CHAPTER VI

STALLS IN PARISH CHURCHES

[Illustration: Sall] [Illustration: Trunch]

Stalls are found, but rarely with canopies, in many parochial, as well as

in monastic, collegiate and cathedral churches. In the latter of course the

object of them is obvious; they were intended to accommodate a large body

of monks or canons with their vicars and the choristers. But they are found

sometimes in the churches of quite small parishes, _e.g._, Sall, Trunch,

Ludham, Burlingham St Edmund's in Norfolk, Weston-in-Gordano, Somerset,

Norton in Suffolk, Ivychurch[48] in Romney Marsh, where it is pretty

certain that in most cases the church was served by a single parish priest

merely. At Ingham, a parish in the Norfolk Broads, there are ten stalls in

the chancel; at Stowlangtoft, Suffolk, there are six stalls; and so with

numerous others. How early parochial chancels had stalls is difficult to

say. No existing examples are earlier than the thirteenth century. But a

curious fact about the growth of our parish churches, to {86} which

attention has not hitherto been directed, may throw some light on the

subject. In early Anglo-Saxon days the normal and most common type of

parish church was one which had an aisleless nave and chancel. In early

Norman days also this was the most common type. In all the above churches,

whether Anglo-Saxon or Norman, the chancel, whether rectangular or apsidal,

was quite small. Comparatively few, however, of these chancels remain

small. In the vast majority of cases they have been enlarged. Either the

old chancel has been retained but has been lengthened, or it has been

broadened as well as lengthened, thus producing an entirely new chancel. In

most cases it happened that, in the long history of the church, aisles were

thrown out afterwards, or transepts, that later the nave was lengthened

westwards and was heightened to accommodate clerestory windows, and still

later a western tower was added and perhaps a spire. But the enlargement of

the chancel sometimes took place without any of the other alterations, and

where that is so, _i.e._, where the church retains a comparatively small

nave, the enlarged chancel bulks up very lofty and spacious, seemingly

quite out of scale to the rest of the church: in some examples the chancel

is actually loftier than the nave. A church with a chancel so

disproportionate strikes the attention at once as one demanding

explanation. Large numbers of such abnormally big chancels survive. In Kent

and Sussex many of them are of the thirteenth century; _e.g._,

Littlebourne; while over England one is struck with the very large number

of lofty and spacious chancels of the fourteenth century; _e.g._, Norbury,

Derbyshire; Oulton, Suffolk. In numerous cases the enlargements of the

chancel took place more than once. At Boston the church was rebuilt with a

fine chancel _c._ 1330; but by the end of the century even this vast

chancel was judged inadequate, and it was extended still further to the

east.

{87}

[Illustration: Hemingborough Church]

{88} What then is the explanation of this furore for enlargement of

chancels? In considering the answer, it must be borne in mind that,

ritualistically, the English parish church was always tripartite;

consisting of nave, choir and chancel. In churches of the Iffley type,

_i.e._, with a central tower, it was also architecturally tripartite. But

even in churches which architecturally were bipartite, _i.e._, which

consisted merely of a nave and chancel, the chancel was divided into two

parts, choir and sanctuary, the distinction between them being marked by a

change of level. Which part then was it that was found inadequate, the

sanctuary or the choir? Not the former; it was not then cumbered with altar

rails; the purpose they serve nowadays was served by the screen which every

church possessed, guarding the entrance to the chancel; and the sanctuary

was quite large enough for the celebrant at the Mass, with as a rule a

solitary assistant, the parish clerk. It must have been the choir that was

too small for the seats which it was desired to place in it. We conclude

therefore that seats were common even in small village churches as early as

the thirteenth century, if not before. Documentary evidence to that effect

we have not. But in later days there is definite evidence as to the

practice of putting stalls in the chancels of parish churches. In

Hemingborough church, Yorkshire, there remain stalls of graceful thirteenth

century design (87). Now this church in the thirteenth century was

parochial; it did not become collegiate till 1426. A series of entries of

the cost of choir stalls is preserved for the parish church of St Mary at

Hill in the City of London. In the year 1426 there was "paid to three

carpenters for the stalls of the quire, 20d." In the following year there

was paid "for the stalls of the quire" the large sum of £12 (= £150); it

would seem that it was about this time that a complete new set of stalls

was put into the choir. In the same year, 1427, there was "paid for stalls

in the quire, 16s. 6d."; and "for a quire stool, 7s. 10d." In 1501 a

payment was made "for mending of desks in the quire"; in 1509 "for nails

and mending of a bench in the quire, 1d." In 1523 there was "paid for a

long desk for the quire, 3s."; in 1526 "for the stuff and making of a

double desk in the quire, 5s." Then, in Protestant days, there was "paid

for mending the desk and settles in the chancel, 2s." At this church the

lower part of the bench was made to form a box or chest. {89}

[Illustration: Hereford St Peter's]

