doddington, 64, 90, 93, 104, 120, 188,
260
Doddington, Thomas, 44
Dodford, 129, 211
Dodiscombsleigh, 197, 268, 269
Dolgelly, 31
Dollman, T. T., 144
Dolton, 167
Donhead St. Mary, 225, 227
Donnington, 275
Donyat, 279
Dorchester, 13, 65, 77, 131, 163, 260
Dorstone, 33
Dorton, 180
Doulting, 217
Dovebridge. See DOVERIDGB
2 B
Dover St. Mary, 204
Uovercourt, 241-2
Doveridge, 63, 64, 77, ,o.
Down East, 113
Down Hatherley, 164
Down St. Mary, in
Downham, 188
Downham Market, 210
Downton, 162, 197, 227
Drayton, 26, 64, 10,. ,86. a
369
Drewsteignton, 196
Drinkstone, 220
Due, Viollet le, 292
Ducklington, 78
Duddington, 19
Dudley, R. C. Church, 14
Dulas, 9
Duloc, 106, 193
Dulwich Chapel, 177
College, 235
Dummer, 149
Dunchideock, 113
Dunchurch, 224
Dundon Compton, 135
Dundry, 217
Dunkeld, 79
Dunkeswell, 196
Dunmow, 303
Dunsby, 181, 207-8
Dunsfold, 221, 263, 280, 281
Dunsford, 170, 197
Dunstable, 103, 346
Dunster, 3, 9, 97, ,33-5, 2,7> 292
Duntisbourne Roir e, 259
Dunton, 186
Dunton Basset t, 263, 271
Durham, 343, 346
Castle, 115, 259
Cathedral, 6, 12, 23, 26, 70, 235, 248,
.259, 325
Rites of, 321
St. Giles, 198
St. Oswald, 53, 54, 259
Dymchurch, 51
Dymock, 116
Eadmer, 249
Eakring, 170, 175, 242
Eardisland, 118
Eardisley, 201
Earl ham, 126
Earls Barton, 68, 129, 319
Earls Colne, 33
Earls Shilton, 206
Earl Stonham, 138, 245
Early Christian Symbolism, 2O1, 205, 209,
210, 213, 217, 228
Easebournc, 223
Easington, 9, 115, 198, 214, 259
370 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Easley, 142, 230
East Allington, 113, 149
East Ayton, 230
East Bilney, 210
East Brent, 81, 279, 291
East Bridgford, 174
East Budleigh, 113, 269
East Coulston, 81
East Dean, 152, 223, 236
East Dereham, 81, 168, 169, 210, 303
East Dray ton, 130
East Haddon, 211
East Ham, 170, 181, 189
East Hampstead, 187
East Harling, 81, 127, 245
East Hendred, 80, 103
East Herts Archaeological Society's Trans-
actions, 202
East Kirkby, 77, 122, 123, 240, 243
East Langdon, 204, 346
East Leake, 79, 81, 130, 214, 274, 276,
339
East Martham, 130
East Meon, 149, 168, 200
East Pennard, 217
East Pinchbeck, 123
East Preston, 281
East Riding Archaeological Society's
Journal, 228
East Ret ford, 196
East Rudham, 24
East Ruston, 125, 127
East Stoke, 306
East Stonham, 303
East Teignmouth, 197
East Winch, 339
Eastbourne, 78, 139, 223
Eastby, 204
Eastchurch, 120
Eastergate, 223
Easter Sepulchres, 74-8
Easthope, 132
Eastington, 200
Easton, 119
Easton-on-the-Hill, 21 1, 274
Eastry, 120
Eastwell, 84, 121
Eastwood, 199
Eaton, 121
Eaton, Bishop, 118
Eaton Bray, 26, 186, 264
Eaton Constantine, 215
Eaton Hastings, 70, 186
Eaton Socon, 86, 103, 236, 264
Ebberston, 230
Ebbesbourne, 34
Ecclesfield, 9, 142, 174, 261, 282
Ecclesiastical Topography, 218, 220
Eccleston, 271
Eckington, 17, 263, 281, 292, 300, 303
Edburton, 164, 222
Edenham, 81, 207, 208, 272
Edgar, King, 29
Edgecote, 236
Edgefield, 126
Edgmond, 215
Edingley, 213
Edingthorpe, 93, 125, 126, 158, 210,
273
Edington, 94, 140, 152
Edith Weston, 215
Edlesborough, 70, 103, 158, 259
Edlingham, 212
Edlington, 173
Edmondbyers, 9
Edmundthorpe, 122
Edwalton, 174, 213, 214, 275
Edward VI., 34
Efenechtyd, 161
Effingham, 222, 281
Egerton, 204
Egginton, 339
Egleton, 131
Eglingham, 315
Egloshayle, 149, 193, 267
Elham, 162
Elkstone, 149, 199, 200
Ellesborough, 148, 187
Ellesmere, 132, 173
Ellingham, 89, 1 1 8, 286
Ellough, 138, 280
Elmdon, 116, 199
Elmley Castle, 227, 228/281
Elmstead, 204
Elmstone, 116, 204
Elmswell, 165, 181, 220, 280
Elsing, 126, 210, 231
Elstead, 139
Elstow, 103, 1 86
Elsworth, 64, 148, 259, 264
Elton, 18, 51, 194, 214, 229
Elvaston, 107, 109, 195
Elvedon, 280
Elvetham, 62, 284
Elvington, 229
Elworthy, 135
Ely, 9, 19, 26, 46, 104, 256, 258, 259, 346
Embroidery, 341-50
Emden, 275
Emneth, 126
Empshott, 1 1 8, 20 1, 271
En borne, 186
Endellion, 193, 237, 238, 265, 267
Enderley Bag, 208
Englefield, 186
English Church History Exhibition, 247
Enstone, 3, 9, 27, 214
Enville, 136, 218, 261
Epperstone, 213
Epsom, 222
Epworth, 81, 123, 255
Erasmus, 2, 332
Erasmus1 Paraphrase, 337-40
Erchfont, 227
Eriswell, 138, 280
Erie, Bishop, 284
Ermington, 19, 113, 196
Erpingham, 126
GENERAL INDEX
Eryholme, 230
Escombe, 198
Eskdale, 194
Essays on Archaological Subjects, 2W
Essex Churches, 116, 198
Etchilhampton, 225, 227
Etchingham, 139, 223, 261
Ethelbert, 248
Ethelbert's chair, 248
Eton College, 80
Etwall, 79
Evans, Dr. Sebastian, 251
Evedon, 208
Evelyn's Diary, 16
Evenley, 129
Everdon, 129
Eversholt, 186
Eversley, 118
Evesham, 79
Evesham All Saints, 228
Evesham St. Lawrence, 14, 303
Evington, 206
Ewelme, 131, 214, 231, 237
Ewhurst, 221, 222
Ewerby, 122, 123, 207, 208
Examples of Ancient Pulpits, 144
Exbourne, 113
Exeter Cathedral, 26, 31, 33, 58, 68, 91,
112, 113, 164, 248, 255, 256, 257,
259. 325
St. Edmund-on-the Bridge, 196
St. Lawrence, 113
St. Mary Steps, 26, 113, 196
St. Petrock, 99
St. Sidwell, 149
St. Thomas, So
Synod of, 300
Vicar's College, 113
Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society, 43
Exminster, 113
Exning, 42, 280
Exton, Rutland, 215
Exton, Somerset, 217
Eyam, 194
Eydon, 211
Eye, 1 1 8, 138, 202
Eynesbury, 271
Eynsford, 120, 204
Eythorne, 164
Eyton, 118
Eyworth, 264
Fairford, 116, zoo, 258, 259,329
Fakenham, 126, 138, 170, 210,242
Faringdon, 165
Faringdon, Little, 33
Farleigh Hungerford, 217
Farnborough, 1 1 8, 271, 290
Farndish, 186
Farndon, 214
Farnham, 74, 138, 139, 199
Farningham, 64, 168, 169, 204
Farnsfield, 214
Farrar, Dean, 250
Farringdon, 196
Faversham, 40, 120, 260, 303
Fawsley, 274
Featherstone, 170, 181
Peering, 237
Felbrigge, 33
Felbright, 210
Felixstowe, 280
Felmersham, 102, 103, 186
Felpham, 223, 281, 303
Feltham, 127
Felton, 212, 303
Feltwell, 127
Fen Ditton, 148, 263, 264
Fen Dray ton, 64, 70, 188
Fen Stanton, 63, 203, 271
Feniton, 109, no, 113
Fenny Bentley, 107, 108, 109, 195
Fenton, 272
Ferrar, Nicholas, 163
Field, Bishop, 48
Field Dalling, 273
Fiennes, Thomas, 76
Fifehide, Neville, 198
Fifield, 26, 65, 103, 187, 198, 199, 227,
259
Filby, 125, 127, 149
Filey, 74, 229
Fillongley, 300, 303
Fincham, 127, 153, 209, 210, 303
Finchamstead, 61, 186
Finchingfiekl, 166, 170, 199
Findern, 174
Finedon, 127, 211, 263, 274, 334
Finge-st, 311
Finningham, 280
Finningley, 213
Fishlake, 142, 231, 303
Fishtoft, 123, 315
Fiskerton, 26
Fitzhead, 135
Fitzherbert arms, 107
Fitzjames arms, 265
Fitzjames, Richard, 308
Fitzwilliam Museum, 51, 257, 260
Fladbury, 64
Flagons and Cruets, 45-8
Flamborough, 93, 141, 142, 174, 213, 229
Flamstead, 119
" Flaunder's Kiste," 296
Flempton, 138, 220
Fletching, 139, 223
Fletton, 203
Fleury, Rohault de, La Afesse, 3
Flintham, 18, 214, 300, 303
Flinton, 174
Flitwick, 148, 185, 186
Flixborough, 123
Flixton, 280
Floorc, 78, 129, 314
Flote, Peter, 2 10
Floyd, Francis, 14
Folkingham, 122, 123, 272
Folkton, 228, 229
372
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Font Covers, 231-5
Fonts, 160-231
Footscray, 204
Ford, 132
Ford Abbey, 1 14
Fordham, 259
Fordingbridge, 201
Fordington, 198
Fordwich, 120, 204
Foremark, 12, 109, 195
Poorest Hill, 346
Formby, 205
Forncett, 273
Forrabury, 191, 193
Forthampton, i, 2, 9
Fosdyke, 207, 208, 232
Foston, 230
Fotheringhay, 145, 150, 211, 257
Foulden, 127
Foulmire, 104
Fountains Abbey, 60
Fowey, 149, 152, 191
Fovvle, Bishop, 13
Fownhope, 202, 203
Fox, Bishop, 55, 311, 312
Fox, Mr. G. E., 125, 126, 137
Fox, Mr. J. C., 312
Foxley, 33, 127
Foxley, Sir John, 57
Fox's Acts and Monuments, 96, 337-40
Foxton, 64, 104, 188, 206
Foy, 118
Framlingham, 138
Frampton, 123, 149
Frampton Cotterell, 339
Frampton-on-Severn, 163, 200
Framsden, 261, 280
Frankley, 227
Freckenham, 24, 138, 273, 280
Frecby, 314
Freeman, Professor, 164
Freethorpe, 127
Frencham, 221
Freshfield, 279
Freshford, 217
Freshwater, 201
Fressingfield, 9, 280
Frettenham, 210, 303
Fridaythorpe, 229
Frieston, 232
Frilsham, 264
Frindsbury, 87, 204
Frisby, 121
Fristney, 123
Frithelstock, 269, 354
Frithstan, Bishop, 343-4
"Frith Stool," 252
Frittle worth, 223
Fritton, 127
Fritwell, 214
Frogmore, 77
Frostenden, 62, 237, 279, 280
Froyle, 19
Fryer, Dr., 163, 164, 169, 192
Fryerning, 198, 199
Fugglestone St. Peter, 47
Fulbeck, 808
Fulbourne, 148, 264
Fuljambe Chapel, 107
Full Sutton, 229
Funeral Monuments, 18
Funeral Palls, 344-5
Furneaux Pelham, 303, 315
Furness Abbey, 60, 70, 205, 321
Fyfield. See Fifield
Gaddesby, 206, 263
Galleries, 288-91
Gamlingay, 104, 259, 264
Ganton, 141, 142
Gardiner, Bishop, 278
Garboldisham, 127, 273
Garford, 103
Garsington, 9, 34
Garstang, 260
Garthorpe, 77
Gasquet, Abbot, 235
Gatcombe, 14, 17, 33
