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[Illustration: Beverley Minster]
WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES
I.--Stalls and Tabernacle Work
II.--Bishops' Thrones and Chancel Chairs
by
FRANCIS BOND
M.A., Lincoln College, Oxford; Fellow of the Geological Society, London
Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Author of "Gothic Architecture in England," "Screens and Galleries in
English Churches," "Fonts and Font Covers," "Westminster Abbey,"
"Misericords"
Illustrated by 124 Photographs and Drawings
Henry Frowde
Oxford University Press
London, New York, Toronto, and Melbourne
1910
{vii}
PREFACE
------
The subject dealt with in this volume, so far as the writer knows, is
virgin soil; no book has appeared, here or abroad, on the subject of
stallwork. Abroad, the great mass of stallwork has perished; sometimes
at the hands of pious vandals, often through neglect, more often still
through indifference to or active dislike of mediaeval art. In the
stallwork of Belgium not a single tabernacled canopy remains; in France
and Italy the great majority of the Gothic stalls have been replaced by
woodwork of the Classical design that was dear to the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries; only in Spain can the wealth and splendour of
English stallwork be rivalled. In England a great amount of magnificent
stallwork still remains; on the stallwork indeed and the concomitant
screens time and labour and money were lavished without stint in the
last two centuries of Gothic art. Hitherto, however, this important
department of English mediaeval design has almost wholly lacked
recognition and appreciation; attention had not been called to its
value in the study of artistic woodwork, and even the most splendid
examples of this branch of English art have been passed over with
uncomprehending indifference. Yet it is no overstatement to say that
there is nothing in this country more consummate in design or execution
than the stallwork of Lancaster, Chester, Ripon, and Manchester. To most
of the readers of this volume the illustrations which have been here
gathered together will come as a revelation of beauty and interest. It
is to be hoped that the book will help to inform those who are heritors
of a great artistic past, will make them proud of their heritage as
Englishmen, and faithful to preserve it and hand it on in turn
unimpaired to their successors. The art is in the main English {viii}
art, as English as the timber in which it is wrought, and deserves the
attention of all English-speaking people the world over, who inherit
equally with ourselves the good things that remain from the England of
old.
This book, like the others in the series, owes much of any value it may
possess to the generous and ready co-operation of many lovers of mediæval
art. For photographs and drawings the writer is indebted to the Rev. G. B.
Atkinson, Mr A. W. Anderson, A.R.I.B.A., Mr J. H. Bayley, Mr C. E. S.
Beloe, Dr G. G. Buckley, Dr Oscar Clark, Mr F. H. Crossley, Rev. E.
Hermitage Day, Mr W. Marriott Dodson, Mr G. C. Druce, Mr A. Gardner, Mr S.
Gardner, Mr G. F. Gillham, Mr C. Goulding, Mr Charles de Gruchy, Mr F. J.
Hall, Mr J. F. Hamilton, Mr P. Mainwaring Johnston, F.S.A., Professor
Lethaby, Mr W. Maitland, Mr Hugh McLachlan, A.R.I.B.A., Mr C. F. Nunneley,
Mr H. Plowman, Rev. G. H. Poole, Mr Alan Potter, Miss E. K. Prideaux, Rev.
G. W. Saunders, Mr S. Smith, Mr J. C. Stenning, Mr F. R. Taylor, Mr G. H.
Tyndall, Mr G. H. Widdows, A.R.I.B.A., Rev. W. E. Wigfall, Mr A. J. Wilson,
Mr E. W. M. Wonnacott, F.S.I. The writer is indebted to the Society of
Antiquaries and to the Wiltshire Archæological Society for the use of
original drawings.
The revision of the proofs has kindly been undertaken by Rev. R. A. Davis
and Rev. C. A. Norris; to the former and to the Rev. A. Bayley the writer
is indebted for many valuable suggestions with respect to changes of
orientation and the arrangements of chancels. The illustrations are
reproduced by the Grout Engraving Company. The text is preceded by a
bibliography and lists of measured drawings, and is followed by an index to
places and illustrations and a subject index. {ix}
The following is a list of the series of Church Art Handbooks in course of
publication by the Oxford University Press:--
CHURCH ART IN ENGLAND.
