Hour-glass Frame, Shawell Church, Isle of Wight.Hour-glass Frame, Shawell Church, Isle of Wight.
To the close of the sixteenth century the mode of pewing with open low-backed seats continued to prevail; the ends of these seats were not covered with tracery or arched panel-work, but were plain, though they sometimes terminated with a finial. In the nave of Stanton St. John Church, Oxfordshire, are some old open pews or seats, apparently of the reign of Henry the Eighth, the backs of which are divided diamond-wise, and form a kind of lattice-work, and the ends terminate in grotesque heads. In Harrington Church, Worcestershire, are some open seats of plain workmanship, bearing the date of 1582. The church of Sunningwell, Berkshire, is fitted up with a range of open seats on each side of the nave, without any ornament, with the exception of a large carved finial at the end of each seat. In Cowley Church, near Oxford, are open seats of the date of 1632, which have at the ends finials carved in the shallow angular designs of that period. All these seats are appropriately placed, or disposed facing the east, and none are turned with the backs towards thealtar230-*.Aboutthe commencement of the seventeenth century our churches began to be disfigured by the introduction of high pews, an innovation which did not escape censure; for, as Weaver observes, “Many monuments of the dead in churches in and about this citie of London, as also in some places in the countrey, are covered with seates or pewes, made high and easie for the parishioners to sit or sleepe in; a fashion of no long continuance, and worthy ofreformation231-*.” The high pews set up in the early part of this century are easily distinguished by the flat and shallow carved scroll and arabesque work with which the sides and doors are covered. In the directions given on the primary visitation of Wren, bishop of Norwich, A. D. 1636, we find an order “thatthe chancels and alleys in the church be not encroached upon by building of seats; and if any be so built, the same to be removed and taken away; and that no pews be made over high, so that they which be in them cannot be seen how they behave themselves, or the prospect of the church or chancel be hindered; and therefore that all pews which within do much exceed a yard in height be taken down near to that scantling, unless the bishop by his own inspection, or by the view of some special commissioner, shall otherwise allow.”
From a paper found among secretary Cecil’sMSS.232-*,it appears that in 1564 some ministers performed divine service and prayers in the chancel, others in the body of the church, and somein a seat made in the church; and in the parochial accounts of St. Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury, A. D. 1577, is an entry “for coloringe the curate’s pew and dask;” but no public notice of the modern reading desk, or, as it was called, the“reading pew,” occurs till 1603, when, in the ecclesiastical canons then framed, it was enjoined that besides the pulpit a fitting or convenient seat should be constructed for the minister to read service in; and in allusion to the reading desk, Bishop Sparrow, in his Rationale of the Book of Common Prayer, observes, “This was the ancient custom of the church of England, that the priest who did officiate in all those parts of the service which were directed to the people turned himself towards them, as in the absolution; but in those parts of the office which were directed to God immediately, as prayers, hymns, lauds, confessions of faith or sins, he turned from the people; and for that purpose, in many parish churches of late, the reading pew had one desk for the Bible, looking towards the people to the body of the church, another for the prayer-book, looking towards the east or upper end of the chancel. And very reasonable was this usage; for when the people was spoken to it was fit to look towards them, but when God was spoken to it was fit to turn from the people.” And so he goes on to explain the custom of turning to the east in public prayer.
In Bishop Wren’s directions it was enjoined that the minister’s reading desk should not standwith the back towards the chancel, nor too remote or far from it.
The double reading desk is still occasionally met with, as in East Ilsley Church, Berkshire, where is a kind of double reading desk so that the minister can turn himself either towards the west or south. In Priors Salford Church, Warwickshire, is an old carved reading pew bearing the date of its construction, 1616; and in St. Peter’s Church, Dorchester, Dorsetshire, and in Sherbourne Church, in the same county, are reading pews which evidently, from the style and the carved work with which they are covered, were constructed in the early part of the seventeenth century.
The enclosing of the communion table in the church of Stow, in the county of Norfolk, by rails, about the year 1622, is noticed by Weaver, who states that the vicar and churchwardens pulled down a tomb to make room for the rail.
In Bishop Wren’s diocesan directions it was ordered that the communion table in every church should always stand close under the east wall of the chancel, the ends thereof north and south, and that the rail should be made before it, reaching up from the north wall to the south wall,near one yard in height, so thick with pillars that dogs might not get in.
But we find the situation of the altar or communion table, and the reason of its severance by means of rails, more particularly noticed in the canons entertained by the convocation held in 1640. In these (after an allusion to the fact that many had been misled against the rites and ceremonies of the church of England, and had taken offence at the same upon an unjust supposal that they were introductive unto popish superstitions, whereas they had been duly and ordinarily practised by the whole church during a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and that though since that time they had by subtle practices begun to fall into disuse, and in place thereof other foreign and unfitting usages by little and little to creep in, yet in the royal chapels and many other churches most of them had been ever constantly used and observed) it was declared that the standing of the communion table sideway under the east window of every chancel was in its own natureindifferent235-*;yet as it had beenordered by the injunctions of Queen Elizabeth that the holy tables should stand in the places where the altars stood, it was judged fit and convenient that all churches should conform themselves in this particular to the example of the cathedral and mother churches; and it was declared that this situation of the holy table did not imply that it was or ought to be esteemed a true and proper altar, whereon Christ was again really sacrificed; but that it was and might be called an altar, in that sense in which the primitive church called it an altar, and in no other. And because experience had shewn how irreverent the behaviour of many people was in many places, (some leaning, others casting their hats, and some sitting upon, some standing, and others sitting under the communion table, in time of divine service,) for the avoiding of which and like abuses it was thought meet and convenient that the communion tables in all churches should be decently severed with rails, to preserve them from such or worse profanations.
Communion rails carved in the nondescript style, almost peculiar to the reign of Charles the First, are preserved in St. Giles’s Church, Oxford;in the Lady Chapel, Winchester Cathedral; in the Church of St. Cross, near Winchester; in the choir of Worcester Cathedral; and in Andover Church, Hants: in which last instance the rails are composed of open semicircular arches, supported on baluster columns, with pendants similar to hip knobs hanging from the arches; but specimens of altar rails of a period antecedent to the Restoration are not often to be met with, the reason for which will be adduced.