Gateley, 127, 356
Gallon, 139, 221
Gayton, 211, 218, 260
Gaywood, 181, 184
Gazeley, 150, 280
Gedding, 280
Geddington, 152
Gedling, 64
Gedney, 123
Gentleman's Magazine, 120, 194, 196, 199,
201, 203, 206, 264, 281
Gervase, Bishop, 55
Gidleigh, 113
Gilbert arms, 57
Gillamore, 230
Gilling, 303
Gilling, John, 316
Gillingham, Dorset, 197, 336
Gillingham, Kent, 120, 204
Gillingham, Norfolk, 127
Gilston, 9, 62, 119, 202
Gimingham, 303, 354
Gisleham, 138, 319
Gislingham, 280
Gissing, 33
Gittisham, 113
Glapthorn, 211
Glastonbury, 7, 45, 134, 150
St. John, 294, 303
Glatton, 203, 271
Glinton, 271
Gloucester, 7°
Candlestick, 324
Cathedral, 2, 9, 24, 26, 79, 80, 116, 244,
256, 257, 259, 317
St. Mary Crypt, 77
St. Mary de Lode, 149
Gloucester and Bristol Archceological
Societies' Transactions, 166, 189
GENERAL INDEX
373
Glynne, Sir Stephen, 105, 162, 164, 176
189, 229
Goad by Marwood, 67, 206, 271
Goatland, 34
Godalming, 139, 221, 303
Godmanchester, 271
Godrich Court, 53
Godshill, 14
Godstone, 221, 222
Godwin, Henry, 44
Goldington, 186
Gondibour, Thomas, 310
Gonerby, 208
Gooderstone, 127, 210, 242
Goodmanham, 181, 228, 229
Goodramgate, 162
Goodworth Clatford, 200
Goosnargh, 121, 205
Gordon, Mr. Alexander, 278
Gorges arms, 268
Goring, 150
Gorleston, 78, 168, 181, 268
St. Andrew, 138
Gorran, 267
Gorton, 264, 332
Gotham, 12
Gotland, 316
Goudhurst, 120
Gould, Mr. Baring, no
Gower, Bishop, 55
Gowsworth, 189
Graffham, 223
Graft on, 127
Grafton Fly ford, 150
Grafton Regis, 128
Grafton Underwood, 73
Grainsby, 123
Grainthorp, 123
Granby, 153, 214, 274, 275
Grandborough, 52, 53, 187
Grandison, 21
Gransden, 104
Grantham, 4, 9, 25, 47, 97, 123, 207, 208,
315, 332, 334
Grappenhall, 188, 189, 303
Graveley, 61, 119
Graveney, 120, 294, 303
Gravenhurst, IO2, 103
Great Abington, 188
Great Addington, 129, 211
Great Ashfield, 152
Great Bardfield, 85, 116
Great Barford, 131, 186
Great Barton, 138, 280
Great Bealings, 280
Great Bedwyn, 27, 65, 140
Great Billing, 23, 40, 129, 274
Great Bircham, 345
Great Blakenham, 138
Great Bookham, 139, 221, 281
Great Bowden, 206
Great Bud worth, 189, 259
Great Casterton, 131, 215
Great Cawford, 198
Great Chalfield, 140
Great Chart, 339
Great Comberton, 281
Great Cornard, 138
Great Cressingham, 126
Great Dawley, 215
Great Doddington, 158, 770
Great Driffield, 229
Great Dunham, 210
Great Durnford, 227, 339
Great Easton, 33
Great Edstone, 200. See Easton
Great Gidding, 236
Great Glemham, 168, 220
Great Gonerby, 123
Great Gransden, 119
Great Greenford, 181
Great Hale, 207
Great Hallingbury, 97
Great Harrowden, 129
Great Harwood, 174
Great Haseley, 73
Great Hautbois, 9
Great Hookham. See Hookham
Great Kimble, 187
Great Leigh, 77
Great Malvern, 22, 27, 141, 227, 261
Great Massingham, 127
Great Mitton, 142
Great Mongeham, 121
Great Munden, 26
Great Nestor, 189
Great Oxendon, 211
Great Paxton, 63
Great Plumstead, 127
Great Poringland, 274
Great Redisham, 280
Great Rollright, 131
Great Salkeld, 167
Great Shefford, 186
Great Shclfonl, 62, 104
Great Smeaton, 230
Great Snoring, 209, 210, 274, 306
Great Sparham, 149
Great Tew, 150, 214
Great Torrington, 156
Great Walsingham, 260, 274
Great Waltham, 33, 270
Great Wenham, 138, 280
Great Wigston, 122
Great Wilbrahnm, 188
real Witchingliam, 169
Great Wratting, 280
real Wrotham, 127
Great Wroxton, 275
Great Yarmouth, 127
Greaves, Q.C., Mr., 179
ireemony Chapel, the, 112
Green's Norton, 21 1, 303, 352
ireetham, 215
Greetwell, 208
renclon, 78
renville arms, 265
Gresham, 168
374
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Gressenhall, 127
Gretton, 19
Greywell, 117, 118
Grimoldby, 123, 272
Grimsby, 208
Grimston, 122, 127
Grimthorpe, Lord, 229
Grindal, Archbishop, 35
Grinling Gibbons, 162
Grinton, 142, 230, 339
Grosmont, 63, 64, 208
Grotham, 214
Grundisburgh, 136, 138, 280
Guernsey, St. Peter Port, 46
Guestling, 303
Guilden Morden, 100, 104, 188, 264
Guildford, 27
Holy Trinity, 246
Gumley, 122
Gunwalloe, 106
Gussage All Saints, 197
Gwinear, 267
Haccombe, 33
Hacconby, 272, 297, 304
Hackerton, 280
Hacket, Bishop, 12, 108
Hackford, 127
Hackington, 120
Hackness, 260, 327
Haddenham, 13, 77, 103, 104, 187, 188
Haddon Hall, 9, 109, 195, 233, 287, 304
Haddon Hall, 304
Hadleigh, 177, 198, 220, 234, 260
Hadley, 47
Hadsor, 78
Hadstock, 116
Hagbourne, 103, 148, 187
Hailes, 116
Hailsham, 223
Hainault, Belgium, 167
Halam, 13, 62, 213, 214, 327
Halberton, 109, no, in, 113, 149
Hale, 123
Halesowen, 227, 304, 337
Hales, Stephen, 25
Halesworth, 137, 219, 220
Halifax, 142, 231, 241, 242, 243, 260, 336
Hallaton, 206
Halloughton, 130
Halsall, 205, 260
Halse, 135
Halsham, 252
Halstead, 116
Haltham, 123
Halton Holgate, 272
Haltwhistle, 181
Hambledon, 149, 186, 221, 311
Hambledon Hills, 83
Hamerton, 119, 203, 271
Hamerton arms, 178
Hammeringham, 158
Hammond Stoke, 187
Hammoon, 158
Hampstead Norris, 62
Hampton, 77, 227
Hampton Bishop, 64
Hampton-in-Arden, 224
Hampton Poyle, 275
Hamsey, 78
Hamstall Ridware, 31, 34, 136
Hamsterley, 33
Hanbage, Thomas, 353
Hanbury, 217, 218
Handborough, 100, 130, 131, 150, 214
Handsworth, 33, 218
Hangeston, 206
Hanham, 200
Hanley Castle, 281
Hanney, 103
Hannington, 129, 150, 211, 319
Hanwell, 24, 27
Hanworth, 9
Happisburgh, 33, 127, 210, 219
Harberton, 113, 149
Harbledown, 243
Hardwick, 127, 211, 304, 345
Haresfield, 200, 270
Hargrave, 64, 129, 138, 241 274
Harlaxton, 208
Harleston, 138
Harley, 215
Harlington, 186, 208
Harlow, 177
Harlton, 26, 104, 236
Harpenden, 202
Harpley, 127
Harpole, 9, 211
Harpswell, 272
Harpur arms, 57
Harrietsham, 120
Harrington, 129, 170, 194, 208
Harring worth, 129
Harrold, 103, 186
Harrow, 208
Harrowden, 128
Harston, 148
Hart, 198
Hart, Colonel, 291, 296, 305, 306, 317
Hartest, 280
Hartham, 281
Harthill, 81, 327
Harting, 27
Hartland, 8, 97, no, in, 113, 133, 151,
195, 196, 237, 268, 269, 354
Hartlebury, 227
Hartley Mauditt, 201
Hartley Wespall, 118
Hartshorne, 33, 267
Harty, 120, 304
Harvington, 141, 281
Harwell, 70, 103, 186
Hascombe, 139
Haseley, 224, 275
Hasfield, 270
Hasketon, 280
Haslingden, 170
Haslingfield, 104, 148
GENERAL INDEX
375
Hassard, John, 290
Hastings, St. Clement, 77, 223
Hatch Beauchamp, 279
Hatfield, 142, 304
Hatfield, Bishop, 248
Hatford, 186
Hatherleigh, 113
Hatton, 327
Haughley, 220, 280
Hauxton, 104
Hawe arms, 108
Hawkchurch, 114
Hawkedon, 138
Hawkesbury, 64, 149
Hawkhurst, 204
Hawridge, 187
Hawstead, 8, 136, 138, 150, 280
Hawton, 64, 67, 73, 75, 78, 90, 100,
130
Haxby, 272
Haxey, 123
Hay. Margaret, 14
Haydon, 167, 212
Haydor, 207, 208
Hayes, 208
Hayes Barton, 288
Hayfield, 88, 108
Hayton, 141, 229
Headbourne Worthy, 86
Headcorn, 120, 204
Heanton Punchardon, 113
Heavitree, 113
Heckfield, 200, 201, 271, 294, 295, 304,
307
Heckingham, 209, 210
Heckington, 75, 77, 207, 208
Heddenham, 203
Heddington, 47
Hedon, 228, 229
Heighington, 148, 149, 198
Helmsley, 147, 230
Helpringham, 123, 207, 208, 272
Hemingborough, 9, 142, 260, 262
Hemingstone, 220, 280
Hemington, 257, 260
Hempstead, 67, 125, 127, 199, 200, 272,
273, 3°4
Hempton, Margery, 60
Hempton, Mr., 50
Hemsby, 210
Hemyock, 113
Hendon, 208
Henfield, 139
Henham Hall, 153
Henham-on-the-Hill, 116
Henley, 158
Henley-in-Arden, 139
Henley-on-Thames, 334
Henley St. Peter, 280
Henry VI., 125
Henry VII., 44
Hennock, 113
Hensham, 149
Henstead, 319
Hcpworth, 233, 280
Heraldic Church rinte, 57
Hereford, All Saints, 15, 154, 259, 304,
Cathedral, 31, 33, 55, ,46> Ml> ^g
254, 256, 257, 259, 332
St. Peter, 259
Herne, 120, 170, 204, 28?
Hernehill, 121
Herriard, 288
Herringswell, 220
Hertford, St. Andrew, 4, 8
Hesleton, William de, 282
Hessett, 41, ioo, 138, 181, 219, 346
Hethersett, 127
Heveningham, 62
Hevingham, 210
Heworth, 33
Hexham, 102, 212, 251, 252, 260
Heydon, 149
Heyford, 51, 275
Heysham, 205
Heyshot, 223
Heytesbury, 140
Hibaldstow, 208
Hickleton, 231
Hickling, 127, 214, 243
High Bray, 113
High Halden, 204
High Ham, 135
High Wy combe, 103
Higham, 177
Higham arms, 181
Higham Ferrers, 128, 129, 211, 260
Higham Gobion, 102
Highley, 9, 131
Highway, 140
Hildebrand, Dr. Hans, 316
Hill Farrance, 152, 279
Hill Mor on, 339
Hillesden, 103
Hilmarton, 140
Hilperton, 226, 227
Hilton, 114
Hinderwell, 34
Hingham, 155
Hinton, 211, 236
Hinxhill, 204
Hinxton, 1 88
Histon, 64, 1 88, 264
Caricature in Literature and Art, 259
History of Lambeth, 156
History of Suffolk, 180
History of the Hundred of l.aundttch, 125
History of the Parishes of St. /vei, Ltlant,
Toweanack, and Zennor, 267
Hitcham, 138, 280
Hitchenden, 187
Hitchin, 119, 202
Hoathly, 6 1
Hoby, 122, 271
Hockering, 33. 273
Hocklifle, 76
Hockwold cum-Witton, 12?