1. SCREENS AND GALLERIES IN ENGLISH CHURCHES. By Francis Bond. 6s.
_Published._
2. FONTS AND FONT COVERS. By Francis Bond. 12s. _Published._
3. WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES: I. MISERICORDS. By Francis Bond. 7s.
6d. _Published._
4. WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES: II. STALLWORK, THRONES, AND CHAIRS.
By Francis Bond. 6s. _Published._
5. WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES: III. CHURCH CHESTS, ALMERIES, ORGAN
CASES, DOORS, ALMS AND COLLECTING BOXES. By P. M. Johnston. _In
preparation._
6. WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES: IV. BENCH ENDS, POPPY HEADS, AND
PEWS. By Alfred Maskell. _In preparation._
7. THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH MONUMENT. By James Williams.
_In preparation._
_Uniform with the above._
8. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. By Francis Bond. 10s. _Published._
9. MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND. By A. Hamilton Thompson. _In
preparation._
* * * * *
CONTENTS
PART I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND COST OF STALLS 1
II. POSITION, NUMBER, AND ARRANGEMENT OF STALLS 16
III. CANOPIED STALLS 29
IV. TABERNACLED STALLS 51
V. RENAISSANCE STALLWORK 75
VI. STALLS IN PARISH CHURCHES 85
PART II
VII. BISHOPS' THRONES 101
VIII. CHAIRS IN CHANCELS 111
* * * * * {xiii}
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABERDEEN. Macgibbon and Ross in _Castellated and Domestic Architecture of
Scotland_, ii. 105.
BEVERLEY MINSTER. T. T. Wildridge on the Misericords. Hull, 1879.
BLOMFIELD, REGINALD. _History of Renaissance Architecture in England._ 2
vols. London, 1897.
BURY, T. T. _Remains of Ecclesiastical Woodwork._ London, 1847.
CANTERBURY. Professor Willis' _Canterbury Cathedral_. 1845.
CAMBRIDGE, KING'S COLLEGE. Willis and Clark in _Architectural History of
the University of Cambridge_. 1886.
CARLISLE. R. W. Billings. _Carlisle Cathedral._ 1840.
CARYL COLEMAN on "Episcopal Thrones and Pulpits" in _Architectural Record_,
xi. 1.
CARTMEL PRIORY CHURCH. Paper by F. A. Paley; and James Stockdale's _Annales
Caermoelenses_. Ulverston, 1872.
CHESTER. Dean Howson's _Handbook on Chester Cathedral_; Appendix iii.
Measured Drawings of Stalls by J. McLachlan in _Builder_, 10. iii. 1900.
COX AND HARVEY. _English Church Furniture._ 1907.
DUNBLANE. Macgibbon and Ross in _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_,
ii. 105.
DURHAM. R. W. Billings. _Durham Cathedral._ 1843.
ELY. Rev. D. J. Stewart. _Ely Cathedral._ 1868.
GOTCH, J. A. _Early Renaissance Architecture in England._ 1901.
HALIFAX. Pamphlet on the Woodwork of Halifax Parish Church, by Dean Savage.
LINCOLN MINSTER. Prebendary Wickenden in _Associated Societies' Reports_,
xv. 179; and _Archæological Journal_, 1881, pp. 43-61.
{xiv} MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL. J. S. Crowther. Plates 24-26 and 30.
Manchester, 1893.
NORWICH CATHEDRAL. Rev. D. J. Stewart in _Archæological Journal_, xxxii.
18; and Henry Harrod in _Castles and Convents in Norfolk_; Norwich, 1857.
RIPON MINSTER. J. T. Fowler in _Surtees Society_. Vols. 64, 74, 78, 81.
ROCHESTER. W. H. St John Hope's _Rochester Cathedral_. 1900; and _Spring
Gardens Sketch Book_, ii. 46.
ST ASAPH. Murray's _Welsh Cathedrals_, 267.