By the canons of 1603 the churchwardens or questmen were to provide in every church a comely and decent pulpit, to be set in a convenient place within the same, and there to be seemly kept for the preaching of God’s word. Carved pulpits set up between the years 1603 and 1640 are numerous, and the sides are more or less embellished with circular-arched panels, flat and shallow scroll-work, and other decorative detail in fashion at that period; and not a few bear the precise date of their construction.
In the nave of Bristol Cathedral is a stone pulpit, ascended to by means of a circular flight of steps; the sides are panelled and ornamented with escutcheons surrounded by scroll-work, and it bears the date of 1624.
In Ashington Church, Somersetshire, is a pulpit with the date 1627.
In Bradford Abbas Church, Dorsetshire, is a fine carved wooden pulpit and sounding-board, and on it appears the date 1632.
The date of 1625 appears on a fine carved wooden pulpit, the sides of which are covered with semicircular-headed panels, in Huish Episcopi Church, Somersetshire.
In one of the churches at Wells is a fine wooden pulpit, of the date 1636; at the angles are columns of semi-classic design, fantastically carved; the panels are curiously ornamented with figures in relief, and it is supported on a stand composed of a square and four detached columns, above which are represented a number of birds with large beaks; the sounding-board over corresponds in design with the pulpit.
A very fine carved wooden pulpit, the sides of which are embellished with circular-arched panel and scroll-work, with the date 1640, and a sounding-board over, is contained in Cerne Abbas Church, Dorsetshire.
Many carved pulpits of this era have, however, no assigned date; they are commonly placed at the north or south-east angle of the nave, butnever in the middle of the aisle, so as to obstruct the view of the communion table.
The commandments were again, by the canons of 1603, ordered to be set upon the east end of every church, where the people might best see and read the same; and other chosen sentences were to be written upon the walls of the churches in places convenient.
On the south wall of Rowington Church, Warwickshire, are sentences painted with a border of scroll-work; the like also occur at Astley Church, in the same county; and on the walls of Bradford Abbas Church, Dorsetshire, are sentences of scripture painted in black-lettered characters within panels surrounded by scroll-work.
By the same canons the churchwardens were required to provide, if such had not been already provided, a strong chest, with a hole in the upper part thereof, having three keys, of which one was to remain in the custody of the minister, and the other two in the custody of the churchwardens; which chest was to be set and fastened in the most convenient place, to the intent the parishioners might put into it their alms for their poor neighbours.
In the retro-choir, Sherbourne Church, Dorsetshire, is a poor-box with three locks; and acarved poor-box, of the early part of the seventeenth century, is preserved in Harlow Church, Essex. In Elstow Church, Bedfordshire, are the remains of a poor-box of the same period. In Clapham Church, in the same county, is an old poor-box, the cover of which is gone, on which are the initials I. W., and the date 1626: this is fixed on a plain wooden pillar near the south door; and in the south aisle of Bletchley Church, Buckinghamshire, is an oak pillar or shaft surmounted by a poor-box, with an inscription carved on it of “Remember the Pore,” and the date1637240-*.
The communion tables of the early part of this century were not so richly carved as those of the reign of Elizabeth, and in general the pillar-legs were plain and not so bulging; but the frieze or upper part of the frame-work, on which the table rested, was often covered with shallow and flat carved panel and scroll-work, and sometimes with the date of its construction.
In the church of St. Lawrence, at Evesham, the communion table bears the date of 1610; andround the frieze is carved an inscription, stating by whom it was given. In Cerne Abbas Church, Dorsetshire, is a carved communion table, bearing the date of 1638. The communion table in Godshill Church, Isle of Wight, is supported on four carved bulging pillar-legs; and round the frieze, below the ledge of the table, is the following inscription:
“Lancelot Coleman & Edward Britwel, Churchwardens, Anno Dom. 1631.”
“Lancelot Coleman & Edward Britwel, Churchwardens, Anno Dom. 1631.”
In Whitwell Church, Isle of Wight, the communion table stands on plain bulging pillar-legs; and on the frieze round the ledge is carved in relief an arm holding a chalice, with the following inscription:
“I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Psa. 116. v. 53. Anno Dom. 1632.”
“I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Psa. 116. v. 53. Anno Dom. 1632.”
As the rubric of the church enjoined that at the communion the priest should himself place the elements upon the holy table, the custom of having a side table, called the credence table, for the elements to be set on previous to their removal by the priest to the communion table for consecration, was observed in some churches in the latter part of the sixteenth and early part ofthe seventeenth century. Such table appears to have been introduced in the reign of Elizabeth, by Andrews, bishop of Norwich, whose model Archbishop Laud is said to havefollowed242-*;and it originated from the πρόθεσις, or side table of preparation, used in the early church; it was likewise, as we have seen, used at the sacramentals of the church of Rome, and on that account was strongly objected to by the Puritans.
Table, (temp. Charles I.,) Chipping-Warden Church, Northamptonshire.Table, (temp. Charles I.,) Chipping-Warden Church, Northamptonshire.
In the chancel of Chipping-Warden Church, Northamptonshire, on the north side of the communion table, is a semicircular oak table, apparently of the reign of Charles the First, standing on a frame supported by three plain pillar-legs, like those of the communion tables of the same period, and enriched with carved arched frieze-work similar to the arched panel-work on pulpits of the same period.
A plain credence table of black oak, which from the style and make was evidently set up after the Restoration, still continues to be used as such in St. Michael’s Church, Oxford, being placed on the north side of the communion table.