376
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Hodnet, 215, 243, 339
Hognaston, 195
Holbeton, 113, 196
Hoi brook, 78
Holcombe, 288
Holcombe Burnell, 76, 77
Holcombe Rogus, 113
Holcot, 40
Holdenby, 9, 128, 129, 170, 259, 285
Holderness, 141
Holdgate, 215
Holkham, 33
Hollingbourne, 149, 349
Hollingsley, 280
Hollington, 165
Holme, 130, 275
Holme Pierrepoint, 214
Holne, 112, 113, 149
Holt, 227
Holy Water Stoups, 235-9
Holy Table, Name and Thing, The, 17
Holy rood, 78, 162
Holywell, 202, 203
Honiton, 109, no, 113
Honiton Clyst, 196
Honnington, 77, 280
Hoo, 210, 304
Hoo, Robert, 181
Hook Norton, 177, 214
Hooke, 198
Hope, 155
Hope Mansell, 118, 201
Hope, W. H. St. John, I, 24, 45, 60, 165
Hopton-by-Lovvestoft, 8 1
Horbling, 61, 77, 207, 208
Horley, 139, 221
Hornby, 33, 142
Horncastle, 123
Home, 139
Horning, 9, 95, 272, 273, 304
Horningden, 264
Horninghold, 271
Horningsea, 97, 104
Hornsea, 229
Hornsey, 208
Horsepath, 236
Horsey, 127, 272, 273
Horsford, 210
Horsham, 149, 223, 304
Horsham St. Faith, 127
Horsington, 217
Horsley, 195
Horsmonden, 204
Horsning, 210
Horstead, 127
Horton, 187, 231
Horton-in-Ribblesdale, 230, 231
Horwood, 268, 269
Hotham, 223
Hough, 208
Hougham, 9
Houghton, 34, 62, 158, 223
Houghton Conquest, 103, 186, 264
Houghton-le-Clay, 208
Houghton-le-Dale, 127, 273
Houghton Regis, 185, 1 86
Hound, 201
Hour Glasses, 156-9
Hour Glasses and Hour-Glass Stands,
156-9
Hovingham, 78
Howden, 9, 91, 142
Howell, 9, 170
Hoxne, 170, 220
Hoxton, Christ Church, 324
Hubberholme, 93, 142, 231
Hudd, Mr., 166
Huddington, 141, 304
Huddlestone arms, 194
Huggate, 229
Hughenden, 187
Hughley, 132
Huish Episcopi, 152
Hull, 260
Holy Trinity, 142, 143, 229
Hullavington, 140, 346
Hulsham, 153
Humanby, 229
Humbledon, 229
Hundon, 260
Hungerford, Lady Margaret, 57
Hungerton, 122
Hunsdon, 19, 119, 152, 202, 240, 243,
271
Hunstanton, 34, 127, 209, 210
Hunston, 138, 280
Huntsham, 113
Huntingdon St. Mary, 203
Huntingfield, 219
Huntington, 152
Hurley, 187
Hurst, 42, 158
Hurstbourne Priors, 200
Hurstmonceaux, 76, 78
Hurstpierpoint, 281
Huttoft, 207, 208, 304
Hutton, 34, 150, 217
Hutton Bushel, 230
Hutton Cranswick, 228, 22
Hutton Rudby, 151
Huxham, 113, 196
Huyton, 121, 205
Hythe, 116, 204
Ickburgh, 127
Icklesham, 61
Ickleton, 104
Icklingham, 138, 261, 280, 292, 304
Ickworth, 64
Ideford, 113
Iffley, 214
Iford, 222
Ightham, 120, 121, 204, 285, 291, 330
Ham, 218
Ilfracombe, 65
Ilkeston, 64, 66, 68, 69, 107, 108
Ilmer, 103
Ilmington, 224
GENERAL INDEX
377
Ilminster, 27
Ilsington, 113, 268, 269
Impington, 104, 264, 339
Incense Vessels, 51
Ingatestone, 158, 199
Ingham, 127, 210, 260, 280
Inglesham, 158
Ingleton, 231
Ingoldesthorpe, 210
Ingoldmells, 122, 123, 208
Ingram, 170
Ingworth, 127
Innocent III., 295
Instead, 127
Inworth, 116
Ipplepen, 33, 113, 149
Ippollitts, 62
Ipswich, St. Clement, 220
St. Mary, 182
St. Mary-at-Tower, 138, 220
St. Mary Quay, 220
St. Matthew, 138, 220
St. Peter, 168, 220
Irchester, 44, 129, 211, 274
Ireland, 48
Irnham, 77
Irstead, 125, 149, 210, 272, 273
Irthlingborough, 129, 150, 236, 260
Isham, 129
Isle Abbots, 217, 279
Isleham, 80, 188, 259
Italian churches, 82
Itchenor, 222
Ivinghoe, 80, 259
Ivychurch, 121, 260
I wade, 121
Jacobstow, 192
James I., 151-2
James, William, 115
Jarrow, 7, 270
Jarrow-on-Tyne, 149, 251
Jervaulx Abbey, 5, 142, 282
Jevington, 223
Jewel Book of Henry VIII., 163
Jewel's Apology, 337-40
Jewitt, Llewellyn, 259
Johnson, Rev. John, 177
Johnston, Dr. James, 250
Johnston, Mr. G. C. Cocks, 250, 251
Johnston, Mr. Philip, 281, 291
Journal of the British Archaeological
Association, 168, 192, 194, 244, 245, 301,
302
Journal of the Norfolk Archaeological
Society, 273
Journal of the Somersetshire Archaotogical
Society, 278
Jules, 91
Kea, 33
Keal, 123
Keddington, 136, 138, 158, 220, 240, 243,
280, 286
Kedleston, 37, 57, 287
Kegworth, 165
Keighton, 231
Kelby, 272
Kelham, 130
Kelling, 78, 182
Kelmscot, 214
Kelsale, 245
Kelshall, 119, 319
Kelston, 135
Kemeys Commander, 9, 124
Kempton, 102, 103, 186
Kemsing, 121
Kenchester, 201
Kenderchurch, 118
Kenn, 112, 113, 269
Kennardington, 164
Kennerleigh, 113
Kenneth, 104
Kennett, 64
Kenninghall, 127
Kennington, 204
Kentisbere, in, 113
Kentisbury, 113
Ken ton, no, 112, 113, 149
Kersey, 138
Kettering, 339
Ketteringham, 170
Kettlebaston, 24, 220
Kettleburgh, 170, 280
Kettleston, 346
Ketton, 215, 275
Kewstock, 150
Keyham, 122
Keyingham, 158
Keynsham, 135
Keyser, Mr., 112
Keysoe, 182, 185, 186
Keystone, 203
Key worth, 213
Kib worth, 122
Kidderminster, 27, 73, 154, 228, 339
Kidlington, 151, 214
Kilby, 208
Kildwick, 142, 143
Kilham, 229
Kilkhampton, 106, 170, 262, 267
Kilnwick, 229
Kilpeck, 201
Kilvington, 182, 230
Kilworth, 206
Kimbolton, Hercfonls., 118
Kimbolton, Hunts., 63, 64, 119
Kimpton, 9, 119
King, Annete, 102
King, Richard, IO2
Kings Cliffe, 129. '5°
Kings Langley, 119, 149
Kings Lynn, 127, 259
St. Margaret, 260
St. Nicholas, 260
Kings Norton, 228
Kings Ripton, 62
Kings Somborne, 2OO, ttt
378
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Kings Sutton, 127, 211, 256, 260
Kings Walden, 119
Kingsbridge, 113, 259
Kingsbury Episcopi, 135, 150
Kingsclere, 201, 329
Kingscliffe, 211, 274
Kingskerswell, 113
Kingsland, 118
Kingsley, 118
Kingsley's Country, 8
Kingsnympton, 113
Kingsteignton, 113, 339
Kingsthorpe, 19, 314, 319, 339
Kingston, 119, 187, 188, 278, 304, 339
Kingston Deverill, 140
Kingston St. Mary, 279
Kingston Seymour, 289
Kingstone, 152
Kingsworthy, 200, 201
Kinlet, 132
Kinnersley, Herefords., 26, 346
Kinnersley, Salop., 177
Kinoulton, 156
Kinsham, 10, II
Kinver, 339
Kidlington, 260
Kirby Bellars, 122, 271
Kirby Hill, 282
Kirby Laythorpe, 123
Kirby Malham, 231
Kirby-on-the-Moor, 231
Kirby Sigston, 262
Kirdford, 261, 281
Kirk Ella, 142, 143
Kirk Hallam, 66, 68, 72, 194, 195
Kirk Hammerton, 34
Kirk Ireton, 17
Kirk Langley, 38, 108, 109
Kirk Oswald, 33
Kirk Sandal, 143
Kirkburn, 228, 229
Kirkby, 204, 205
Kirkby Fleetham, 230
Kirkby Lonsdale, 152
Kirkby Stephen, 246
Kirk dale, 230
Kirkham, 60
Kirkheaton, 8l
Kirkleatham, 297, 304
Kirklington, 156, 213, 339
Kirkoswald, 246
Kirkstall Abbey, 61
Kirkstead, 92
Kirkstead St. Leonard, 122, 123
Kirtling, 104
Kirton, 182
Kislingbury, 211
Kitchin, Dean, 168, 344
Kittisford, 152
Knaith, 207, 208
Knapton, 177, 233
Knaresborough, 4, 231
Knebworth, 149, 151
Kneeton, 214
Knettishall, 280
Knight's Enham, 200
Knipton, 19, 67, 271
Kniton, 208
Kniveton, 38
Kniveton, Bart., Sir Gilbert, 38
Kniveton, Lady Frances, 38
Knodishall, 220
Knowle, 13, 139, 224, 261, 304
Lackford, 10, 218, 220
Ladbrooke, 78
Laddiswell, 196
Lakenheath, 220, 261, 273, 280
La marsh, 90, Il6
Lamberhurst, 121
Lambeth Palace, 37, 56
Lambley, 130
Lamerton, 196
Lamorran, 193
Lancashire and Cheshire Historical Society's
Proceedings, 189
Lancaster, 121, 152, 259, 260
Lancaut, 163
Lancing, 78, 222, 223
Lancross, 196, 269, 354
Landbeach, 148, 259, 304
Landewednack, 182, 191, 193
Landrake, 191, 192, 193, 267
Land's End, 266
Landulph, 193, 267
Laneast, 106, 192, 265, 267
Lanercost Priory, 5
Lanfranc, 2
Langar, 19
Langdon, 60
Langford, 103, 131, 264, 316
Langham, 131, 138, 210, 215, 280
Langley, 19, 204
Langley Marsh, 18, 70, 103, 332, 334
Langtoft, 77
Langton, 175, 229, 354
Langton Herring, 198
Langtree, 196
Langridge, 217
Langwith, 51
Lanivet, 58
Lanlivery, 193
Lanreath, 106, 189, 193, 267
Lansallos, 191, 193, 239, 267
Lanteglos, 19, 165, 189, 191, 193, 267,
355. 356
Lanteglos-by-Fowey, 14
Lapford, no, 113, 269
Lapley, 218
Lap worth, 139, 224, 304
Larling, 10
Lastingham, 238, 239, 282
Latchingdon, 116
Laud, Archbishop, 18, 37, 48, 284
Laudian revival, 153
Laughton-en-le-Morthen, 8 1
Launcells, 106, 267
Launceston, 149, 191, 192, 193, 267
GENERAL INDEX
379
Lavenham, 81, 138, 220, 261, 280, 285, 288
Laver Magdalen, 1 16
Lawhitton, 192
Lawshall, 280
Laxfield, 138, 168, 263, 280, 319
Lax ham, 209, 210
Laxton, 211
Layard, Miss, 50
Layer Marney, 116, 304
Lea, Sir Richard, 162
Leake, 143, 243, 261, 282
Leake arms, 37
Leatherhead, 222
Leckford, 118, 200
Leckhampstead, 62, 187
Lecterns, 78-81
Ledbury, 259
Ledham, 158
Lee, 62, 70, 264
Lee, Sir Richard, 79
Leeds, 120, 121
St. John, 93
Leek, 218
Legbourne, 10, 123
Leicester, All Saints, 149, 206, 271
St. Margaret, 292
St. Martin, 256, 260, 271, 292
St. Mary, 73, 74, 122, 206
Trinity Hospital, 243, 271
Wigston Hospital, 108
Leigh, Kent, 158
Leigh, Lanes., 339
Leigh, Surrey, 139
Leigh, Worcs., 141, 227
Leigh Delamore, 326
Leigh-on-Mendip, 10, 217
Leighton Buzzard, 79, 80, 103, 186, 259
Leintwardine, 27
Leiston, 218, 220
Leland, 251
Lenham, 10, 70, 79, 81, 151, 204, 260
Lenton, 165, 212, 213
Lentwardine, 261
Leo IV., Pope, 60
Leominster, 31, 33, 177
Lesbury, 170, 212
Lessingham, 125, 127, 158, 339
Letcombe Basset, 186
Letcombe Regis, 186, 264
Lethaby, Mr., 24, 25
Letheringsett, 209, 210
Leverington, Cambs., 80, 188
Leverington, Suffolk, 81
Leverton, 123
Lewannick, 267, 321
Lewes, 152
St. Anne, 222, 223
Lewknor, 20, 78, 214
Lew Trenchard, 113, 269, 329
Leyland, 33, 339
Lezant, 158
Libraries, Church, 331-6
Lichfield Cathedral, 97
St. Mary, 304
Lickenholt, 200
Lidgate, 138
Lights of a Church, the, 320-30
Lilburne, 129
Lilleshall, 215
Lillingston, 64
Limington, 135, 279
Limoges, 241
Limoges Enamel, 327
Limpley Stoke, 150
Limpstield, 51, 221
Lincoln, 98, 123
Cathedral, 31, 33, 38, 56, 75, 77, 78, 80,
91, 168, 207, 208, 253, 256, 258, 260,
332, 342
Lincolnshire Notes and Queries t 253
Lindfield, 165, 223
Lingen, 202
Lingfield, 79, 81, 139, 222, 261, 281, 330,
339
Lingwood, 19, 210
Linkinhorne, 193
Linley, 215
Linstead Magna, 219
Linstead Parva, 279
Linton, 37, 231
Liskeard, 153, 239
Litcham, 125, 127, 149, 243, 260, 304
Litlington, 104
Little Abington, 188
Little Addington, 129
Little Barford, 102, 103
Little Billing, 9, 166, 177, 210, 211
Little Birch, 37
Little Bittering, 210
Little Canfield, 116
Little Chart, 120, 327
Little Chesterford, 116
Little Cornard, 170, 220
Little Coxwell, 103
Little Coxwold, 302
Little Dawley, 215
Little Dean, 346
Little Dunmow, 253
Little Farringdon, 33
Little Gidding, 81, 163
Little Hadham, 1 19
Little Harrowden, 129
Little Hempston, 113
Little Hereford, 96, 201
Little Horkesley, 116
Little Malvern, 140, 141, 261
Little Missenden, 187
Little Munden, 119
Little Paxton, 260
Little Petherwick, 339
Little Redisham, 280
Little Shelford, 104
Little Snoring, aio
Little Stukeley, 63, 203
Little Thurlow, 288
Little Waldingfield, 292, 307
Little Walsingham, 169
Little Wratting, 280
38o
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Littlebury, 80, 233
Littlehales, Mr., 98
Littleham, no, 112, 113, 196, 269
Littleham-cum-Exmouth, 113
Littlehampton, 223
Littleport, 104, 304
Littleton, 201, 272
Litton Cheney, 149
Liverpool, 204
Lizard, 266
Llandaff, 154
Llandinabo, 118
Llanellan, 208
Llangattock Llingoed, 124
Llangibby, 154
Llangua, 59
Llangwm Isaf, 124
Llangwm Uchaf, 124
Llanhilleth, 208
Llanllowell, 208
Llantilio Pertholey, 81
Llanvair Kilgeddin, 124
Llanvair Waterdine, 132
Locking, 150, 216, 217, 304
Lockinge, 186
Locking! on, 88, 121, 122, 229
Loddon, 127, 168, 240, 243
Loders, 77, 197
Lodsworth, 34
Lolworth, 104, 264
Londesborough, 228, 229
London, All Hallows, 339
Architectural Museum, 260
Cornhill, 283
Parish churches, 49
St. Albans, Wood Street, 158
St. Andrew Undershaft, 339
St. Catherine's Hospital, 260
St. Clement's, Eastcheap, 339
St. James, Piccadilly, 162
St. Lawrence Jewry, 35
St. Margaret Patten, 124
St. Martin's, Ironmonger Lane, 351
St. Mary-at-Hill, 40, 41, 44, 46, 53, 98,
283, 322
St. Mary Woolnoth, 47
St. Olave, Southwark, 49
St. Paul's Cathedral, 2, 80, 124, 161
St. Peter, Cornhill, 124
St. Saviour, Southwark, 20, 21, 27, 306
St. Stephen, Colman Street, 43
St. Stephen, Walbrook, 99
Long Ashton, 10
Long Bennington, 123
Long Crendon, 187
Long Itchington, 139
Long Melford, 24, 27, 78, 99, 136, 352
Long Stanlon, All Saints, 187, iS8
St. Michael's, 64, 306
Long Sutton, 20, 81, 135, 150, 293, 306
Long Whatton, 121, 122
Long Wittenham, 67, 163
Longbridge, 10
Longford, 195, 215
Longham, 127
Longley Castle, 177
Longnor, 218
Longstone, 195
Longton, 199
Longworth, 103, 186
Lostwithiel, 189, 192, 193, 241, 243
Loughborough, 17
Louth, 98, 304, 308, 309
Lovell, 64
Loversal, 261
Low Catton, 229
Low Ham, 135
Low Sundon, 306
Lower Heyford, 131
Lowesby, 122
Lowestoft, 81, 220, 319
Lowick, 274
Loxton, 150
Lubenham, 59, 77, 122, 304
Luccombe, 64, 70, 77, 78, 133, 135, 217
Lucton, 215
Luddesdown, 204
Ludgate, 177
Ludham, 88, 125, 126, 127, 210, 219, 243,
273, 304, 352
Ludlow, 23, 27, 93, 131-2, 256, 261,
35.6
Lullingstone, 97, 120, 121
Lullington, 182, 216, 217
Lulsley, 150
Lund, 229
Luppit, 112
Lupton, 175
Lurgashall, 174, 175
Lusby, 123
Lustleigh, in, 113, 196
Luton, 70, 77, 102, 103, 161, 186, 235,
259, 339
Lutterworth, 149, 326, 347
Lutton, 78, 211
Luxulyan, 189
Lydbury, 215
Lydd, 121, 262
Lyddington, 131
Lyde. See Pipe and Lyde
Lydeard St. Lawrence, 67, 132, 135,
279
Lydiard Tregoze, 116
Lyford, 186, 264
Lylynton, Thomas, 270
Lyme Regis, 80, 154, 290, 339, 347
Lyminge, 35
Lyminster, 223
Lympenhoe, 18
Lyndvvood, 4
Lyndwood, William, 336
Lyneham, 140
Lyng, 304, 347
Lynn, 258, 334
St. Margaret's, 156
Lynsted, 121
Lysons, 109
Lyttleton, Sir Thomas, 336
GENERAL INDEX
Madeley, 343, 347
Madley, 201, 259, 286
Madran Well, 4, 10
Madrid, 343
Maghull, 154, 205, 260, 271
Magor, 124
Mahogany Pulpits, 156
Maiden Bradley, 227
Maids-Moreton, 18, 103
Maidstone, 10, 70, 121, 182, 204, 257, 260
Mainhead, 113
Mainstone, 17
Maisey Hampton, 80
Maismore, 153
Maker, 190, 192
Malborough, 113 .