ST DAVID'S CATHEDRAL. Murray's _Welsh Cathedrals_, p. 134.
---- Jones and Freeman's _St David's_. 1856.
SHAW, HENRY. _Ancient Furniture._ London, 1836.
VIOLLET-LE-DUC on _Stalle_, in vol. viii., p. 464, of the _Dictionnaire
raisonné de l'architecture française_.
WELLS CATHEDRAL. Canon Church in _Archæologia_, lv. 319.
WINDSOR, ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL. W. H. St John Hope in _Archæologia_, liv. 115.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Neale and Brayley's _History of Westminster Abbey_:
London, 1818. Pugin's _Specimens of Gothic Architecture_, 1821. Lethaby's
_Westminster Abbey_, 1906.
MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SKETCH BOOK."
BEVERLEY ST MARY. C. de Gruchy. 3. vii. 9-11.
BOSTON. A. S. Anderson. 1. x. 8.
BROADWATER, Sussex. A. H. Hart. 2. vii. 9.
CHESTER CATHEDRAL. H. B. Bare. 1. v. 24.
CHICHESTER HOSPITAL. H. Goodall. 1879.
---- P. D. Smith. 2. x. 10, 11.
CLIFFE, Kent. H. Goodall. 2. 1. 15.
{xv}
DUNBLANE. T. MacLaren. 3. v. 6.
FAIRFORD, Gloucester. J. H. Bryan. 1. vi. 15.
HEMINGBOROUGH, Yorks. C. de Gruchy. 3. x. 40.
HIGHAM FERRERS. Lacy W. Ridge. 1. iii. 71.
HOLDENBY, Northants. T. Garratt. 1. ix. 20, 21.
IRCHESTER, Northants. H. B. Bare. 1. v. 24.
LANCASTER. J. Strong. 3. 1. 36, 37.
---- E. E. Deane. 2. iv. 23.
LINCOLN MINSTER. T. C. Yates. 1. xii. 25-27.
---- C. A. Nicholson. 2. xii. 32.
LYNN ST MARGARET. C. A. Nicholson. 2. xii. 20.
MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL. J. Harold Gibbons. 3. ix. 29, 30.
MONTGOMERY, Wales. Sydney Vacher. 2. iv. 33.
RICHMOND, Yorks. E. Eldon Deane. 2. iii. 25.
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. G. P. Bankart. 2. ix. 26.
SHIMPLING, Norfolk. E. C. Lee. 1. iii. 23.
WARWICK, Beauchamp Chapel. G. Somers Clarke. 1. ix. 3.
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL. L. G. Detmar. 3. vii. 59.
---- J. H. Gibbons. 3. vii. 60.
MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "SPRING GARDENS SKETCH BOOK."
CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL. G. G. Scott, jun. i. 28, and ii. 61, 62, 63.
CONWAY, North Wales. A. Baker, v. 71.
IRTHLINGBOROUGH, Northants. J. Medland. i. 58.
REEPHAM, Norfolk. J. Medland. iii. 41.
ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL. J. T. Micklethwaite. ii. 46.
{xvi}
SALL, Norfolk. H. Walker, viii. 20-22.
ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, London. S. Clarke and J. S. Middleton. 1878.
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL; LADY CHAPEL. W. Niven. vi. 67-72.
WINTHORPE, Lincolnshire. H. Vaughan. vi. 53.
MEASURED DRAWINGS IN "JOHN O' GAUNT'S SKETCH BOOK."
ST MARY, LANCASTER. W. Goddard. i. 9-13.
LANCHESTER, DURHAM. C. C. Hodges, ii. 16.
MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL. A. Mattinson. i. 35 and 36.
* * * * * {1}
STALLS AND TABERNACLE WORK IN ENGLISH CHURCHES
PART I
------
CHAPTER I
STALLS IN CHURCHES OF MONKS AND CANONS
In all churches of monks and canons, whether secular canons or canons
following the Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Gilbertine or other Rule,
stalls were placed in the choir. These stalls were occupied either by the
monks or by the canons and their deputies and by men singers and
choristers; there was also a limited lay use. The stalls had seats; these,
however, were occupied for but short portions of a service: during the
greater part of each service the occupants of the stalls stood or knelt.