The objections of the Puritans against many of the usages of the Anglican church, and their refusal to conform to such under the pretence of their being superstitious, had no slight effect in altering the internal appearance of our churches in the middle of the seventeenth century, and during the period their party had obtained the ascendancy, and had succeeded for a while in abolishing in this country episcopal church government; for among the “innovations in discipline,” as they were called by the Puritan committee of the House of Lords in 1641, we find the following usages complained of: the turning of the holy table altarwise, and most commonly calling it analtar; the bowing towards it or towards the east many times; advancing candlesticks in many churches upon the altar, so called; the making of canopies over the altar, so called, with traverses and curtains on each side and before it; the compelling all communicants to come up to the rails, and there to receive; the advancing crucifixes and images upon the parafront or altar cloth, so called; the reading some part of the morning prayer at the holy table, when there was no communion celebrated; the minister’s turning his back to the west, and his face to the east, when he pronounced the Creed or read prayers; the reading the Litany in the midst of the body of the church in many of the parochial churches; the having acredentiaor side table, besides the Lord’s table, for divers uses in the Lord’s Supper; and the taking down galleries in churches, or restraining the building of galleries where the parishes were verypopulous244-*.
In August, 1643, an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons was published, for the taking away and demolishing of all altars and tables of stone, and for the removal of all communion tables from the east end of every church and chancel; and itwas prescribed that such should be placed in some other fit and convenient place in the body of the church or in the body of the chancel; and that all rails whatsoever which had been erected near to, before, or about any altar or communion table, should be likewise taken away; and that the chancel-ground which had been raised within twenty years then last past, for any altar or communion table to stand on, should be laid down and levelled, as the same had formerly been; and that all tapers, candlesticks, and basins should be removed and taken away from the communion table, and not again used about the same; and that all crucifixes, crosses, and all images and pictures of any one or more Persons of the Trinity, or of the Virgin Mary, and all other images and pictures of saints, or superstitious inscriptions belonging to any churches, should be taken away and defaced before the first day of November, 1643: but it was provided that such ordinances should not extend to any image, picture, or coat of arms, in glass, stone, or otherwise, set up or graven only for a monument of any dead person not reputed for a saint, but that all such might stand and continue.
By a subsequent ordinance, passed in May, 1644, it was prescribed that no rood-loft or holywater fonts should be any more used in any church; and that all organs, and the frames or cases in which they stood, in all churches, should be taken away and utterly defaced.
Under colour of these ordinances the beauty of the cathedrals and churches was injured to an extent hardly credible; the monuments of the dead were defaced, and brasses torn away, in the iconoclastic fury which then raged; the very tombs were violated; and the havoc made of church ornaments, and destruction of the fine painted glass with which most church windows then abounded, may in some degree be estimated from the account given by one Dowsing, a parliamentary visitor appointed under a warrant from the Earl of Manchester for demolishing the so called superstitious pictures and ornaments of churches within the county of Suffolk, who kept a journal, with the particulars of his transactions, in the years 1643 and 1644: these were chiefly comprised in the demolition of numerous windows filled with painted glass, in the breaking down of altar rails and organ cases, in levelling the steps in the chancels, in removing crucifixes, in taking down the stone crosses from the exterior of the churches, in defacing crosses on the fonts, and in the taking up (under the pretence of their beingsuperstitious) of numerous sepulchral inscriptions in brass. Nor did the churches in other parts of the country, with some exceptions, escape from a like fanatical warfare; and, in this, many of our cathedrals suffered most. But this was not enough: our sacred edifices were profaned and polluted in the most irreverent and disgraceful manner; and with the exception of the destruction which took place on the dissolution of the monastic establishments in the previous century, more devastation was committed at this time by the party hostile to the Anglican church than had ever before been effected since the ravages of the ancient Danish invaders.
But as to other alterations at this time effected. In January, 1644, an ordinance of parliament was published for the taking away of the Book of Common Prayer, which was forbid to be used any longer in any church, chapel, or place of public worship. In lieu of this the “Directory for the Publike Worship of God” was established: this contained no stated forms of prayer, but general instructions only for extemporaneous praying and preaching, and for the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; the former of which was to be administered in the place of public worship and in the face of thecongregation, but “not,” as the Directory expresses, “in the places where fonts in the time of popery were unfitly and superstitiously placed.” And at the administration of the Lord’s Supper the table was to be so placed that the communicants might sit orderly about it or at it; but all liturgical form was abolished, and the prayers even at this sacrament were such as the minister might spontaneously offer.
At Brill Church, in Buckinghamshire, the communion table, on an elevation of one step, is inclosed with rails, within an area of eight feet by six feet and a half, and a bench is fixed to the wall on each side; an innovation made at this period, in order that the communicants might receive the sacrament sitting. The communion table in Wooten Wawen Church, Warwickshire, though perfectly plain in construction, is unusually long and large, and appears to have been set up by the Puritans at this period, so that they might sit round or at it.
To the removal of the communion table from the east end of the chancel may be attributed the usage which, in the middle of the seventeenth century, began to prevail of constructing close and high seats or pews, without regard to that uniformity of arrangement which had hithertobeen observed; and many seats were now so constructed that those who occupied them necessarily turned their backs on the east during the ministration of prayer and public service. The erection of unseemly galleries, which have greatly tended to disfigure our churches, was another consequence of the innovation on the ancient arrangement of pewing.
After the Restoration the communion tables were again restored to their former position at the east end of the chancel; and in Evelyn’s Diary for 1661-2, we find the change of position in his parish church thus noticed: “6 April. Being of the vestry in the afternoone, we order’d that the communion table should be set as usual altarwise, with a decent raile in front, as before the rebellion.”
The altar rails were now generally restored, and in most instances we find those in our churches to be of a period subsequent to the Restoration, as the details in the workmanship evince. In the church accounts of St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury, for 1662, we find a “memorandum that this year the rayles about the communion table wer new sett up, and the surplice was made.” In Wormleighton Church, Warwickshire, the altar rails have on them the date of 1664;and the communion table, which is quite plain, is of the same character and era.
But a return, after the Restoration, to the former usages of the Anglican church was not made without great opposition; and accordingly we find objections stated to the bowing to the altar and to the east, to the preaching by book, to the railing in of the altar, to the candles, cushion, and book thereon, to the bowing at the name of Jesus, and to the organs as “popish-like music, and too muchsuperstition250-*.”