Who then sat in these stalls? The common theory is that they were intended

for the use of the rector or vicar and the parish clerk, and of any chantry

priests who might be attached to the church. This no doubt is true as far

as it goes. At St Maurice, York, a complaint was made at the visitation in

1416 to the effect that the desks in the choir, viz., those where the

parish chaplain and the parish clerk were wont to sit, are unhandsome and

in need of repair: "Dicunt quod deski in choro, tam ex una parte quam ex

alia, ubi saltem capellanus parochialis et clericus parochialis sedere usi

sunt, nimis deformes et indigent reparacione."[49] To many churches also,

but by no means to all, chantry endowments were made; _i.e._, money was

left that masses might be said for ever for the repose of the soul of the

donor by a priest, other than the rector or vicar, specially appointed for

that purpose. It is commonly supposed that these chantry priests were

concerned only with the special altars at which they ministered. But that

this was not the case, at any rate universally, is apparent from the terms

of the institution of the Willeby chantry in Halifax parish church. The

deed is dated 10th June 1494. Amongst other regulations it contains the

provision that the chaplain is to attend in person in the choir of the

church on every Sunday and Holy Day in his surplice, at matins, mass and

vespers, and to take his part in the reading and chanting, as directed by

the vicar, and in accordance with the constitutions of the Metropolitan

Church. "Item volo et ordino quod predictus Tho. Gledhill, Capellanus

modernus, et omnes alii Capellani, ... temporibus futuris nominandi,

singulis diebus dominicis et festivis personaliter sint presentes in choro

ejusdem Ecclesie temporibus matutinarum missarum et vesperarum, suis

suppeliciis induti, et legant et psallent, prout Vicario ejusdem Ecclesie

pro tempore existenti decenter et congrue videbitur expedire, ut in

constitutionibus Ecclesie Metropolitane proinde constitutis plenius

liquet." Assuming {90} then that the same rule applied also to the

incumbents of the other chantries, there would be a regular body of clergy

to take part in the choir offices.[50]

Instances might be multiplied to any extent of the obligation laid on

chantry priests to attend and assist the rector or vicar in the services.

Thus at Rothwell in 1494 the chantry priest attached to the altar of Our

Lady was not only required by the foundation deed to celebrate Mass and

other service daily at this altar, but was directed to be in the high choir

all festival days at matins, Mass, and evensong. In 1505 Margaret Blade,

widow, endowed a chantry of Our Lady in Kildewick parish for a priest who,

in addition to his special duties, was to help Divine service in the choir

and to help the curate in time of necessity.[51] Sometimes quite a

considerable number of chantry priests were attached to a parish church.

When all chantry endowments were confiscated by Edward VI., the loss of the

services of the chantry priests was in many cases severely felt. At

Nottingham indeed the parishioners of St Mary's made formal protest;

stating that in their parish there were "1,400 houseling people and that

the vicar there had no other priest to help but the two chantry

priests."[52] We may take it therefore that seats in the chancel were

required not only for the parish priest and the parish clerk, but in some

cases for chantry priests as well.

But the above explanation does not cover the whole ground. There are often

many more stalls than could be used as above. And in some churches there

were no chantry priests at all, and yet there are stalls. Who else then

occupied seats in the chancel? Some of the stalls probably, usually but a

few, may have been occupied by laymen even so early as the thirteenth

century. {91}

[Illustration: Stowlangtoft]