The seats turned up on a pivot, as may be seen by comparing those of
Beverley St Mary (2) with those of Christchurch (2); and when they were
turned up, a small ledge underneath the seat gave a little support to any
one standing in the stall; for his comfort also there was usually a
circular projecting ledge behind him, against which he could lean his back;
_e.g._, at Beverley St Mary, but not at Balsham (3); also he could rest his
hands on the shoulders of the stall, when standing, as at Beverley St Mary
and Balsham. An elbow was often provided lower down, for use when he was
seated; as in the two above-mentioned churches. Above was usually some form
of canopy, varying from a cornice of slight projection, as at Balsham, to
such tabernacled spires as those of Beverley Minster (27). In front of the
stalls, except sometimes the front stall occupied by choir boys, was a desk
for service books. Every part of the stallwork was carefully designed; and
parochial, collegiate and monastic stalls alike were constantly growing in
importance and loveliness up to the Dissolution. {2}
[Illustration: Christchurch]
[Illustration: Beverley St Mary's]
{3}
[Illustration: Balsham] [Illustration: Beverley Minster]
{4}
[Illustration: St Luke] [Illustration: St Matthew]
[Illustration: St John] [Illustration: St Mark]
Christ Church, Newgate Street
{5}
[Illustration: Lincoln]
The upper shoulder was usually simply molded, as at Beverley St Mary; it
rarely took the form of an animal, as at Balsham. Usually the lower elbow
was simply molded, as in Beverley Minster (3); sometimes it terminated in a
mask, an animal or foliage; as in the lower range of stalls at Christchurch
(2) and at Cartmel (80); in Beverley St Mary there is an angel in front of
each of the lower elbows. As a rule, the projecting ends of the elbows were
carried down as supports, _e.g._, at Beverley Minster; sometimes, however,
a shaft or pair of shafts is introduced, as at Balsham, Beverley St Mary,
Hereford All Saints (44); Dunblane (67) and Christchurch (2), where they
are highly enriched. The upper part of the back of the stall is usually
panelled; _e.g._, Winchester (35), Chichester (36). Hereford All Saints
(44), Balsham (3). In the sixteenth century, however, panelling became less
common; at Dunblane the stall backs are plain (67); at Cartmel they are
filled in with scrolls and fretwork (80); at King's College, Cambridge,
with coats of arms (78); at Christchurch with carvings of masks and animals
(76). In Wren's church at Christ Church, Newgate Street, the panels of the
stalls have fine carvings of St Matthew (4), St Mark (4), St Luke (4), St
John (4), the Last Supper and other subjects. The desks also usually have
traceried panelling in front and at their ends, which is often of much
importance in helping to fix the date of the stalls; _e.g._, at Chester
(24), Manchester (6), Trunch (85) and Stowlangtoft (91). At Lincoln the
panels of the lowest rows of desks contain alternately the figures of a
king and of an angel with a musical instrument (5). On the stall ends was
lavished the best artistic talent of the day; there are magnificent
examples at Chester (9), Ripon (8) and Beverley Minster (7); very fine also
are those in Bishop Tunstall's chapel in Durham castle. On the example from
Manchester is an impaled shield, displaying on the dexter half the letters
I. B. (_i.e._, John Beswick, donor {6} of the northern stalls), a cross
intervening, and beneath on a chevron seven nails or cloves. The sinister
half is occupied by a demi-virgin issuing out of an orle of clouds. The
illustrations from Ripon shew the stalls of the Archbishop of York and the
Mayor of the city (8). In the former the poppy head takes the form of an
elephant holding a man in his trunk, and carrying a castle filled with
soldiery; in front of the elephant is a centaur (renewed); below is a large
mitre studded with precious stones (_mitra preciosa_) above a shield
charged with the three stars of St Wilfrid, the patron saint of the
Minster, and supported by two angels, between whom is a scroll with the
date 1494. Attached to the latter is a collared baboon; beneath is a shield
charged with the arms of the see of York, two keys in saltire. Of the two
examples illustrated from Chester (10), one represents the Annunciation;
the other is a most elaborate Jesse Tree (9).