When the rood was taken down at the Reformation, a custom began to prevail of fixing up in its stead or place, against the arch leading into the chancel, the upper part of which was in consequence blocked up by it, and facing the congregation, so as to be seen by them, the royal arms, with proper heraldic supporters; but it does not clearly appear that this was done in consequence of any express law or injunction to that effect, though it may perhaps have served to denote the king’s supremacy. We seldom, however, find the royal arms of earlier date than the Restoration, in the twenty years previous to which they appear to have been generally takendown. In Brixton Church, Isle of Wight, on some plain wooden panelling between the tower and a gallery at the west end are the remains of the royal arms, which, from the style in which they have been painted with the rose and thistle, appear coeval with the reign of James the First; they are surmounted by a crown, below which is an open six-barred helme. These arms appear to have been removed from their original position against the chancel-arch, and are now much mutilated. In the church accounts, St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury, for 1651, is a charge of 1l.8s.“for making the states armes.” In Anstey Church, Warwickshire, the arms of the commonwealth, put up during the inter-regnum, were taken down not many years back. The little church of St. Lawrence, in the Isle of Wight, still retains the royal arms put up at the Restoration in 1660.
Excepting the rood-loft galleries, we have few galleries in our churches of a period antecedent to the latter part of the seventeenth century. At the west end of Worstead Church, Norfolk, over the west door, is a gallery erected in 1550, at the cost of the candle called the Bachelor’s Light. At the west end of the nave in Leighton Buzzard Church is a gallery erected in 1634; and at thewest end of Piddletown Church, Dorsetshire, is a gallery with the date of its erection, 1635.
From about the period of the Revolution, in 1688, we may trace the commencement of a custom, still partially prevailing, of setting up the pulpit and reading-pew in the middle aisle, in front of the communion table; so that during the whole of the service the back of the minister was turned to the east, and the view of the communion table obstructed; but we have not found any pulpit thus placed of an earlier period.
We still retain, in the Anglican church, the usage of placing two candlesticks and candles upon the communion table, in compliance with the injunctions of King Edward the Sixth, together also with an offertory dish; of reading the lessons from the eagle desk, and of saying the Litany at the litany-stool. These practices are, however, more particularly observed in our cathedrals and college chapels than in our parochial churches, in most of which they have fallen into desuetude.
To conclude, in the language of the synod held in 1640: “Whereas the church is the house of God, dedicated to his holy worship, and therefore ought to remind us both of the greatness andgoodness of his Divine Majesty; certain it is that the acknowledgment thereof, not only inwardly in our hearts, but also outwardly with our bodies, must needs be pious in itself, profitable unto us, and edifying unto others: we therefore think it meet and behoveful, and heartily commend it to all good and well-affected people, members of this church, that they be ready to tender unto the Lord the said acknowledgment, by doing reverence and obeisance, both at their coming in and going out of the said churches, chancels, or chapels, according to the most ancient custom of the primitive church in the purest times, and of this church also for many years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
“The reviving, therefore, of this ancient and laudable custom we heartily recommend to the serious consideration of all good people, not with any intention to exhibit any religious worship to the communion table, the east, or church, or any thing therein contained, in so doing; or to perform the said gesture in the celebration of the holy eucharist, upon any opinion of a corporal presence of the body of Jesus Christ on the holy table or in the mystical elements, but only for the advancement of God’s majesty, and to give him alone that honour and glory that is due untohim, and no otherwise; and in the practice or omission of this rite we desire that the rule of charity prescribed by the apostle may be observed, which is, that they which use this rite despise not them who use it not, and that they who use it not condemn not those that use it.”
Symbol
154-*Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. 6. Durantus, however, assigns a different origin. “In veteri testamento non nisi lotus templum ingrediebatur.” De Labro, seu Vase Aquæ Benedictæ, c. 21.156-*“Ad valvas ecclesiæ,”—Ordo ad Faciendum Catechumenum, Manuale.156-†Constitutions of Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236.DeBaptismo et eius Effectu.”158-*It is much to be regretted that of late years many ancient fonts have been cast out of our churches, and earthenware and pewter basins substituted in their stead for the administration of the holy sacrament of baptism: a practice not authorized by the Anglican church, but rather condemned; for in the canons set forth by authority, A. D. 1571, it is provided that “Curabunt (Œditui) ut in singulis ecclesiis sit sacer fons,non pelvis, in quo baptismus ministretur, isque ut decenter et munde conservetur.” And in the canons of 1603, after alluding to the foregoing constitution, and observing that it was too much neglected in many places, it is appointed “That there shall be a font of stone in every church and chapel where baptism is to be ministered; the same to be set in theancient usual places.” In the orders and directions given by Bishop Wren, A. D. 1636, to be observed in his diocese of Norwich, we find it enjoined, “That the font at baptism be filled with clear water, and no dishes, pails, or basins be used in it or instead of it.”160-*The 28th decree of a foreign council, that of Wirtzburgh, held A. D. 1278, prohibits the fortifying of churches in order to make use of them as castles.164-*Anglice sermocinari solebat (Abbas Samson) populo, sed secundum Linguam Norfolchie ... unde et pulpitum jussit fieri in ecclesia et ad utilitatem audiencium et ad decorem ecclesie.—Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, sub anno 1187.167-*Cottonian MS. Titus D. xxvii. 10th sæc.167-†“Crux que erat super magnum altare, et Mariola, et Johannes, quas imagines Stigandus archiepiscopus magno pondere auri et argenti ornaverat, et sancto Ædmundo dederat.”—Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, p. 4.168-*“Supra pulpitum trabes erat, per tranversum ecclesiæ posita, quæ crucem grandem et duo cherubin et imagines SanctæMariæet SanctiJohannisapostoli sustentabat.”—Gervasius de Combustione, &c.169-*“Superest exponere, quod manus illa e nubibus erumpens indicet: Quæ procul dubio omnipotentis Dei dexteram designat.”—Ciampini Vetera Monimenta, vol. ii. pp. 22, 81.171-*“In elevatione atque utriusque squilla pulsatur.”—Durandi Rationale, lib. iv.171-†In Yeovil Church Accounts, A. D. 1457, is an item, “In una cordul empt p le salsyngbelle ijd.”—Collectanea Topographica, vol. iii. p. 130.172-*It is now in the possession of William Staunton, esq., of Longbridge House, near Warwick.173-*Durandus, in his description of a church, makes no mention of screen-work, but observes, “Notandum est quod triplex genusvelisuspenditur in ecclesia videlicet quod sacra operit, quod sanctuarium a clero dividit,et quod clerum a populo secernit;” evidently alluding in the latter to the curtain extended across the chancel arch.174-*“Item tunc stent in sedibus suis versa facie ad altare donec admisericordiasvel superformulasprout tempus postulat inclinent.”—Monasticon, 1st ed. vol. i. p. 951.180-*The placing of more than two lights on the altar seems never to have been practised in the churches of this country; at least I have not met with any ancient illumination in which more than two are represented.181-*The cover of an ancient thurible of latten was lately discovered in the chest of Ashbury Church, Berkshire: the lower part is of a semi-globular or domical form, from which issues an embattled turret or lantern in the form of a pentagon, which is finished by a quadrangular spire; the sides both of the lantern and spire are partly of open work, and round the domical part is inscribedGloria Tibi Domine.181-†A small ampulla of brass or latten, supposed to have been an ancient chrismatory for the consecrated oil used in the sacrament of extreme unction, has been within the last few years discovered in the castle ditch, Pulford, Cheshire: this curious little relic is not more than two inches high; the body is semi-globular, or bulges in front, with a plain Greek cross engraved on it, and is flattened at the back; and at the neck are two bowed handles, by chains attached to which it appears to have hung suspended from the shoulders.182-*Harding, in his controversy with Bishop Jewell, mentions “the monstrance or pixe” as if one and the same article.—Defence of the Apology, &c., p. 343.183-*Quo finito sacerdos cum suis ministris in sedibus ad hos paratis se recipiant et expectent usque ad orationem dicendam vel alio tempore usque adGloria in excelsis.—MS. Rituale pen. Auc.183-†This arrangement was different to that directed by the rubrical orders of the Roman missals, on their revision after the council of Trent, by which the celebrant was to be seated between the deacon and sub-deacon: “In missa item solemni celebrans medius inter diaconum et sub-diaconum sedere potest a cornu epistolæ juxta altare cum cantaturKyrie eleison, Gloria in excelsis, etCredo.”—Missale Romanum, Antverpiæ,MDCXXXI.; Rubricæ Generales, &c. One of the queries published by Le Brun, whilst composing his liturgical work, was, “Si le prêtre s’assied au dessus du diacre et du soudiacre, ou au milieu d’eux.”186-*Prope altare collocatur Piscina seu Lavacrum in quo manus lavantur.—Durandi Rat. de Ecclesia, &c. In ancient church contracts the termLavatoriewas sometimes used for the Piscina, as in that for Catterick Church. In the Roman Missal subsequent to the Tridentine council the wordSacrariumis used.187-*At Alvechurch, Worcestershire, the custom prevails of the priest washing his hands in the vestry before the administration of the sacrament, and napkins are brought to dry his hands.189-*“Il y avoit pour cet effet en chaque piscine, comme en peut voir encore à une infinité d’autels, deux conduits, ou canaux, pour faire écouler l’eau, l’un pour recevoir l’eau qui avoit servi au lavement des mains, l’autre pour celle qui avoit servi au purification ou perfusion du chalice.”—De Vert, Explication des Cérémonies de l’Eglise, vol. iii. p. 193.190-*In “Le Parfaict Ecclesiastique, par M. Claude de la Croix,” (a curious work published A. D. 1666, and containing full instructions for the clergy of the Gallican church, and an exposition of the rites and ceremonies,) amongst appendages to an altar is enumerated “une credance ou niche dans le mur a poser les burettes et le bassin,” p. 536. And in another place, “au costé de l’Autel il y faut une petite niche à poser les burettes et le bassin, et y faire un trou en facon de piscine a fin que l’eau se perde en terre.” p. 568.190-†“In cornu Epistolæ ... ampullæ vitreæ vini et aquæ cum pelvicula et manutergio mundo in fenestella seu in parva mensa ad hæc praeparata”—Missale Romanum ex Decreto, &c. 1631.“Calix vero et alia necessaria praeparentur in credentia cooperta linteo, antequam sacerdos veniat ad altare.”—Ibid.192-*The earliest account of the sepulchre thus set up that I have yet met with occurs in an inventory of church furniture, A. D. 1214, in which is mentioned “velum unum de serico supra sepulchrum.”193-*“Table” was a word used to express any sculptured basso relievo, more especially that inserted in the wall over an altar.199-*A series of coloured engravings from the paintings on the walls of this chapel, which were evidently executed at the close of the fifteenth century, was published in 1807 by the late Mr. Thomas Fisher.200-*By an injunction set forth by royal authority, A. D. 1539, it was ordered, “That from henceforth the said Thomas Becket shall not be esteemed, named, reputed, and called a saint, but Bishop Becket; and that his images and pictures thorow the whole realme shal be pluckt downe and avoided out of all churches, chapel, and other places.”—Fox’s Martyrology.209-*The locality, character, and construction of the confessional in our ancient churches are not yet clearly elucidated. Du Cange described the confessional, “confessio,” simply as “cellula in qua presbyteri fidelium confessiones excipiebant;” whilst according to De la Croix, in his remarks on those of the Gallican churches in the middle of the seventeenth century, “Les confessionaux doiuent estre à l’entrée des Eglises, et non pas auprés des Autels, ny dans le Chœur, ny en lieu caché, et tousieurs vne ouuerture pour écouter le Penitent, avec vn treillis de bois ou autre estoffe, et vn volet pour le fermer, quand on écoute de l’vn des costez ouuert.”210-*The tabard or heraldic coat worn over the body armour, and still worn by the heralds on state occasions.211-*“Our churches stand full of such great puppets, wondrously decked and adorned; garlands and coronets be set on their heads, precious pearls hanging about their necks; their fingers shine with rings set with precious stones; their dead and stiff bodies are clothed with garments stiff with gold.”