Malcolm, Mr., 59
Maldon, 336
Malmesbury Abbey, 91, 140, 281
Malmesbury, William of, 2
Malpas, 73, 105, 259
Maltby-le-Marsh, 207, 208
Malvern, 258, 339
Manaton, 113
Manchester, 121, 256, 257, 258, 260, 334
Manning and Bray, 221
Manning, Canon, 319
Mansetter, 339
Mantby, 100, 127, 210
Manton, 215, 241, 243
Manuden, 116
Maplederwell, 118
Mappowder, 197
Marbury, 189
March, 188
Margaretting, 116, 198, 199
Margate, 204
Marham, 113
Maristow, 70, 113, 196
Market Bosworth, 170, 206
Market Deeping, 208
Market Lavington, 227
Marks Tey, 161
Marldon, 113
Marney, Lord, 304
Marnhall, 196, 246
Marr, 231
Marsham, 127, 168
Marshchapel, 123, 272
Marske, 174
Marston, 78, 103
Marston-on-Dove, 195
Marston Mortaine, 102, 103, 186, 264
Marston St. Lawrence, 129
Marston Trussell, 211, 292, 305
Marten, 99
Martham, 168, 305
Martinhoe, 113
Martlesham, 280
Martock, 315
Marton, 189
Marton-in-the-Forest, 230, 2821
Marwood, 109, m, "3
Mary, Queen, 278
Marychurch, 113
Masin, John, 220
Masin, Katharine, 220
Mathews, J. H., 267
Mathon, 305
Mattingley, 349
Mattishall, 127
Mavesyn Rid ware, 218
Mawgan, 267
Mawgan-in-Pydar, 106
Mawnan, 106
Maxey, 97, 274
Maxtoke, 305
Mayfield, 139, 261, 330
Meare, 150, 243
Mears Ashby, 240, 243
Meavy, 196
Medbourne, 74
Meesden, 66, 119
Melbourne, 109, 188, 195, 259
Melbury Bubb, 167
Meldreth, 104, 259
Melford, 261
Mellis, 138, 280, 352
Mellor, 147, 148, 149, 194, 195
Mells, 279
Melmerby, 33
Melton, 1 68, 169, 220, 246
Melton Mowbray, 145, 177, 334
Melton-on-the-Hill, 143
Melverley, 177
Membury, 113
Memorials of Old Kent, 88, 119
Memories of N. Ferrar, 163
Menheinot, 193
Meonstoke, 200
Mere, Somerset, 135
Mere, Wilts., 140, 261, 281
Meretham, 139
Mere vale, 139
Meriden, 224
Meriott, 279
Merrington, li$
Mersham, 204
M erst ham. 139, 221
Merton, Norfolk, 33, 127, 210, 232
Merton, Oxon., 260
Merton, Suffolk, 93
Messingham, 8l
Methley, 142, 233
MeUiiigham, 138, 261
Mevagissey, 189, iox», 193
Meynell Langlcy, 331
Michaelstone-y-Vedw, 208
Michaelstow, 193. z65. *67i 357
Michelmarsh, 201
Mickfield, 138, 280
Mickleham, 221
Mickleover, 79
Micklethwaite, Mr., 98, 128, 165, 2$O
Mid-Littleton, 227
Middle, 336
Middlcham, 230
Middle Littleton, 10, 141, 150
382
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Middle Rasen, 123
Middleton Cheney, 128, 129, 150, 211
Middleton, Cheshire, 243
Middleton, Hants, 79, 81
Middleton, Herefords., 201
Middleton, Lanes., 10, 121, 205, 260
Middleton, Norfolk, 127
Middleton-on-the- Wolds, 229
Middleton, Pickering, 261, 262, 282
Middleton, Suffolk, 182, 219
Middlezoy, 135, 152
Midhurst, 59, 305
Milborne, Dorset, 114
Milborne, Port, 135
Milcombe, 131, 275
Mildenhall, 10, 59, 64, 138, 288
Mileham, 243
Millom, 170, 194
Milsted, 120
Milton, 20, 21, 24, 26, 64, 92, 204, 259
Milton Abbas, 44, 114
Milton-by-Sittingbourne, 246
Milton Damerel, 20, 196, 354
Milton, Ernest, 103
Milton, Keynes, 70
Milverton, 77, 78, 217, 278, 279
Minehead, 13, 95, 133, 134, 135, 217, 308
Miningsby, 123
M instead, 200
Minster, Cornwall, 193
Minster, Hants, 200
Minster Lovell, 214, 237
Minster, Sheppey, 90, 120, 121
Minster, Thanet, 162, 257, 258, 260, 262,
300, 305
Minty, 281
Misericords, 255-261
Mishay, IO
Misterton, 271
Mitcham, 170, 221
Mitcheldean, 116, 149
Mitres, 54-56
Mobberley, 70, 105
Moccas, 201
Mochdre, 94
Mohun family, 14
Moine, John, 97
Molash, 204
Molesworth, 119
Molland, 88, 112, 113
Monckton Farley, 217
Monk Fryston, 231
Monk Sherborne, 19, 271
Monk Soham, 220
Monken Hadley, 208
Monkleigh, 113, 269
Monks Risborough, 103
Monksdale, 107, 108
Monksilver, 81, 231, 277, 278, 279
Monkton, 120, 162
Monmouth, 321
Montague, Bishop, 291
Monyash, 66, 68, 69, 195, 305
Moor Lynch, 279
Moore, Mr. Temple, no
Morchard, Bishop, III, 113
More, 334
Moresby, 238
Moreton Hampstead, 109
Moreton Pinkney, 324
Moreton-on-Lugg, 10
Moreton Say, 290
Morieux, Sir Thomas, 25
Morley, 57, 267, 305
Morris, Father, 4
Morston, 127
Mortlake, 57, 170, 122, 305
Morton, 123
Morton Bagot, 281
Morval, 193
Morville, 215
Morwenstow, 106, 267
Mosley, 327
Mottisfont, 200
Mottram, 189
Moulton, 58, 123, 127, 138, 280
Moulton Deverel, 227
Mountfield, 170
Mount Fitchett, 199
Mountnessing, 198, 199, 305
Mowsley, 10
Muchelney, 217
Much Hadham, 119
Much Marcle, 201
Mudford, 279
Mugginton, 38, 109, 195, 267
Mulbarton, 24
Mullion, 106, 193, 267
Mundford, 127
Mundham, 10, 33
Munsley, 305
Munslow, 132
Muston, 149, 229, 271
Mylor, 1 06
Mytton, 231
Nafferton, 229
Nausmoen Belinus, 331
Nailsea, 145
Nantwich, 73, 105, 144, 145, 149, 256,
257, 258, 259, 334
Naseby, 211
Nassington, 129, 158, 211
Navenby, 77
Neatishead, 127, 149
Necton, 149, 153
Nedging, 280
Needham, 210, 274
Neen Savage, 132, 215
Neen Sollars, 243
Neile, Bishop, 284
Nether Stowey, 217
Nettlecombe, 34, 168, 169, 216, 279
Newark, 13, 27, 97, 129, 130, 182, 274,
275, 334
Newbowine, 138, 220, 261, 280
New Buckenham, 126
Newburgh Priory, 147
GENERAL INDEX
383
Newcastle, St. Nicholas, 212
Newcastle Museum, 55
Newchurch, 8l, 121, 305
Newdigate, 291, 530
Newenden, 121, 204
Newick, 165
Newington, 10, 121, 204, 233
Newington-by-Hythe, 162
Newland, 10
New Malton St. Leonard, 230
Newmarket, 1 88
Newnham, 200
New Shoreham, 97, 222, 223
Newstead Priory, 70, Si 327
Newton, 188
Newton Abbot, 80
Newton Bromswold, 150, 274
Newton, English, 124
Newton-in-Cleveland, 230
Newton Longueville, 187
Newton Petrock, 269
Newton Reigney, 194
Newton, Welsh, 124
Newport, in Essex, 80, 1 16, 296, 305
Newport, Isle of Wight, 118, 155, 246
Newport Pagnell, 259, 341
New Walsingham, 127
Nicholas, Bishop of the Isles, 6
Nicholson, Bishop, 246
Niton, 200
Norbury, 64, 109, 195, 215
Norcliffe, C. B., 141
Norfolk Archseologia, 24, 49, 125
Norham Castle, 179
Normanby, 10
Normandy, 171
Normanton, 57
Normanton-le-Heath, 122
Normanton-on-Soar, IO, n, 214, 356
North Baddesley, 117, 118
North Bovey, 113, 269
North Bradley, 170, 226, 227
North Burlingham, 125
North Cadbury, 217, 277, 279
North Cerney, 149
North Chapel, 174, 175
North Chart, 327
North Cheriton, 135
North Collingham, 130
North Crawley, 103
North Creake, 78, 126
North Denchworth, 335
North Elmham, 14, 126, rS4, 273
North Fambridge, 199
North Grimston, 228, 229
North Huish, 113
North Kilworth, 149
North Leigh, 130
North Lew, 113, 269
North Littleton, 141, 227
North Luffenham, 131
North Lydbury, 131, 132
North Mandeville, 116
North Marston, 65, 66, 187, 259
North Molton, 113, 149
North Moreton, 62, 187
North Moulton, 197
North Mundham, 222
North Newbould, 229
North Newton, 135
North Ockendon, 199
North Petherton, 262
North Petherwin, 113
North Piddle, 281
North Porton, 197
North Scarle, 123
North Shoebury, 199
North Somercotcs, 207
North Somerton, 10
North Stoke, 217
North Tamerton, 1 14
North Tawton, 268, 269
North Walsham, 125, 127, 149, 232, 234,
260, 307, 353
North Weald, 116
North Wheatley, 272
North Wingfield, 174, 321
North Wolton, IO
Northallerton, 174, 234, 30$
Northampton, All Saints, 44, 129, 334
Museum, 304
St. Giles, 324, 340
St. Peter's, 211
St. Sepulchre, 305, 319
Northborough, 237
Northchurch, 305
Northenden, 105
Northfleet, 92, 120, 121
Northill, 259
Northleach, 3, 26, 116, 149, 314
Northleigh, 113
Northwold, 75, 76, 78, 127
Norton, 195, 223, 224, 228, 261, 279, 280
Norton, Canon, 33
Norton, Fitzwarren, 134, 135, 279
Norton, Mandeville, 270
Norton, St. Philip, 135
Norton-under-Cannock, 218
Norwich, All Saints, 210
Bishop's Palace, 24
Cathedral, 4, 10, 24, 25, 26, 78, 8l, 92,
124, 146, '69. 244, 255. 256, 260, 325
St. Andrew's, 37, 260
St. Augustine, 326
St. George Tombland, 26
St. Gregory, 18, 127, 210, 260, 347
St. James, 347
St. John, 210
St. John-at-Sepulchre, 127
St. John Maddermarkct, 125, IV]
St. John Timberhill, 127
St. MaryCoslany, 149. 'S8. 247
St. Michael-at-Plea, 127
St. Michael Coslany, 260
St. Paul, 127
St. Peter, 256
St. Peter Mancroft, 24, 26, 33, 23$, 260,
349
384 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Norwich, St. Peter Mountergate, 49, 127
St. Saviour, 210
SS. Simon and Jude, 24, 26, 127
St. Stephen, 10, 24, 26
St. Swithin, 127, 260
Noseley, 64, 162, 206, 260, 271
Notgrove, 26, 116
Nottingham, 24
St. Mary, 177, 214
Nowton, 138, 280
Nuffield, 183, 214
Nunburnholme, 229
Nuneaton Abbey Church, 319
Nunney, 3, 135
Nutfield, 139, 150, 222, 246, 261
Nuthall, 130
Nutley, 281
Nynehead, 135
Oake, 279
Oakham, 215, 234
Oakington, 104, 158
Oakley, 102, 103, 186, 264
Oaksey, 140
Oare, 135, 204
Occold, 280
Ockbrook, 108, 109, 195
Ockham, 261, 281
Odcombe, 37
Oddingley, 158
Oddington, 97
Odell, 103, 158, 186
Odiham, 153, 171-2, 183, 2OI, 271, 290,
305, 355
Odstock, 150
Offchurch, 305
Offenham, 158, 228
Offertory Boxes, 243-5,