[Illustration: Manchester]
The ends of the desks usually terminate in poppy heads; at {7} Chester,
Ripon, Manchester and Beverley there are magnificent examples. At
Blythburgh, Suffolk (11), is a foliated poppy head with a lion in front; in
front of the desks and those on the opposite side of the chancel are niches
containing statuettes of the apostles; these stalls were brought into the
chancel from the Hopton chapel, which is said to have been founded in 1452;
the Hopton arms appear on the bench end. There are interesting desks in the
great church of Walpole St Peter, Norfolk (12). When Edmund the King of the
East Saxons was shot to death by the Danes and afterwards beheaded, his
head was guarded by a wolf; the scene is depicted here and up and down all
East Anglia; the whole story is told in six foliated capitals in the north
porch of Wells cathedral, which is early in the thirteenth century. At
Stowlangtoft, Suffolk, the poppy head consists of a vested priest reading
at a lectern or altar (91).
[Illustration: Beverley Minster]
Besides stalls for monks, clergy and singers, benches or {8} stalls are
sometimes found for members of a church gild, as at Fressingfield, Suffolk;
or those now used by almsmen at Etwall, Derbyshire, on which the date 1635
is inscribed; the Jacobean armchair motif is prominent; nevertheless there
is Gothic cusping at the back; pegs are thoughtfully provided for the
almsmen's hats (13).
[Illustration: Ripon] [Illustration: Ripon]
{9}
[Illustration: Chester]
{10} The stalls are generally constructed very solidly. The ends of a row
are inserted in a strong sill, into which the standards for the supports of
the book board are also inserted. The elbows are in one solid piece and are
framed into the backs of the stalls; they are further secured by the heavy
capping above, which admirably connects and strengthens the work. On either
side the elbow is sunk to enable the seat to be turned up on its hinges and
to afford it support when down. The seats are generally about an inch in
thickness, the misericords projecting about five inches. As the entire seat
is got out of one solid piece of wood, the time expended on each must have
been very considerable; and difficulties in the grain without doubt
frequently added immensely to the labour. The work is often cut across the
grain and worked with much skill. Great care was taken in some instances to
match the wood; _e.g._, in the panelled backs of the stalls in Henry the
Seventh's chapel.[1]
[Illustration: Chester]
The construction of the tabernacled canopies is well seen in the set of
illustrations from Chester cathedral. In Lincoln Minster, where they are of
somewhat simpler type, they may be described as follows. The canopies are
hexagonal, supported on shafts, which have clustered niches above their
proper capitals; the stalls of the Chancellor and Treasurer, which are at
the extreme east on either side of the choir, have winged seraphs in their
capitals. The niches have ogee canopies bowing forward in front of their
true gables, with various small heads and faces on the hip-knobs. A second
story of the canopy contains a niche, square in plan, but set lozenge wise,
covered with a lofty pinnacle, and flanked by open screenwork with high
flying buttresses, nearly all of which have lost their crockets. All the
niches originally contained statues. The loss of these greatly damaged the
general effect--the alternation of light and shadow, the play of line and
the added mass. Now that the statues have been replaced, the general
character intended to be impressed on the design can be well realised
(52).[2] {11}
[Illustration: Blythburgh]
The cost of woodwork so elaborate as that of the later stalls, especially
those with tabernacled canopies, was very great. At Wells the stalls,
destroyed in 1848--another example of "restoration"--were begun in 1325;
each resident canon paid 30 _solidi_ for his own stall, and the stalls were
to cost altogether £1,200. The non-resident canons, having subscribed
little or nothing, were ordered in 1337 to make up a deficit of £200 for
the completion of the stalls.[3] As the number of stalls needed at Wells
would be about sixty, it follows that the expenditure on each stall was to
be £20, which in our money might be £300; giving a grand total of about
£18,000. The stalls at Amiens number 116, and were put up between 1508 and
1522. Viollet-le-Duc computes that in 1866 they could not have been put up
for less than £20,000.[4] But they do not possess tabernacled spirelets,
{12} having a comparatively simple horizontal cresting. At Windsor in 1483
six canopies cost £40; thus sixty would cost £400, or in our money about
£4,800; _i.e._, about £80 each; but this expenditure relates to the
canopies only, and not to the stalls or the misericords, or the lower
stalls and desks; if the cost of these be added, the cost might be as great
as at Wells. Few probably realise the vast expenditure which our
forefathers gladly undertook not only on the building but the equipment of
their churches: in a church of the first rank, such as Exeter cathedral,
the cost of the altar, reredos, sedilia, bishop's throne, canopied stalls
and pavement would hardly fall short of £30,000 of our money; which is
exclusive of the cost of the masonry, vault, timber roof and leading, and
stained glass.