As regards the occupancy of seats in the chancel it is quite clear that it

has always been the wish of the Church that they should be reserved for the

clergy and that no laymen should be admitted. It is equally clear that the

Church has never been able to carry out the injunction. In the Trullan

Council of 683 or 692 it was laid down, "Nulli omnium liceat, qui quidem

sit in laicorum numero, intra septa sacri altaris ingredi, nequaquam tamen

ab eo prohibita potestate et auctoritate imperiali, quandoquidem voluerit

Creatori dona offerre, ex antiquissima traditione"; _i.e._, "No layman may

enter the chancel, except the Emperor, who by venerable tradition is

allowed to do so when he wishes to present offerings to his Maker." But

this does not explicitly allow the Emperor to sit down in the chancel. And

even this much was objected to by many; for a gloss follows: "Nemo liceat

laico intra, &c." ... "Adulatione et timore victi, per gravem errorem

concedunt imperatori, quod magna cum laude sanctorum patrum Ambrosius

Theodosio negavit"; _i.e._, "The permission given to the Emperor was given

under the influence of adulation and timidity, and the action of St Ambrose

in refusing it to the Emperor Theodosius was greatly applauded by the

Fathers." But it was a perilous thing to exclude emperors, and what was

conceded to emperors was claimed by princes, and what was conceded to

princes was claimed by and had to be conceded to the nobility generally. So

in Scotland in 1225 by an episcopal order the King and his nobles also were

allowed to stand and to sit in the chancel: "Ne laici secus altare, quum

sacra mysteria celebrantur, stare vel sedere inter clericos presumant,

excepto domino rege et majoribus regni, quibus propter suam excellentiam in

hac parte duximus referendum." And if the nobles, then certainly the patron

of the living could not be excluded from a parochial chancel. So in the

diocese of Worcester in 1240 a canon was agreed to that patrons as well as

high personages might stand in the chancel: "nec laici stent in Cancellis

dum celebrantur divina; salva tamen reverentia patronorum et sublimium

personarum"; in Lincoln diocese also Bishop Grosstête in 1240 restricts the

permission to the patron. Again in 1255 in Lincoln diocese the patron or

any other "venerable" person was allowed to sit and stand in the chancel.

Archbishop Greenfield of York (1304-1315) found it necessary to make a rule

against laymen intruding into the choir during service. So also at Ely,

Simon Langham in 1364 wrote: "Lay people are not to stand or sit amongst

the clerks in the chancel during the celebration of divine service, unless

{92} it be done to shew respect or for some other reasonable and obvious

reason; but this is allowed for the patrons of churches only."[53] Then

what had been claimed successfully by those of noble birth, and by patrons

in particular, was claimed with equal success by any good Churchman of

consideration and wealth, especially if he were a benefactor of the church.

For in the fourteenth century Alan de Alnewyk of York, goldsmith, wills

that his body be buried _in the quire_ of St Michael Belfry near the place

_where I used to sit_ ("ubi sedere solebam"). Another century later, Robert

Constable of Bossall, leaves this direction in 1454: "First, I devise my

soul to God Almighty and his mother Blessed Saint Mary and to Saint Botolph

and to the holy court of heaven; and my body to be buried in the quire

afore the place _where my seat is_."[54] In 1511 Robert Fabyan, the

chronicler, citizen and draper of London, devises as follows: "I will that

my corps be buried between my pew and the high altar, _within the quire_ of

the church of Allhallows, Theydon Gardon, Essex." Finally, at Yatton,

Somerset, in 1529, 2s. was "paid for a sege in ye chaunsell."[55] It is to

be remembered moreover that though it may have been unusual for laymen to

have seats in the chancel, yet it was by no means uncommon for them to

stand or kneel there; there are enough representations of laymen so

standing to establish that point satisfactorily: they are shewn standing or

kneeling, sometimes with lighted tapers in their hands. At a St Martin's

mass in France in the fourteenth century,[56] two women are shewn near the

altar steps, one standing and attending to her duties, the other

inattentive and seriously distracting the attention of an acolyte kneeling

near. We know definitely that in Salisbury cathedral laymen were allowed to

be present in the sanctuary before the Sunday procession; for after the

hallowing of the water it was ordered that the priest should asperge the

laity in the presbytery as well as the clergy in the choir. "Post

aspersionem clericorum laicos in presbiterio hinc inde stantes

aspergat."[57] At Salisbury the Sunday procession was marshalled in the

ample space between the choir and the high altar, which space the laity

entered in order to follow the clerks in the procession. {93}

[Illustration: Brancepeth]