—Homily against Peril of Idolatry.215-*In the injunctions given by Bishop Ridley, in the visitation of his diocese A. D. 1550, occurs the following: “Item that the minister in the time of the communion, immediately after the offertory, shall monish the communicants, saying these words, or such like, ‘Now is the time, if it please you, to remember the poor men’s chest with your charitable alms.'”216-*Dr. Cardwell, in his editorial preface to the reprint of the two Books of Common Prayer set forth in the reign of Edward the Sixth, observes, “The communion service of the first liturgy contained a prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, and a following prayer of oblation, which, together with the form of words addressed to the communicants, were designed to represent a sacrifice, and appeared to undiscriminating minds to denote the sacrifice of the mass. Numerous, therefore, and urgent were the objections against this portion of the service. Combined with a large class of objectors, whose theology consisted merely in an undefined dread of Romanism, were all those, however differing among themselves, who believed the holy communion to be a feast and not a sacrifice, and that larger class of persons who, placing the solemn duty upon its proper religious basis, were contented to worship without waiting to refine.”218-*Fox’s Martyrology.223-*In compliance with the queen’s letter, the following directions were sent by the commissioners to the dean and chapter of Bristol:“After our hartie comendaco̅n̅s.—Whereas we are credibly informed that there are divers tabernacles for Images, as well in the fronture of the roodeloft of the cathlchurch of Bristol, as also in the frontures, back, and ends of the walles wheare the com̅n̅ table standeth, for asmoch as the same churche shoulde be a light and good example to th’ ole citie and dioc. we have thought good to direct these our lr̅e̅s unto you, and to require youe to cause the said tabernacles to be defaced & hewen downe, and afterwards to be made a playne walle, wthmorter, plastr, or otherways, & some scriptures to be written in the places, & namely that upon the walle on the east end of the quier wheare the com̅n̅ table usually doth stande, the table of the co̅m̅andtsto be painted in large caracters, with convenient speed, and furniture according to the orders latly set furthe by vertue of the quenes matsco̅m̅ission for causes ecclesiasticall, at the coste and chardges of the said churche; whereof we require you not to faile. And so we bed you farewell. From London, the xxi. of December, 1561.”—Britton’s Bristol Cath. p. 52.224-*In the chancel of Bengeworth Church, Gloucestershire, is a table of the commandments, with the letters cut in box-wood. This has the date of 1591 upon it.226-*These are engraved in vol. xx. of the Archæologia, and, from the general style and mouldings, appear to have been constructed in the latter part of the fifteenth century.230-*The symbolical turning towards the east whilst pronouncing the Creed is adverted to by St. Cyril. In the Apostolical Constitutions, book ii. sect. xxviii., the attendants at public worship are enjoined to pray to God eastward. The custom of turning to the east at prayer is noticed by many of the early fathers of the church, and among them by St. Basil, who remarks, “As to the doctrines and preachings which are preserved in the church, we have some of them from the written doctrine; others we have received as delivered from the tradition of the apostles in a mystery. For, to begin with the mention of what is first and most common, who has taught us by writing that those that hope in the name of our Lord should be signed with the sign of the cross? what written law has taught us that we should turn towards the east in our prayers?.... Is not all this derived from this concealed and mystical tradition?.... We all, indeed, look towards the east in our prayers.”—Basil, Epist. ad Amphiloc. de Spiritu S. Whiston’s translation in Essay on the Apostolical Constitutions.231-*Funeral Monuments, A. D. 1631, p. 701.232-*Printed in Strype’s Life of Parker. In the same paper the communion table is noticed as standing in the body of the church in some places, in others standing in the chancel; in some places standing altarwise, distant from the wall a yard, in others in the middle of the chancel, north and south; in some placesthe table was joined, in others it stood upon tressels; in some the table had a carpet, in others none.235-*“The position of the table had now become the token of a distinct and solemn belief as to the nature of the eucharist, and was therefore treated as a question of conscience and an article of faith.”—Cardwell’s Documentary Annals, vol. ii. p. 186, note. The extracts given from the injunctions have been principally taken from this work.240-*The unostentatious and laudable practice of bestowing alms to the charity-box has long fallen into disuse in most churches; but within the last few years charity-boxes have been set up in some of our churches, and this commendable custom is again gradually reviving.242-*Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. iii. p. 170.244-*Cardwell’s Conferences, p. 272.250-*Hickeringill’s Ceremony-Monger, (pub. 1689,) p. 63.
154-*Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. 6. Durantus, however, assigns a different origin. “In veteri testamento non nisi lotus templum ingrediebatur.” De Labro, seu Vase Aquæ Benedictæ, c. 21.
156-*“Ad valvas ecclesiæ,”—Ordo ad Faciendum Catechumenum, Manuale.
156-†Constitutions of Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236.DeBaptismo et eius Effectu.”
158-*It is much to be regretted that of late years many ancient fonts have been cast out of our churches, and earthenware and pewter basins substituted in their stead for the administration of the holy sacrament of baptism: a practice not authorized by the Anglican church, but rather condemned; for in the canons set forth by authority, A. D. 1571, it is provided that “Curabunt (Œditui) ut in singulis ecclesiis sit sacer fons,non pelvis, in quo baptismus ministretur, isque ut decenter et munde conservetur.” And in the canons of 1603, after alluding to the foregoing constitution, and observing that it was too much neglected in many places, it is appointed “That there shall be a font of stone in every church and chapel where baptism is to be ministered; the same to be set in theancient usual places.” In the orders and directions given by Bishop Wren, A. D. 1636, to be observed in his diocese of Norwich, we find it enjoined, “That the font at baptism be filled with clear water, and no dishes, pails, or basins be used in it or instead of it.”