[Illustration: Walpole St Peter's]
As regards the arrangement of the stalls, as many as there were room for
were placed at the back of the choir screen, usually two or three on either
side of the western doorway of the choir. The juxtaposition of screen and
stalls gives some very beautiful effects, _e.g._, at Chaddesden, Derbyshire
(99); still more so is this the case when screen and stalls are of the same
design, as at Chester (24), where the screen was designed in accordance
with the stallwork by Sir Gilbert Scott. {13}
[Illustration: Etwall]
As to the _place of honour_ in the stalls, that raises some interesting
points. There were no less than three places of honour in a chancel; in
each case the place of honour was to the right, because it was written in
the Psalms, "Sit thou on my _right hand_"; and because of the words of the
Creed, "sitteth on the _right hand_ of God the Father Almighty"; first, the
right hand or north side of the altar, facing the west; second, the first
seat to the right, or on the south side, of the entrance to the chancel
through the choir doorway; thirdly, the extreme right to the east, or
nearest the altar, of the south row of stalls. In the sanctuary the Lord
Christ was conceived to be in real, corporeal presence, face to face with
His people, His right hand to the north, His left hand to the south. In the
sanctuary therefore the place of honour was on the north; and to this day
when a bishop visits a parish church, his chair is placed north of the
altar; the gospel also is read on the north side, the epistle on the south.
In several churches in Derbyshire there are stone "gospel-desks" affixed to
the north wall of the chancel. Turning to the choir, things are different.
When the procession enters the choir from the nave through the screen
doorway, the right of the return stalls is the place of honour. Here in a
cathedral of the old foundation, _i.e._, one which has always been served
by secular canons, such as Lincoln, Wells, Hereford, the dean sits on the
right, and the subdean or the precentor on the left of the gangway. In a
monastic church the abbot sat on the south, the prior on the north side.
But sometimes a monastic church, _e.g._, Ely, Winchester, Norwich, was also
the cathedral of a bishop, who was _ipso facto_ abbot. In such a church the
bishop should sit on the right-hand side of the return stall; at Ely there
is no bishop's throne, and he occupies that position to this day. {14}
[Illustration: Beverley Minster] [Illustration: Beverley Minster]
{15} Where a bishop's throne was erected, it was placed on the south side
of the choir, which is ecclesiastically always favoured more than the
north. Of the stalls on the south side of a choir the one most to the right
is of course the easternmost; and it is here that the ancient thrones
remain of the bishops of Exeter, St David's and Durham. Again, even if it
was not a cathedral church, there were occasions when it was not convenient
for an abbot to be so remote from the altar as the return stalls, _e.g._,
at certain portions of the Mass; for such occasions alternative seats were
provided for the abbot and prior; the former occupying the easternmost
stall on the south side, the prior that on the north. At Peterborough there
is evidence that the abbot's seat was on the south, at the east end of the
choir, near the _ostium presbyterii_.[5] At Ripon the bishop occupies the
easternmost stall in the south side, which from the carving of a mitre at
the back appears to have been originally assigned to the Archbishop of
York; the place of honour opposite is occupied by the Wakeman or Mayor of
the city.
* * * * * {16}