Offley, 202
Offord Cheney, 271
Ogwell, 113
Okeford-Fitzpaine, 114
Okehampton, 269
Old Chests, 291
Oldham, 305
Old Hurst, 119, 203
Old Malton, 229
Old Oak Furniture, 12, 306, 312
Old Pewter, 59
Old Romney, 12 1
Old Shoreham, 81, 90, 139
Olney, 103
Ombersley, 13
Opus Anglicanum, 342-3
Orchardleigh, 217 «
Ordsall, 130
Ore, 78
Orleton, 207, 215, 292, 305
Orford, 220
Ormesby, St. Michael, 210
Ormskirk, 174
Orpington, 204
Orsett, loo, 116, 199
Orston, 174, 175, 305
Orton, 149
Orwell, 13, 188, 259, 264
Osbaldeston, Dr., 141
Osbournby, 123, 207, 272
Osmaston, 38, 59
Osmotherley, 230
Ospringe, 204
Otham, 204
Otley, 280
Otterbourne, 84
Ottery St. Mary, 20, 21, 26, 70, 74, 80,
112, 113, 197, 259, 268, 269, 347
Ottringham, 229
Oulton, 33, 220
Oundle, 79, 81, 150
Outwell, 127, 165
Over, 104, 188, 259
Over Silton, 230
Over Stowey, 217, 330
Overbury, 150, 227, 281
Overmonnow, 208
Overton, 149, 201
Oving, 10, 223
Ovingdean, 10, 139
Ovington, 200, 210
Owthorpe, 153, 214
Oxburgh, 79, 81, 127
Oxenhall, 163
Oxhey, 26
Oxhill, 139, 224, 281
Oxford, All Saints, 37
All Souls College, 21, 27, 46, 49, 260
Brasenose College, 34
Cathedral, 131
Christ Church College, 260
Corpus Christi College, 31, 34, 47, 55
Exeter College, 260
Magdalen College, 27, 78, 150
Merton College, 74, 78, 8 1, 261
New College, 47, 49, 53, 55, 56, 58, 261
St. Aldate, 214
St. Clement, 34
St. Giles, 10, 214
St. Mary Magdalene, 214, 315
St. Michael, 23, 27
St. Peter, 150, 162, 236, 336
St. Thomas, 13
Trinity College, 34, 261
Wadham College, 47
Ozleworth, 200
Padiham, 170, 205
Padstow, 149, 190, 191, 193, 239, 265, 267
Paignton, 112, 113, 149
Painswick, 144
Pakefield, 34, 138, 327
Pakenfield, 138
Palgrave, 218, 22O
Palling, 272, 273, 274, 319
Pampisford, 188
Parham, 138, 162, 164, 169, 170, 183,220,
223, 280
Paris, Matthew, 341
Parish Life in Mediaeval England, 235
GENERAL INDEX
385
Parker, Archbishop, 35, 36, 337
Parker's Ecclesiastical Topography, 103
Parker's Glossary, 3, 61, 65, 70, 102, 103,
'30, 138, 158,202,211,223,231,237,
292 300, 301, 303, 304, 305
rarkham, 20
Parracombe, 88, 1 12, 113
Partisham, 197
Partney, 123, 149
Parwich, 175, 195, 321
Paslew, John, 205
Passenham, 260
Paston, 33, 127
Patcham, 139
Patching, 223
Patens, 31-8
Patricio, 124
Patrington, 76, 78, 141, 143, 228, 229, 262
Pattingham, 70, 218
Pattishall, 316
Paulerspury, 211
Paull, 229
Pax, 49, 50
Payhembury, no, 114
Peakirk, So, 81, 129, 211
Pearson On the Creed, 339
Peckhard's Memorials of N. Ferrar, 163
Peckleton, 206
Peers, Mr., 80
Pegge, 57
Pen Selwood, 217
Pendock, 141, 227, 281
Penhurst, 139
Penistone, 231
Penkevel, St. Michael's, 3, 10
Penkridge, 136, 261
Penn arms, 37
Penrith, 330
Pentewan, 192-3
Pentire family, 238, 265
Penton, 200, 201, 222
Pentrich, 195
Peover, 105, 152
Pepys" Diary, 284
Perranzabuloe, 189, 193
Pershore, 51, 141, 261, 305
Pertenhall, 102, 103
Peterborough, Cathedral, 81, 129, 260, 305
Chair of the Abbots, 254
St. John Baptist, 347
Peterchurch, i, 10, 201
Petrockstow, 197
Petworth, 97, 175, 221
Pews, 282-8
Pnvter, 58-9
Phillack, 80, 267
Phipson, Emma, 258
Pickhill, 175
Pickworth, 123
Piddington, 78
Piecombe, 222
Pienza, 343
Pilham, 260
Pillaton, 193
2 C
Pillaton Hall, 34
PjUon, 38, 114, 135, 149, ,52> ,58f ai,
rimperne, 197
Pinchbeck, 207, 208
Pinhoe, 114
Pinky, 186
Pinner, 208
Pipe and Lyde, 58, 1 18
Pipe Rid ware, 218
Pirford, 281
Piscinas, 60-7
Pitminster, 279
Pitsford, 172, 211
Pitstone, 187
Pixley, 118
Playden, 139, 223
Playford, 37, 138
Pleasley, 174, 195
Plemstall, 105
Plum tree, 130
Plympton, 195, 269
Plympton St. Mary, 196, 197
Plyniitock, no, 114
Plymtree, 112, 268, 269
Plymtree St. John, 114
Pocklington, 27, 229, 261
Polebrook, 129, 158, 211
Polesworth, 305
Poling, 223
Poltimore, in, 114
Polyphant, 191
Pomeroy arms, 268
Pontefract, 231
Ponting, Mr., 226
Porchester, 200
Poringland, 125, 127
Porlock, 64, 76, 78, 133, 135, 217
Portbury, 216, 217
Portishead, 216, 217, 289
Portlemouth, 114
Portslade, 223, 305
Portsmouth, 349
Poslingford, 138, 280
Postling, 86, 120
Postwick, 209, 210
Potsgrove, 102, 103
Potter Heigham, 19, 90, 125, 127, 164,
234, 272
Potterne, 166, 177, 183, lS6, 227
Poughill, 267
Poundstock, 10, 106, 267
Powderham, 114
Powick, 14
Powysland Museum, 94
Poynings, 19, 139, 223, 242, 281
Prescot, 260
Preshute, 227
Prestbury, 155, 189
Preston, Dorset. 197
Preston, Kent, 204
Preston, Rutland, 34
Preston, Suffolk, 280
Preston Bagot, 224, 281
Preston Capes, 211
386
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Preston-in-Holderness, 27
Prestwich, 205
Priddy, 135
Prideaux, Edmund, I 14
Prideaux family, 269
Pridley, 262
Priestman, Robert, 181
Princes Risborough, 187
Prinhoe, 243
Prior, Mr., 70
Priston, 170, 183, 217
Probus, 10, 106, 174
Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiq. Set., 257
Proceedings of the Cumberland and Wtst-
moreland Antiq. Soc., 67
Proceedings of the Lancashire and Cheshire
Hist. Sac., 205
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 5
Processional Crosses, 53-4
Pucklechurch, 200
Puddletown, 197, 198, 291
Pudsay, William, 178
Pudsey, Bishop, 179
Pugin's Glossary, 96
Pulborough, 223
Pulham, 114, 127, 197, 274
Pulham St. Mary Magdalen, 127
Pulham St. Mary Virgin, 127
Pulpits, 144-56
Pulpitum, 91, 95, 97, 102, 146
Pulley, 118
Puttenham, 271
Puxton, 158
Pyecombe, 64, 84, 164
Pylle, 237
Pytchley, 89, 128
Pyxes, 39-45
Quadring, 123, 183, 207, 208
Quantocks, The, 216
Quarrington, 272
Quatford, 215
Quatt, 215, 340
Queen Camel, 70, 135, 150, 217, 279
Queenborough, 122
Quethiock, 106
Quivil, Bishop, 283
Quorndon, 121
Quy, 104, 1 88
Rackheath, 127
Rackheath Magna, 170, 173, 183
Radbourne, 162, 195, 233, 267
RadclifFe-on-Wreake, 33
Radclive, 187
Raddington, 88, 135
Radnage, 62
Rainham, 173, 199, 305
Rame, 10, 193, 267
Rampisham, 26
Ramsbury, 49, 227
Ramsey, Essex, 77
Ramsey, Hunts, 51, 79, 81, 203, 340
Ranworth, 80, 125, 127
Raskelf, 282
Ratby, 206
RatcIiffe-on-Soar, 10, n, 19, 174, 214
Rattary, 196
Rattlesden, 138, 314
Rauceby, 10, 208, 272
Raunds, 129, 173, 211, 260, 274
Raveningham, 78
Ravensthorpe, 274, 301, 305
Reading, St. Laurence, 98, 99, 187, 264
St. Mary, 187, 243
Rearsby, 206
Redbourn, 77, 118, 119
Rede, 280
Redenhall, 81, 305
Redlingfield, 280
Redmire, 230
Reigate, 27, 139, 222
Reighton, 229
Reliquary, The, 185, 209, 222, 278, 302
Rendcombe, 47
Repps, 127
Repton, 10, 34
Reredoses, 20-7
Retables, 20, 21
Rewe, 268, 269
Ribchester, 121, 205
Richmond, 143, 230, 259, 261
Rickinghall Inferior, 220
Rickman, 109, 204
Ridgemont, 186
Ridley, 328
Ridlington, 210
Rievaulx Abbey, 60
Rillington, 229
Ringland, 127
Ringsfield, 138, 280
Ringstead, 13, 127, 314
Ripon, 3, 10, 91, 142, 258, 259, 261
Rippingale, 123
Ripple, 51, 141, 174, 261
Ripton, 62
Risby, 138, 220, 280
Risborough Priors, 187
Risley, 57, 108, 109, 195
Rites of Durham, 144, 254, 321
Robertson, Canon Scott, 98
Rochdale, 121
Roche, 5, 193
Rochester, 91-2, 120, 183, 257, 260, 325,
340
Rock, 212
Rock, Dr., 7, 48
Rockbeare, 114
Rodburgh, 152
Rodmersham, 12, 260
Rodney Stoke, 217
Rodwell, 139, 223
Roe, Mr., 12, 296,297, 298, 303, 304, 306,
308, 310,311, 312
Rogate, 223, 281, 315
Rogers, Mr. Clement F., 160, 161
Rollright, 130
Rolverden, 165, 170, 204
GENERAL INDEX
387
Romsey, 24, 61, 117, 118, 168, 201, 321,
347
Ronaldkirk, 143, 167-9
Rood Lights, 327-9
Rood Lofts, 83-143
Roos, 79, 279
Ropsby, 123, 208
Roscarrock family, 238, 265
Rose Ash, 1 14
Rossington, 114, 309
Rotherfield, 139, 223
Rotherfield Greys, 214
Rotherham, 68, 73, 143, 261
Rothersthorpe, 151, 314
Rotherwick, 271
Rothley, 122, 205, 206
Rothwell, 64, 70, 234, 260
Rottingdean, 223
Rouen, 171
Rougham, 280
Roughton, 210
Rousham, 131
Rowell, 328
Rowington, 13, 139, 223-4, 281, 292-3,
305, 3°9
Rowley Regis, 218
Rowlstone, 201, 329
Rowston, 123
Roxton, 102, 103
Royal Arms, 351-6
Ruckinge, 121
Rudgwick, 223
Rudham, 127
Rudstone, 229
Rugby, 292, 293, 305
Ruislip, 124, 208, 272, 312
Rumboldswyke, 61
Rumburgh, 137, 138, 153, 280
Runcorn, 105
Runton, 33, 210
Ruscombe, 103
Rushall, 127
Rushden, 129, 21 1
Rushmere, 280, 319
St. Andrew, 280
Rushton, All Saints, 177
Rustington, 139
Ruston, 210
Ruston-Parva, 229
Ruyton, 357
Ryarsh, 6 1
Rycote chapel, 286
Rye, 15, ioo, 139, 15°
Ryhall, 215
Ryton, 115
Sacheverell arms, 57
Sacombe, 158
"Sacrament Houses," 43
Saffron Walden, 199
Saham Toney, 34, 183, 274
St Albans, 20, 21, 26, 91, 92, "9. '62«
243, 247, 3I2> 3J3
Church History Exhibition, 54
st. Albans, St. Stephen's, 79,81
5t. Anne's, Soho, 327
St. Anthony, 33
St. Anthony-in-Kerrier, 178
St. Austell, 193, 267
St. Breock, 192, 193, 267
St. Breward, 8, 106, 193, 265, 266, 267,
355.