160-*The 28th decree of a foreign council, that of Wirtzburgh, held A. D. 1278, prohibits the fortifying of churches in order to make use of them as castles.
164-*Anglice sermocinari solebat (Abbas Samson) populo, sed secundum Linguam Norfolchie ... unde et pulpitum jussit fieri in ecclesia et ad utilitatem audiencium et ad decorem ecclesie.—Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, sub anno 1187.
167-*Cottonian MS. Titus D. xxvii. 10th sæc.
167-†“Crux que erat super magnum altare, et Mariola, et Johannes, quas imagines Stigandus archiepiscopus magno pondere auri et argenti ornaverat, et sancto Ædmundo dederat.”—Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, p. 4.
168-*“Supra pulpitum trabes erat, per tranversum ecclesiæ posita, quæ crucem grandem et duo cherubin et imagines SanctæMariæet SanctiJohannisapostoli sustentabat.”—Gervasius de Combustione, &c.
169-*“Superest exponere, quod manus illa e nubibus erumpens indicet: Quæ procul dubio omnipotentis Dei dexteram designat.”—Ciampini Vetera Monimenta, vol. ii. pp. 22, 81.
171-*“In elevatione atque utriusque squilla pulsatur.”—Durandi Rationale, lib. iv.
171-†In Yeovil Church Accounts, A. D. 1457, is an item, “In una cordul empt p le salsyngbelle ijd.”—Collectanea Topographica, vol. iii. p. 130.
172-*It is now in the possession of William Staunton, esq., of Longbridge House, near Warwick.
173-*Durandus, in his description of a church, makes no mention of screen-work, but observes, “Notandum est quod triplex genusvelisuspenditur in ecclesia videlicet quod sacra operit, quod sanctuarium a clero dividit,et quod clerum a populo secernit;” evidently alluding in the latter to the curtain extended across the chancel arch.
174-*“Item tunc stent in sedibus suis versa facie ad altare donec admisericordiasvel superformulasprout tempus postulat inclinent.”—Monasticon, 1st ed. vol. i. p. 951.
180-*The placing of more than two lights on the altar seems never to have been practised in the churches of this country; at least I have not met with any ancient illumination in which more than two are represented.
181-*The cover of an ancient thurible of latten was lately discovered in the chest of Ashbury Church, Berkshire: the lower part is of a semi-globular or domical form, from which issues an embattled turret or lantern in the form of a pentagon, which is finished by a quadrangular spire; the sides both of the lantern and spire are partly of open work, and round the domical part is inscribedGloria Tibi Domine.
181-†A small ampulla of brass or latten, supposed to have been an ancient chrismatory for the consecrated oil used in the sacrament of extreme unction, has been within the last few years discovered in the castle ditch, Pulford, Cheshire: this curious little relic is not more than two inches high; the body is semi-globular, or bulges in front, with a plain Greek cross engraved on it, and is flattened at the back; and at the neck are two bowed handles, by chains attached to which it appears to have hung suspended from the shoulders.
182-*Harding, in his controversy with Bishop Jewell, mentions “the monstrance or pixe” as if one and the same article.—Defence of the Apology, &c., p. 343.
183-*Quo finito sacerdos cum suis ministris in sedibus ad hos paratis se recipiant et expectent usque ad orationem dicendam vel alio tempore usque adGloria in excelsis.—MS. Rituale pen. Auc.
183-†This arrangement was different to that directed by the rubrical orders of the Roman missals, on their revision after the council of Trent, by which the celebrant was to be seated between the deacon and sub-deacon: “In missa item solemni celebrans medius inter diaconum et sub-diaconum sedere potest a cornu epistolæ juxta altare cum cantaturKyrie eleison, Gloria in excelsis, etCredo.”—Missale Romanum, Antverpiæ,MDCXXXI.; Rubricæ Generales, &c. One of the queries published by Le Brun, whilst composing his liturgical work, was, “Si le prêtre s’assied au dessus du diacre et du soudiacre, ou au milieu d’eux.”
186-*Prope altare collocatur Piscina seu Lavacrum in quo manus lavantur.—Durandi Rat. de Ecclesia, &c. In ancient church contracts the termLavatoriewas sometimes used for the Piscina, as in that for Catterick Church. In the Roman Missal subsequent to the Tridentine council the wordSacrariumis used.
187-*At Alvechurch, Worcestershire, the custom prevails of the priest washing his hands in the vestry before the administration of the sacrament, and napkins are brought to dry his hands.
189-*“Il y avoit pour cet effet en chaque piscine, comme en peut voir encore à une infinité d’autels, deux conduits, ou canaux, pour faire écouler l’eau, l’un pour recevoir l’eau qui avoit servi au lavement des mains, l’autre pour celle qui avoit servi au purification ou perfusion du chalice.”—De Vert, Explication des Cérémonies de l’Eglise, vol. iii. p. 193.
190-*In “Le Parfaict Ecclesiastique, par M. Claude de la Croix,” (a curious work published A. D. 1666, and containing full instructions for the clergy of the Gallican church, and an exposition of the rites and ceremonies,) amongst appendages to an altar is enumerated “une credance ou niche dans le mur a poser les burettes et le bassin,” p. 536. And in another place, “au costé de l’Autel il y faut une petite niche à poser les burettes et le bassin, et y faire un trou en facon de piscine a fin que l’eau se perde en terre.” p. 568.
190-†“In cornu Epistolæ ... ampullæ vitreæ vini et aquæ cum pelvicula et manutergio mundo in fenestella seu in parva mensa ad hæc praeparata”—Missale Romanum ex Decreto, &c. 1631.
“Calix vero et alia necessaria praeparentur in credentia cooperta linteo, antequam sacerdos veniat ad altare.”—Ibid.
192-*The earliest account of the sepulchre thus set up that I have yet met with occurs in an inventory of church furniture, A. D. 1214, in which is mentioned “velum unum de serico supra sepulchrum.”
193-*“Table” was a word used to express any sculptured basso relievo, more especially that inserted in the wall over an altar.