>t. Briavcls, 149, 346
St. Buryan, 106, 259, 266, 267
St. Catherine, 217
St. Cleer, 191, 193, 239
St Clether, 193
St. Columb Major, 166, 267
St. Constantine, 191, 192, 193
St. Cuthbert, 189, 193, 343-4
St. David's Cathedral, 31, 55, 86
St. Decuman, 135, 150, 217, 279
St. Edmund's, 34
St. Enoder, 267
St. Enodock, 106, 193, 239
St. Erney, 193
St. Eval, 267
St. Feock, 149, 193, 352
St. Gennys, 193
St. Germans, 106, 189, 193, 259
St. Govan, 170, 189, 193
St. Gulval, 193
St. Issey, 193, 238
St. Ive, 193, 237
St. Ives, 64, 106, 182, 193, 203, 259, 266,
267
St. John, 193
St. Kea, 189, 193
St. Keverne, 267
St. Kew, 106, 354
St. Keyne, 193
St. Leonard, 199
St. Levan, 106, 266, 267, 355
St. Mabyn, 191, 193
St. Margaret, 118
St. Martin, 19, 191
St. Martin-by-Love, 106
St. Mary Bourne, 168, 200, 349
St. Mellion, 106
St. Merryn, 190, 191, 192, 193, 355
St. Michael, 193
St. Michael's Mount, 106, 329
St. Minver, 106, 267, 354-5
St. Minver Morwenstow, 266, 267
St. Mori ice, Vienne, 96
St. Neot, 189, 239
St. Neot's, 1 19, 203
St. Nicholas-at-VVade, 329
St. Osyth, 199
St. Paul's Cray, 328
St. Piran, 262
St. Rnan Major, 106
St. Sampson, 189, 193, 267
St. Sennen, 355
St. Stephen, 190
St. Teath, 154, 19 «• 242. 243. *>$• »7
34°
St. Thomas Aeon, 337
388
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
St. Tudy, 193, 357
St. Veep, ii, 193
St. Weonard's, 118
St. Winnow, 106, 184, 193, 267
St. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, 2
Salford Priors, 152
Sale, ii
Salehurst, lo, 222, 223
Salford, 335
Salhouse, 127, 136, 158, 210, 272,
274
Salisbury Cathedral, 27, 31, 34, 42, 43,
47, 57, 140, 257, 261, 306, 314, 315,
317, 325, 331, 347
St. Martin, 81
St. Thomas, 261, 347
Sail, 33, 127, 169, 183, 232, 260, 306
Salley Abbey, 64
Salt, 136, 218
Saltash, 193, 239
Saltfleetby, 67, 272
All Saints, 123
Salthouse, 127, 210, 274
Salton-in-Ryedale, 306
Saltwood, 184, 200, 306
Salwarpe, 228
Sampford Brett, 279
Sampford Peverell, 114, 196
Sampson, Abbot of St. Edmund's, 146
Sancreed, 106
Sancroft, Archbishop, 48, 325
Sandal, 174
Sandbach, 177, 188, 189
Sandford, 150
Sandford Orcas, 279
Sandhurst, 163, 204
Sandhutton, 230
Sandiacre, 66, 68, 71, 195
Sandon, 77, 119, 136
Sand ridge, 84, 119, 202
Sandwich, 10, 98, 170
St. Clement's, 260
St. Mary, 204
Sandy, 186, 264
Sandys, Lord, 13,312
Santon Downham, 93, 100, 127, 274
Sapcote, 205, 206
Sarratt, 77, 202
Savoy, Chapel Royal, 159
Sawbridgeworth, 119, 202, 306
Sawley, 22, 26, 67, 107, 108, 153, 267,
306
Sawston, 104
Saxilby, 123
Saxlingham Thorpe, 58
Saxthorpe, 127
Scalby, 158
Scald well, 211
Scambler, Bishop, 151
Scarcliffe, 61, 306
Seaming, 127, 136
Scarrington, 174
Scartho, 208
Scatlow, 210
Scawton, 83, 230
Sco-Ruston, 274
Scotter, 123
Scottish Coronation Stone, 254
Scraptoft, 206
Screens and Rood-lofts, 82-143
Screveton, 213, 258, 260, 306, 356
Scrivelsby, 123
Scrope, Anne, Lady, 38
Scrope arms, 282
Scrope, Sir Robert, 38
Sculthorpe, 209, 210
Scale, 221
Seaton, 215, 314
Seaton Ross, 229
Seats and Benches, 261-82
Sedbergh, 231, 241,243
Sedburgh, Adam, 142
Sedgeberrow, 23, 27, 70, 141, 281
Sedgebrook, 123, 153
Sedgefield, 93, 115, 170, 198, 210, 259
Sedilta, 67-74
Sefton, 121, 149, 205, 235, 260, 271
St. Helen, 154
Selby, 22, 27, 143, 215, 231, 240, 243,
261, 315
Selby Abbey, 232
Selby, Sir William, 291
Selham, 222
Selling, 120
Selmeston, 10
Selsey, 223
Selwick, 225
Sel worthy, 77, 78, 133, 150, 158, 162,
217, 291
Semley, 227
Sempringham, 272
Send, 139, 280, 281, 291
Settrington, 229
Sevenoaks, 153, 204
Seven Sacrament Fonts, 168, 169
Severnstoke, 177
Sevington, 204
Seymour Arms, 268
Shadingfield, 319
Shaftesbury, 198
Shalden, 349
Shalbourne, 63, 187
Shalford, 100, 116
Shanklin, 306
Sharnbrook, 70, 103, 186
Sharrington, 274
Shaugh, 10
Shaugh Prior, 233
Shawbury, 152, 215
Shearsby, 122
Shebbear, 114
Sheepstor, 114, 196
Sheffield, 10, 146, 147
Sheldon, 114
Shelfanger, 127, 169, 170, 210
Shelford, 174, 259, 306
Shelley, 279, 280, 288
Shelsley-Beauchamp, 158
GENERAL INDEX
Shelsley Walsh, 140, 141
Shenfield, 116, 199
Shephall, 119
Shepreth, 188
Shepton Mallett, 217
Sherborne, 25-6, 114, 197, 198, 256, 259
^ St. John, 153, 200
Sherburn, 229
Sherburn Hospital, Chapel, 259
Shere, 139, 221, 223, 291, 296, 306
Shereford, 210
Sherford, 114
Sheringham, 127, 210, 234, 274
Shermanbury, 223
Shernborne, 34, 209, 210
Sherston, 227
Sheviock, 193, 239, 267
Shifnall, 132
Shilbottle, 212
Shillingford, 187
Shillingston, 198
Shillington, 102, 103, 264
Shilton, 214
Shingham, 127
Shipdham, 80, 81, 335, 356
Shirland, 340
Shirley, 33, 57
Shobden, 201
Shopland, 199
Shoreham, 120, 121
Shorne, 204
Shorwell, 17, 149, 158, 184, 340
Shottesbrook, 73, 187
Shotteswell, 3, 10, 27, 139, 224, 281
Shottisham, 280
Shotwick, 189
Shrewsbury, St. Giles, 215
St. Mary, 10, 327
Shrivenham, 186
Shustoke, 306
Shute, 114
Shutford, 131
Sibbertoft, 129, 21 1
Sibthorpe, 67, 76, 78, 174, 306
Sibsey, 208
Sibton, 138, 219
Sidbury, 246
Siddington, 105
Sigglesthorne, xo
Silchester, 117, 118, 155, 201
Silkstede, Prior, 149
Silkstone, 142, 143
Silk Willoughby, 123, 208, 272
Silton, 143, 261
Silverton, 114
Singleton, 281
Siston, 163
Sittingbourne, 170, 340
Skard, 179
Skeffington, 122
Skelton, 230, 231
Skendleby, 272
Skenfrith, 347
Skillington, 64
389
Skipton 93, 143,231,234,335
Skipwith, 141
Skirbeck, 174
Skirpenbeck, 229
Slapton, 114, 187
Slaugham, 78, 222, 223
Sleaford, 122, 123, 165, 208, 347
Slimbridge, 164
Slindon, 223, 281
Slingsby, 229
Slingsby, John, 18
Smallburgh, 127
Smarden, 26, 96, 121, 240
Smeaton, 230
Smisby, 23
Smith, Mr. Le Blanc, 171, 194, 213,
304
Snitterfield, 224, 281
Snitterton, 127
Snittesham, 149
Snailwell, 104
Snape, 220
Society of Antiquaries, 179, 250
Soham, 104, 259, 264
Solihull, 10, 23, 27, 224, 261
Somerby, 208
Somerleyton, 136, 138
Somershall, 218
Somershall, Herbert, 194, 195
Somersham, 62, 64
Somerton, 24, 27, 131, 152
Sompting, 223, 233, 315
Sopley, 152
Sotterley, 136, 138
Sotherton, 137, 138, 219
Soulbury, 264
Sourton, 114
South Acre, 126
South Barrow, 278
South Barsted, 301
South Brent, 278
South Burlingham, 81, 148
South Cadbury, 261
South Cave, 229
South Cockerington, 272
South Cove, 62, 137, 138, 219, 280,
319
South Cowton, 230
South Creake, 126, 149, 273
South Elmham, 22O
All Saints, 138, 280
South Harting, 97
South Hayling, 166, 200, aoi
South Huish, 113
South Kensington Museum, 33
South Kilvington, 170
South Leigh, 100, 131
South Littleton, 150, 227, 281
South Lopham, 304.
South Lynn, 127
South Milton, 112, 113
South Mimms, 77, 124, 208
South Molton, 149, 196
South Ockendon, 199
390 ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
South Ormsby, 184, 207
South Petherton, 17, 23
South Petherwin, 106
South Pool, 77, in, 114, 196
South Rainham, 127
South Redenhall, 127
South Repps, 125, 288
South Somercotes, 123, 208, 272
South Stoke, II
South Walsham, 127
St. Mary, 272, 274, 319
South Warnborough, 117, 118
South Willingham, 123
South Wootton, 209, 210
Southacre, 184, 210, 219, 233, 306
Southam, 150
Southampton, Holy Rood, 81
St. Michael's, 81, 168, 200, 340
Southdrop, 200
Southfleet, 204, 260
Sou thill, 189, 191
Southleigh, 61
Southoe, 271
Southover, 223
Southwell, 70, 79, 81, 91, 129, 156, 256,
260, 327
Southwold, 66, 68, 70, 72, T36, 137, 138,
169, 261, 299, 306
Spalding, 123
Spaldwick, 63, 119
Sparham, 127, 274
Sparsholt, 80, 103, 186
Spaxton, 243, 276, 278, 279
Speeton, 229, 244
Spemithorpe, 70
Spetchley, 306
Spetisbury, R. C. Church, 114
Spexhall, 66
Spondon, 57, 79, 108, 314, 315
Spoons, 48-9
Spratton, 70, 211, 274
Springfield, 116
Sprixworth, 127
Sprotborough, 143, 252, 261
Sproughton, 280
Spurston, 105
Stadhampton, 152
Stagsden, 103, 186
Stainburn, 230, 231
Staindrop, 93, 115, 170, 198, 259, 306
Stafford, St. Chad, 306
St. Mary, 165, 183, 217, 218
Stafford, West, 198
Stalham, 127, 158, 205
Stalisfield, 120, 121
Stalls and Misericords, 255-61
Stamford, 243, 260
St. John, 123
Stamford, Baron, 21 1
Stamford, Brown's Hosp., 272
Stamford Mercury, 131
Stanbridge, 186
Standish, 205
Standon, 202, 306
Stanfield, 127
Stanford, 129
Stanford-in-the-Vale, 162
Stanford-le-Hope, 116, 199
Stanground, 203, 271, 336
Stanhope, 259
Stansfield, 280
Stanton, 138, 270
Stanton, All Saints, 149, 208, 280
Stanton, Bishop, 250
Stanton, Fitzwarren, 177, 184, 226, 227
Stanton Harcourt, 78, 92, 100, 130, 131,
170, 214, 236
Stanton, St. John, n, 131, 275
St. Quinton, 227
Stan ton-on- Wold, 213
Stanwell, 256, 260
Stanwick, 211, 274
Staple, 204
Stapleford, 214
Staunton, 118, 129, 130, 149, 200, 208,
228
Staunton, Harold, 327
Staveley, 77, 108, 195
Staverton, 114
Steane, 17
Stebbing, 84, 85, 115, 116, 162
Stedham, 174
Steeple Aston, 275, 345
Steeple Langford, 227
Stephen, 2
Stephen, Professor, 179
Stepingleigh, 186
Stetch worth, 188
Stevenage, 26, 119, 202, 260
Steventon, 70, 187, 264
Stevington, 103, 186
Stewkley, 187
Steyning, 139
Stibbington, 203
Stidd, 121, 170, 205, 306
Stifford, 199
Stillington, 230
Stixwold, 123, 184, 207, 208
Stock, 198, 199
Stockbridge, 200
Stockerston, 271
Stockleigh Pomeroy, 114
Stockport, 259
Stockton, 84, 140, 227
Stody, 209, 210
Stogumber, 262, 279
Stoke Albany, 175
Stoke-by-Nayland, 170, 261, 280
Stoke Canon, 195, 196
Stoke Charity, 200
Stoke Coursey, 217
Stoke d'Abernon, 81, 158, 222, 294, 303,
306
Stoke Dry, 131, 275
Stoke Gabriel, 1 14
Stoke Gayland, 198
Stoke Golding, 122, 206
Stoke Goldington, 187
GENERAL INDEX
39i
Stoke Hammond, 103, 187, 243
Stoke-in-Teignhead, in, 114
Stoke Lacy, 118
Stoke Nectan, 149
Stoke Pogis, 264
Stoke Prior, 33
Stoke Regis, 187
Stoke Rivers, 114
Stoke St. Gregory, 150, 279
Stoke St. Milborough, 215
Stoke-sub-Hamdon, 135
Stokenchurch, 131
Stokenham, no, 114
Stokesay, 215, 286
Stokesby, 272, 274
Stoley, 169
Stondon Massey, 88, 116
Stone, 187
Stonegrave, 142
Stoneleigh, 177, 224
Stonesby, 206
Stonham Aspall, 152, 261, 300, 306
Stonton Wyville, 59
Stotfold, 186
Stottesden, 215
Stoulton, 347
Stourmouth, 204
Stourton Caundle, 149
Stow, 207, 208
Stow-by- Wai ton, 18
Stow-with-Quy, 104, 188
Stowe, 218
Stowe Longa, 33
Stowlangtoft, 138, 261, 280
Stowmarket, 280
Stradishall, 280
Strange, Mr. E. F., 125
Stranton, 259
Stratfield Sturgis, 200
Stratford, Essex, 164
Stratford-on-Avon, 70, 139, 261, 288, 340
Stratford Toney, 63, 184
Stratton, 193
Streatley, 185, 186
Strelley, 129, 130, 150, 214
Strensham, 140, 141, 281
Stretford, 118
Stretham, 104
Stretton, 264
Stretton Parva, 271
Stretton Sugwas, 201
Strixton, 129, 158
Strubby, 207, 208, 272
Strumpshaw, 125, 127, 2IO, 319
Studham, 185, 186
Studley, 19, 306
Stuntney, 188
Sturminster Marshall, 33, 115. 259
Sturton, 260
Suckley, 154, 155- 263. 281
Suckling's History of Su/olk, 80, l»o
Suckling's Papers, 198
Sudbury, 48
All Saints, 138, 150
Sudbury, St. Gregory, 2-52, 261
St. Peter, 138
Sudbury's Hutch, 309
Sudbury, Thos., 309
Suffield, 27, 34
Sulhampstead Abbas, 186
Sullington, 223, 315
Sunningwell, 13, 264
Surfleet, 208
Surrey Arch. Coll., 291
Sussex Arch. Coll., 222
Sustead, 127
Sutcombe, 114, 150, 269
Sutton, Bedford, 186
Sutton, Cambs., 64, 264
Sutton, Norfolk, 90, 158
Sutton, Northants, 127, 211
Sutton, Suffolk, 220, 280
Sutton, Sussex, 223, 281
Sutton, Yorks., 27, 141, 229
Sutton, Coldfield, 224
Sutton-at-Howe, 149
Sutton Benger, 347
Sutton Bonnington, St. Michael's, 172,
173, 214, 262
Sutton Courtney, 103, 186, 259, 336
Sutton-in-Holdemess, 143
Sutton Mandeville, 153
Sutton St. Mary, 214, 243, 335
Swaffham, 127, 274, 335
Swatield, 125, 127
Swalcliffe, 130
Swalecliffe, 204
Swanscombe, 81, 121, 162, 204
Swans wick, 217
Swanton Abbot, 125, 127, 274
Swanton Morley, 127
Swanton Novers, 210, 274
Swarby, 155
Swardeston, 127
Swaton, 81, 123, 260
Swavesey, 188
Swaynton, 207, 208
Swefling, 58
Sweyne, 253
Swillington, 279
Swimbridge, no, III, "4. '49. '6a« 233
Swinbrook, 130, 150, 261, 275
Swine, 141, 142, H3« 261
Swineshead, 11, 63, 119, 122, 123. a7»
Swinneiton, 136
Swithland, 327
Sydenham, 131
Syerston, 152
Syleham, 280
Sympson, Dr. Manse!, IM
Syresham, 21 1
Syston, 33
Table Book, 247
Tackley, 65
Taconeston, 127
Taddington, 79, 19$
Tadmarton, 214
392
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Talaton, 109
Talland, 19, 106, 193, 267
Tamerton, 149, 267
Tamerton Foliot, 1 14
Tangley, 164
Tangmere, II, 223
Tankersley, 231
Tansor, 129, 211, 257, 260, 274
Tanworth, 293, 306
Tarrant Hinton, 76, 77
Tarring Nevill, 1 1
Tasley, 132
Tattershall, 122, 123, 149, 260, 272
Taunton, 24, 132, 217, 278
Taverham, 127
Tavistock, 268, 269, 340
Tawstock, 114, 158, 196
Taynton, 214
Tebay, 225
Tedburn, 347
Tedstone Delamere, 118
Teffont Ewyas, 47
Tempsford, 70, 103
Ten Commandments, 356-7
Terrington St. Clement, n, 184, 210, 232,
306, 356
Tessingham, 210
Tetcote, 196
Tettenhall, 136, 292
Teversall, 286
Teversham, 104
Tew, 275
Tewkesbury, n, 44, 68, 116, 259
Teynham, 121
Thakeham, 139, 223
Thame, 214, 261
Thames Ditton, 221
Thanet, St. Laurence, 120, 121
St. Peter, 120
Thatcham, 187
Thaxted, 149, 162, 199, 233
Theberton, 150, 219
Theddingworth, 271
Theddlethorpe, n, 208, 271, 272
Thelveton, 210
Therfield, 202
Thetford, St. Cuthbert, 127
St. Peter, 127
Theydon Garnon, 50
Thirsk, 142, 143, 230, 232, 282
Thomas, Archdeacon, 94
Thomford, 114
Thompson, 58, 260, 274
Thorington, 210, 280
Thorley, 237
Thornage, 38
Thornbury, 149, 199, 200
Thornby, 211
Thorndon, 280
Thome, 231
Thornefalcon, 279
Thorngumbald, 229
Thornham, 127,223, 274
Thornton Curtis, 168, 207, 208
Thornton Dale, 230
Thornton Steward, 230
Thoroton, 213
Thorpe, Derby, 194, 195
Thorpe, Lincoln, 207
Thorpe, Suffolk, 220, 280
Thorpe Abbots, 127
Thorpe Arnold, 63, 205, 206
Thorpe-by-Newark, 213, 236, 238
Thorpe Langton, 271
Thorpe St. Peter, 123, 208, 272
Thorpe Salvin, 230, 231
Thrandeston, 138, 280
Threckingham, 184, 207, 208, 271, 272
Threxton, 127, 274
Thriplow, 188, 264
Thrones and Chairs, 248-55
Throwleigh, 114
Throwley, 260
Thunderley, 199
Thurcaston, 92, 121, 122, 130
Thurgarton, II, 34, 260, 275
Thurlby-by-Newark, 272
Thurleigh, 264
Thurleston, 80, 114, 149
Thurlow, 138, 280, 288
Thurlton, 127
Thurnby, 206
Thurne, 20, 26
Thurnham, 54
Thurning, 149
Thurrock Grange, 116
Thursley, 221
Thuxton, 20 1
Tibenham, 127
Ticehurst, 232
Tickencote, 215
Tickenham, II, 216, 217
Tickhill, 231
Ticknall, 57
Tidenham, 163, 199, 200
Tideswell, u, 22, 26, 68, 71, 107, 259
Tidmarsh, 70
Tiffield, 211
Tilbrook, 102, 103, 119
Tilney All Saints, 127, 184, 260
Tilshead, 227
Tilstock, 306, 330, 340
Tilston, 189
Tilsworth, 186
Tilton, 206
Timberscombe, 133, 135
Timsbury, 155
Tingrith, 185, 186
Tintagel, 3, II, 106, 190, 191, 193, 262,
266
Tintinhull, 85, 135, 279
Tisbury, 227
Tissington, 194, 195
Titchborne, 3, II
Titchcombe, 149
Tithby, 174, 307
Tittleshall, 34
Tiverton, 112, 217
GENERAL INDEX
393
Tivetshall, 127
Todbere, n
Toddington, n
Toft, 264
Toft Monks, 127
Toftrees, 209, 210
Toller Fratrum, 196
Tollerton, 61
Tollesbury, 185
Toners Puddle, 270
Tong, Kent, 121
Tong, Salop, 11, 37, 131, 132, 256, 261,
335, 347
Torbryan, 112, 114, 149
Torpenhow, 194
Torrington, 195, 268
Tortington, 223, 281
Tostock, 280
Totnes, 34, 112, 113, 149, 196, 335
Totternhoe, 264
Tottington, 128
Touvnay quarries, the, 167
Towcester, 211, 340
Towersey, 61
Tower, the, 163
Townstal, 13
Treborough, 65, 66, 150, 217
Trent, 114, 115, 135,279
Trentham, 136
Trevalga, 193
Trevose, 191
Treyford, n
Trimingham, 125, 127
Tring, 77
Triplow, 104
Troston, 138, 280
Trowbridge, 227
Trull, 135, 150, 262, 278, 279
Trumpington, 64, 65, 104, 187, 188
Trunch, 125, 126, 127, 161, 210, 235, 260,
274
Trusham, 114
Trusley, 347
Tuddenham, 34, 127, 150, 220
Tuddenham St. Martin, 280
St. Mary, 280
Tugby, 149
Tunstall, 229
Tunstead, 90, 125, 127, 274
Tunworth, 242, 243
Turners Puddle, 197
Turton, 335
Turvey, 70, 186, 187, 218
Tuttington, 34
Twyford, 34, 206
Twywell, 77
Tydd, 1 88
Tysoe, 224, 281
Tywardreath, II, 106, 267
Ubbeston, 41, 247, 261, 328
Ubley, 340
Uffculme, 1 10, 114
Uffington, ii, 73
Ufford, 63, 138, 170, 211, 220, 232, 262,
274, 280
Ugborough, 112, 114, 196
Uggeshall, 62, 219
Ugglebarnby, 35
Ulceby, 123
Ulcombe, 204
Uldale, 58
Ullenhall, 224
Upchurch, 121,260
Uphill, 217
Upminster, 116, 199
Upper Broughton, 214
Upper Cressett, 215
Upper Donhead, 15, 227
Uppington, 215
Upton, 13,61, 103, 125, 127, 187,203, 210,
307. 3^5
Upton Grey, 201, 316
Upton Magna, 291, 340
Upton Scudamore, 225
Upton Snodsbury, 140, 141, 227, 307
Upwaltham, 223, 281
Up way, 115
Upwell, 127
Urchfont, 27
Usk, 124
Utterby, 155
Vallance, Mr. Aymer, 54, 83, 89, 96, 119,
120, 327
Vetusta Monumenta, 232
Victoria and Albert Museum, 7, 25, 54,
324. 344
Victoria County History , Durham, 1 66
Victoria County History ', Hants, 166
Victoria County History, Norfolk, 125, 209
Victoria County History, A'ortkants, 80
Victoria County History, Surrey, 139
Vision of Piers Ploughman^ 282
Vouneuil-sous-Biard, 3
Vowchurch, 38
Waberthwaite, 194
Waddesdon, 187
Wakefield, 143, 174, 261
Walberswick, 40, 307
Walberton, 223
Walcot, Lines., 208, 271
Walcot, Norfolk, 127, 209, 2IO
Waldingfield, 280
Waldon, St. Paul's, 119
Waldron, 1 1, 223
Walford, 200, 202
Walgrave, 224, 340
Walkeringham, 130
Walkerne, 119
Wallasey, 189
Wallington, 1 19
Walmer, 33
Walmsley, 336
Walpole St. Andrew, 146, 159
Walpole St. Peter, 127. »&4. «34. *43» »*>.