199-*A series of coloured engravings from the paintings on the walls of this chapel, which were evidently executed at the close of the fifteenth century, was published in 1807 by the late Mr. Thomas Fisher.
200-*By an injunction set forth by royal authority, A. D. 1539, it was ordered, “That from henceforth the said Thomas Becket shall not be esteemed, named, reputed, and called a saint, but Bishop Becket; and that his images and pictures thorow the whole realme shal be pluckt downe and avoided out of all churches, chapel, and other places.”—Fox’s Martyrology.
209-*The locality, character, and construction of the confessional in our ancient churches are not yet clearly elucidated. Du Cange described the confessional, “confessio,” simply as “cellula in qua presbyteri fidelium confessiones excipiebant;” whilst according to De la Croix, in his remarks on those of the Gallican churches in the middle of the seventeenth century, “Les confessionaux doiuent estre à l’entrée des Eglises, et non pas auprés des Autels, ny dans le Chœur, ny en lieu caché, et tousieurs vne ouuerture pour écouter le Penitent, avec vn treillis de bois ou autre estoffe, et vn volet pour le fermer, quand on écoute de l’vn des costez ouuert.”
210-*The tabard or heraldic coat worn over the body armour, and still worn by the heralds on state occasions.
211-*“Our churches stand full of such great puppets, wondrously decked and adorned; garlands and coronets be set on their heads, precious pearls hanging about their necks; their fingers shine with rings set with precious stones; their dead and stiff bodies are clothed with garments stiff with gold.”—Homily against Peril of Idolatry.
215-*In the injunctions given by Bishop Ridley, in the visitation of his diocese A. D. 1550, occurs the following: “Item that the minister in the time of the communion, immediately after the offertory, shall monish the communicants, saying these words, or such like, ‘Now is the time, if it please you, to remember the poor men’s chest with your charitable alms.'”
216-*Dr. Cardwell, in his editorial preface to the reprint of the two Books of Common Prayer set forth in the reign of Edward the Sixth, observes, “The communion service of the first liturgy contained a prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, and a following prayer of oblation, which, together with the form of words addressed to the communicants, were designed to represent a sacrifice, and appeared to undiscriminating minds to denote the sacrifice of the mass. Numerous, therefore, and urgent were the objections against this portion of the service. Combined with a large class of objectors, whose theology consisted merely in an undefined dread of Romanism, were all those, however differing among themselves, who believed the holy communion to be a feast and not a sacrifice, and that larger class of persons who, placing the solemn duty upon its proper religious basis, were contented to worship without waiting to refine.”
218-*Fox’s Martyrology.
223-*In compliance with the queen’s letter, the following directions were sent by the commissioners to the dean and chapter of Bristol:
“After our hartie comendaco̅n̅s.—Whereas we are credibly informed that there are divers tabernacles for Images, as well in the fronture of the roodeloft of the cathlchurch of Bristol, as also in the frontures, back, and ends of the walles wheare the com̅n̅ table standeth, for asmoch as the same churche shoulde be a light and good example to th’ ole citie and dioc. we have thought good to direct these our lr̅e̅s unto you, and to require youe to cause the said tabernacles to be defaced & hewen downe, and afterwards to be made a playne walle, wthmorter, plastr, or otherways, & some scriptures to be written in the places, & namely that upon the walle on the east end of the quier wheare the com̅n̅ table usually doth stande, the table of the co̅m̅andtsto be painted in large caracters, with convenient speed, and furniture according to the orders latly set furthe by vertue of the quenes matsco̅m̅ission for causes ecclesiasticall, at the coste and chardges of the said churche; whereof we require you not to faile. And so we bed you farewell. From London, the xxi. of December, 1561.”—Britton’s Bristol Cath. p. 52.
224-*In the chancel of Bengeworth Church, Gloucestershire, is a table of the commandments, with the letters cut in box-wood. This has the date of 1591 upon it.
226-*These are engraved in vol. xx. of the Archæologia, and, from the general style and mouldings, appear to have been constructed in the latter part of the fifteenth century.
230-*The symbolical turning towards the east whilst pronouncing the Creed is adverted to by St. Cyril. In the Apostolical Constitutions, book ii. sect. xxviii., the attendants at public worship are enjoined to pray to God eastward. The custom of turning to the east at prayer is noticed by many of the early fathers of the church, and among them by St. Basil, who remarks, “As to the doctrines and preachings which are preserved in the church, we have some of them from the written doctrine; others we have received as delivered from the tradition of the apostles in a mystery. For, to begin with the mention of what is first and most common, who has taught us by writing that those that hope in the name of our Lord should be signed with the sign of the cross? what written law has taught us that we should turn towards the east in our prayers?.... Is not all this derived from this concealed and mystical tradition?.... We all, indeed, look towards the east in our prayers.”—Basil, Epist. ad Amphiloc. de Spiritu S. Whiston’s translation in Essay on the Apostolical Constitutions.
231-*Funeral Monuments, A. D. 1631, p. 701.
232-*Printed in Strype’s Life of Parker. In the same paper the communion table is noticed as standing in the body of the church in some places, in others standing in the chancel; in some places standing altarwise, distant from the wall a yard, in others in the middle of the chancel, north and south; in some placesthe table was joined, in others it stood upon tressels; in some the table had a carpet, in others none.
235-*“The position of the table had now become the token of a distinct and solemn belief as to the nature of the eucharist, and was therefore treated as a question of conscience and an article of faith.”—Cardwell’s Documentary Annals, vol. ii. p. 186, note. The extracts given from the injunctions have been principally taken from this work.
240-*The unostentatious and laudable practice of bestowing alms to the charity-box has long fallen into disuse in most churches; but within the last few years charity-boxes have been set up in some of our churches, and this commendable custom is again gradually reviving.
242-*Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. iii. p. 170.
244-*Cardwell’s Conferences, p. 272.
250-*Hickeringill’s Ceremony-Monger, (pub. 1689,) p. 63.
OXFORD: Printed by T. Combe, Printer to the University.—May 10, 1841