274
394 ENGLISH CHURCH FlfRNITURE
Walsham-le- Willows, 138, 280
Walsingham, 149, 184, 210
Walsoken, 79, 127, 169, 184, 210, 219, 260
Walter of York, Archbishop, 49
Waltham, 66, 91, 116
Waltham of Salisbury, Bishop, 43
Waltham -on-the- Wolds, 206
Walton, Lanes., 205
Walton, Suffolk, 138
Walton-on-Thames, 291
Walton-on-the-Hill, 78, 163, 204,205,221
Walworth, St. Peter's, 49
Wanborough, 139
Wanderford, 210
Wangford, 153, 352
Wansford, 210, 211
Wantage, 57, 186, 259, 264, 347
Wantisden, 280
War borough, 131, 163
Warboys, 203
Warbstow, 192, 193
Wardington, 131
Wardour, 345
Ware, 119, 202
Wareham, 163, 197, 210, 321
Warfield, 103
Warkleigh, 43, 74, 114
Warkworth, 274
Warkworth Hermitage, 2
Warlingham, 222
Warminghurst, 234
Warmington, 3, u, 62, 129, 150, 262
Warmwell, 197
Warnham, 139, 223
Warrington, 353
Warton, 205
Warwick, 66, 78, 139, 299, 336
Washfield, HI, 114
Water Newton, 203
Waterbeach, II
Waterfall, 136
Waterless, 188
Watford, 78, 119
Wath, 297, 307
Watlington, 126, 127
Watten, 119
Wattenhoe, 21 1
Wattisfield, 138, 280
Walton, Herts, 307
Watton, Norfolk, 241, 242, 243
Walton, Yorks., 141
Wavendon, 64
Waverley Abbey, 321
Wawne, 229
Waxham, 319
Way, Mr. Albert, 48
Wear Gifford, 195, 196
Weathersfield, 116
Weaverthorpe, 229
Weddington, 224
Wedmore, 81
Wednesbury, 152
Week Si. Pancras, 269
Weeting, 127
Weir Gifford, 269
Welby, 123, 272
Welcombe, 114, 150
Welford, 186, 200
Welham, 17
Welland, 37
Wellingborough, 19, 129, 260, 324
Wellingham, 127
Wellingore, 68, 73
Wellington, 24, 27, 243
Wellow, Notts., 213
Wellow, Somerset, 135, 165, 216, 279
Wells, n, 23, 27, 45, 54, 78, Si, 91, 92,
127, 135, 146, 255, 261, 317
Welsh Newton, 84
Welwick, 141, 143, 229
Wem, 247, 300, 307
Wembury, 236
Wem Gifford, 114
Wendens Ambo, 116
Wendling, 127
Wendon, 116, 149
Wendover, 103
Wenhaston, 87
Wenlock, 3, 79, 8 1
Wennington, 307
Wensley, 143, 174, 184, 230, 244, 261,
282, 285
Wentworlh, 187, 188
Wesenham, 127
Wesl Alvington, 77, 109
West Barsham, 349
West Bradenham, 210
West Bridgford, 64, 70, 130
West Bromwich, 218
West Buckland, 217, 279
West Camel, 279
West Challow, 33, 103
West Chelborough, 197
West Clandon, 221
West Dean, 223
West Deeping, 123, 1*70, 207, 208
West Draylon, 33, 38, 208
Wesl Ferring, 223
West Grinstead, 41, 223, 227, 229, 292
303
West Haddon, 210, 211, 304
West Hallam, 195
West Hampnett, 174
West Hading, 304, 354
West Harnham, 140
West Hendred, 304
West Horsley, 139, 221, 261, 304
West Kirby, 70
West Lee, 161
West Lynn, 169, 273
West Mersea, 167
West Molesey, 222
West Peckham, 204
West Pennard, 135, 152
West Potterne, 150
West Putford, 20, 269
West Rounton, 230
West Shefford, 59, 186
GENERAL INDEX
395
West Somerton, 149
West Stafford, 114
West Tarring, 139, 261
West Theddlethorpe, 122
West Thorney, 139, 222
West Tofts, 127, 274
West Torrington, 123, 208
West Wickham, 104, 121
West Wittering, 222
Westbere, 271
Westborough, 4, n, 123, 315
Westbourne, 34
Westbury-on-Trym, 289
Westcote Barton, 131
Westerham, 204
Westerleigh, 199, 200
Westhall, 65, 136, 137, 138, 169, 261, 280
Westham, II, 139, 223
Westleton, 22, 27, 219, 261, 280
Westley, 188
Westminster Abbey, 3, 7, 21, 24, 26, 70,
124, 258, 293, 296, 307, 317, 325, 345,
350
Westminster Abbey and the King's Craftt-
men, 24
Coronation Chair, 254
Henry VIII. Chapel, 23, 26, 257, 260
Jerusalem Chamber, 24, 26
St. Edmund's Chapel, 26
St. Margaret's Chapel, 34, 43, 47
St. Stephen's Chapel, 336
The Palace, 49
Weston, Line., 207, 208
Weston, Norfolk, II, 327
Weston, Suffolk, 169, 220
Weston Favell, 129, 159, 350
Weston-in-Gordano, 145, 261, 289
Weston Longueville, n, 127
Weston-on-Trent, 152, 267
Weston Turville, 103, 264
Weston-under Weatherley, 224
Weston Underwood, 187
Weston Zoyland, 13, 47, 279
Westow, 229
Westward, 37
Westwell, Kent, 73, 84, 120, 121, 162,
327
Westwell, Oxon., 165, 214
Westwick, 125, 127, 210
Wetheral, 311
Wetheringsett, 280
Wey bourne, 274
Whaddon, Bucks., 187, 247
Whaddon, Cambs., 104, 188
Whaddon, Wilts., 226
Whalley, 121, 170, 205, 260, 285
Whaplode, 11
Wharram-le-Street, 229
Wharram, Percy, 229
Whatcote, 224
Whatton, 174, 229
Wheatacre, 127
Wheatfield, 11
Wheathampstead, 26, 66, 81, 119. '49. 26°
Whenley, 143
Whickham, 350
Whimple, 114
Whissendine, II
Whitbeck, 33, 58, 194
Whitchurch, Dorset, 198
Whitchurch, Salop., 330, 336, 340
Whitchurch C'anicorum, 197
White Waltham, 24, 62, 64
Whitestaunton, 135, 278, 279
Whitford, 114
Whitson, 208
Whilscombc, 197
Whitstone, 193
Whittlesea, 70, 104
Whittlesea Mere, 51
Whittlesford, 24, 104, 188
Whitwell, II, 14, 70
Whitwick, 206
Whitworth, Rev. R. H., 156
Whixall, 173
Whorlton, 230
Wicken Bonant, 199
Wickenby, 123
Wickham Market, 220
Wickhambrook, 220
Wickhamford, 141, 150, 227, 281
Wickmere, 127, 240, 243, 274
Wichnor, 218
Widecombe-le-Moors, 112, 114
Widford, 150
Wigan, 205, 307
Wiggenhall, II, 81, 127, 159, 260, 263,
274' 340
Wight, Isle of, 14, 17
Wighton, 127
Wigmore, 97, 259
Wigtoft, 123, 239, 337
Wilburton, 104, 188
Wilder, 186
Willand, 114
Willemin's Monuments, 121
Willerby, 229
Willesborough, 74
Williams, Archbishop, of York, 18
Williams, Sir Charles, 154
Willingale Doe, 199
Willingale Spain, 199
Willingdon, 222, 223, 307
Willingham, 104, 148
Willington, 263, 264
Willisham, 220
Willoughby, 224
Willoughby arms, 57, 107, 108, 195
Willoughby, Sir John, 108
Wilmington, 223
Wilmslow, 105, 173, l8«, 189
Wilne, 108, 109, 167, 195, ay*, y>7
Wilsford, 64, 208, 272
Wilts. Archaologual Sac. Afa^autu, 186,
225, 226, 227, 254
Wimbi-h, 116
Wimborne, 17, 80, 259, 29*. 3°7» 33°
Wimbotsham, 272, 273
396
ENGLISH CHURCH FURNITURE
Wimpole, 188
Winchcombe, 116, 149, 243, 348
Winchelsea, 70
Winchelsea, Archbishop, 164
Winchester Cathedral, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26,
56, 58, 81, 96, 118, 149, 167, 168, 200,
218, 256, 259, 265, 270, 271, 311, 342
College, 259
Council of, 2
St. Cross, 25, 118, 259
St. John's, 77, 118
Winchfield, 19, 61, 153, 200, 271
Windsor, 243, 258
St. George's Chapel, 47, 56, 240, 257,
259
Winestead, 141, 143
Wing, 103, 187, 264
Wingate, 260
Wingerworth, 87, 109
Wingfield, 138, 261
Wingham, 95, 96, 121
Winkburn, 213
Winkbury, 130
Winsford, 217
Winsham, 135, 279
Winster, 195
Winston, 198, 261, 280
Winterborne, 149, 186
Winterborne Abbas, 197
Winterborne Came, 115, 198
Winterborne Monkton, 27, 115
Winterborne St. Martin, 197
Winterborne Stickland, 115
Winterborne Whitchurch, 170
Winterborne Zebston, 198
Winteringham, 100, 141, 142, 229
Winthorpe, 123, 260, 272
Winwick, 205, 211, 260, 274
Wirksworth, 174, 175, 195, 235
Wistanstow, 214, 357
Wissett, 41, 219, 280, 328
Wiston, Hunts, 64, 119
Wiston, Suffolk, 170
Wistow, 64, 203
Witcham, 64, 148, 149, 187, 188
Witham, 116
Witham-on-the-Hill, 260
Witheridge, 149
Witherley, 271
Withersfield, 136, 138, 280
Withington, 118
Withybrook, 78
Withycombe, 133, 134, 135, 217
Withypool, 217
Witley, 139, 221
Witnesham, 220
Wittering, 261
Witton, 149, 189
Witton-le-Wear, 198
Wivelsfield, 315
Wix, 352
Woking, 221, 281, 291
Wokingham, 186, 187, 227
Wolborough, 112, 114
Wold Newton, 184, 207, 208
Wolferton, 127, 274
Wolfhamcote, 139
Wolingworth, 232
Wollaton, 214
Wolsey, Cardinal, 311, 312
Wolston, 224
Wolvercote, 150, 159
Wolverhampton, 16, 136, 144, 145, 150,
218, 290
Wolverley, 340
Wolverton, Hants, 156
Wolverton, Warwicks., 78, 139, 224
Wombwell, Sir George O., 147
Womersley, 231
Wood Dalling, 34
Wood Ditton, 104, 264
Woodborough, 13, 130, 213
Woodbridge, 136, 138, 169, 220
Woodbury, 88, 114
Woodchurch, Chester, 105, 170, 188, 189,
259, 264
Woodchurch, Kent, 203
Woode, John, 13
Woode, Robert, 13
Woodford, 150, 211, 274
Woodham Ferrers, 116
Woodham Ferris, 199
Woodhouse, 271
Woodland, 196
Woodleigh, 77
Wool, 84, 114, 198, 321, 348
Woolbeding, 6l, 223
Woolborough, 196
Woolfardisworthy, 196, 269
Woolhampton, 186
Woolpit, 138, 280
Woolstone, 164
Wootton, Beds., 103
Wootton Courtney, 238
Wootton Glanville, 198
Wootton, Kent, 243, 271
Wootton, Oxon., 214
Wootton Wa wen, 139, 150, 224, 281, 293,
307, 340
Worcester, All Saints, 340
Cathedral, 12, 27, 34, 141, 150, 255,
256, 258, 259, 261, 348
St. Albans, 228
Wordwell, 280
Worfiekl, 214
Work, 261
Workington, 194
Worle, 261
Worlingworth, 177
Wormleighton, 139, 281
Wormley, 202
Worplesdon, 221, 261
Worstead, 25, 26, 125, 126, 127, 210, 232,
274, 288
Worth, Dorset, 157
Worth, Sussex, 139, 151, 223, 290, 307
Wortham, 220
Would ham, 120
GENERAL INDEX
397
Wragley, 231
Wrangle, 185
Wraxhall, 217, 279, 289
Wren, Bishop, 18, 48, «, c6
Wi * JJi J"
rentham, 319
Wrestlingworth, 186
Wright On Archaological Subjects, 259
Wrington, 135, 140
Writtle, 77, 198, 199, 270
Wrotham, 95, 121, 204
Wroughton, 70
Wroxeter, 78, 167
Wroxton, 214
Wyberton, 123
Wybunbury, 170, 189
Wychling, 164
Wyddial, 119
Wye, 204
Wyfordby, 206
Wyke, Hants, 33
Wyke, Wilts., 33
Wykeham, William of, 38, 49, 53, 55, 56, 58
Wylye, 34
Wymeswold, 33, 43
Wymondham, 34, 124, 210, 340
Wynford, 61
Wyre Piddle, 227
Wysall, 100, 130, 150, 174, 213, 214, 260
Wytham-on-Hill, 208
Wyverstone, 41, 159, 280
Yapham, 229
Yapton, 222, 223
Yarborough, 123, 272
Yarlington, 217
Yarmouth, 14, 26, 159, 336
Yarn ton, 24, 27, 131
Yarpole, 215
Yate, 165, 199, 200, 270
Yateley, 37, 201
Yatesbury, 225, 227
Yattendon, 187
Yatton, 65, 85, 322
Yatton Key n ell, 140
Yaxham, 210
Yaxley, 119, 138, 139, 280
Yealmpton, 70, 197
Yeldham, 116
Yelford, 131
Yelling, 119
Yelvertoft, 274
Yelverton, 127
Yeovil, 78, 81
Yetford, 127
Yetminster, 115, 270
York, All Saints, u, 81
Minster, 7, 27, 30, 31, 34, $6, 78, 8l,
91, 142, 254, 297, 298, 307, 310, 316,
321, 325. 340
Museum, 228, 238
St. Crux, 81, 340
St. Martin, 105
St. Mary's Abbey, 238
St. Mary's Bishopshill, 348
St. Mary's Castlegate, 256, 261
St. Michael, n
St. Saviour, 261
Youlgreave, 171, 172,194. '95
Yoxford, 138, 219, 237
Zennor, 193, 266, 267
Zouch, Lord, 162
Abbey Square Sketch Books, 80, 105, 143, 259, 271, 272
Architectural Association Sketch Books, 13, 105, 123, 129, 131, 152, 153, 155, 159, 232,
259, 267, 274, 275, 288, 303
John o' Gaunt Sketch Books, 54, 12 1, 129, 259, 260, 307
Spring Gardens Sketch Books, 78, 81, 103, 113, 116, 123, 126, 130, 131, 135, 136, 139.
140, 143, 260, 261, 267, 270, 273, 290, 303, 305, 307, 327
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WEDDING DAY, THE. C. N. and A. M.
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COUNT'S CHAUFFEUR, THE.
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DERRICK VAUGHAN, NOVELIST.
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LONE PINS. R. B. Townshend.
LOVE PIRATE, THE. C. N. and A. M.
Williamson.
MASTER OF MEN. E. Phillips Oppenheim.
MISER HOADLBY'S SBCRF.T. A. W. March-
mont.
MIXED MARRIAGE, A. Mrs. F. E. Penny.
MOMENT'S ERROR, A A. W. Marchmont.
MOTHER'S SON, A. B. and C B. Fry.
PETER, A PARASITE. E. Maria AlbanesL
POMP OF THE LAVILETTES, THE. Sir Gilbert
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PRINCESS VIRGINIA, THE. C. N. and A. M.
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