For women it was more difficult to get admission to the chancel. Tradition

and usage were against them. As early as A.D. 367 the Council of Laodicea

passed a canon that women ought not to come near the altar or enter the

apartment where the altar stands. In the ninth century a canon was passed

at Mantes that women must not approach the altar or act as "server" to the

celebrant or stand in the chancel. Among the canons of the time of King

Edgar is one: "Docemus ut altari mulier non appropinquet dum Missa

celebratur"; "a woman must not come near the altar at Mass." In laying down

regulations for the services in Ripon Minster Archbishop Greenfield says,

"We permit no women at all, religious or secular, unless great ladies or

ladies of high rank or others of approved honour and piety, to sit or stand

in a stall or elsewhere in the choir while the divine offices are being

celebrated." "Nullas omnino mulieres, religiosas vel seculares, nec laicos

nisi magnas aut nobiles {94} personas aut alias quarum sit honestas et

devocio satis nota, in stallo vel alibi in choro inter ministros ecclesiae

stare vel sedere dum divina celebrantur officia permittimus."[58] The story

told about Sir Thomas More shews that while he himself sat in the chancel,

Lady More sat in the nave. "During his high Chancellorship one of his

gentlemen, when service at the church was done, ordinarily used to come to

my Lady his wife's pew-door and say unto her 'Madame, my Lord is gone.' But

the next holy day after the surrender of his office of Lord Chancellor, and

the departure of his gentlemen from him, he came unto my Lady his wife's

pew himself, and, making a low courtesy, said unto her, 'Madam, my Lord is

gone.' But she, thinking this at first to be but one of his jokes, was

little moved, till he told her sadly he had given up the Great Seal." And

many other good Churchmen at all times have retained the ancient usage of

the exclusion of women from the stalls in the chancel. At Great Burstead,

in Essex, in 1661, an applicant was authorised to build a pew at the

entrance to the chancel for the use of himself and sons and companions and

friends of the male sex; but to build another in the nave for his wife and

her daughters and companions and friends of the female sex. King Charles I.

in 1625 wrote, "For mine own particular opinion I do not think ... that

Women should be allowed to sit in the chancel, which was instituted for

Clerks"; and in 1633, when he visited Durham cathedral, the choir was

cleared of all the seats occupied by the Mayor and Corporation and the

wives of the Dean and Prebendaries and other "women of quality," and his

Majesty gave orders that they should never again be erected, "that so the

Quire may ever remain in its ancient beauty." Even to this day in some

cathedrals it is the usage to allow women to sit only in the lower desks of

the choir and not in the stalls above. Nevertheless in plenty of instances

the pertinacity of women prevailed; and where the husband sat in the

chancel, there the wife insisted on sitting beside him. Thus in a suit

instituted by Lady Wyche in 1468, the lady put it on record that she had a

seat in the chancel: "jeo aye un lieu de seer en le chauncel." In 1468 two

ladies had seats in the chancel of Rotherham church; for the master of the

grammar school willed that he be buried in south chancel[59] near the stall

in which the wife of the Bailiff of Rotherham and the testator's wife sit.

In 1553 a new pew was made for Sir Arthur D'Arcy and his wife at St

Botolph, Aldgate: "Paid to Mattram, carpenter, for three elm {95} boards

for the two new pews in the quire where Sir Arthur Darsey and his wife are

set ... ijs. viijd." The same parish in 1587 gave Master Dove permission to

"build a pew for himself, another for his wife to sit in, being in the

chancel." Therefore we come to the conclusion that at any rate from the

thirteenth century onward more and more seats were provided in the chancel

for lay folk. Where, as in the parish church of Boston, the stalls are very

numerous--at Boston there are sixty-four--it is likely that a considerable

number of them were appropriated to various important gilds connected with

the church.

But there is another purpose which parochial stalls subserved, and that is

the most important of all: viz., to accommodate a surpliced choir. The

introduction of surpliced choirs into chancels in modern days was an

innovation at first deeply resented, and seems to have been usually made in

ignorance of the existence of mediæval precedent. Precedent there is,

however, in abundance. England was a merry, tuneful land before the

Reformation, and nowhere more than in the churches. The musical part of the

service grew more and more ornate, especially in the last years immediately

preceding the Dissolution; the parishes--village and town parishes

alike--delighted in "the cheerful noise of organs and fiddles and anthems,"

and spent on music a very large part of the church income. The early years

of the sixteenth century were a glorious time for church music; the

parishioners loved it and would have it, and were willing to pay for it; it

was not forced on them from above; it was the people and the people's

churchwardens who would have it. What a joyful sound we should hear from

the church doors if we could enter once more an English church of the

sixteenth century and hear the surpliced men and boys a singing in the

choir, accompanied by organs and citterns and fiddles and crowdes and

dulcimers and all instruments of music in the rood loft, with perhaps an

anthem or a solo on high festival days from distinguished vocalists of the

neighbouring villages; those were happy times. Take the churchwardens'

accounts of St Mary at Hill, London.[60] In this church in 1523 there was

"paid 15d. for 6 round mats of wicker for the clerks." If we assume six

more for the boys, we get a regular choir of six men and six boys. But

besides these an extra choir of choirmen and boys was engaged for special

days. In 1527 there was "paid 9d. at the Sun tavern for the drinking of Mr

Colmas and others of the King's chapel {96} that had sung in the church of

St Mary at Hill." In 1553 there was "paid 16d. to the gentlemen of the

Queen's chapel for singing a mass at St Mary at Hill." Again, in 1527 there

was "paid 7s. for bread, ale and wine for the quire, and for strangers at

divers feasts in the year past"; these "strangers" would probably be

singers hired from other churches. The above entry shews that the choir was

paid in kind as well as in money. The choirmen received quite handsome

salaries. In 1524 Morres, the bass, was receiving from the parish 20 nobles

a year. John Hobbes was the most expensive member of the choir. In 1556

there was paid to John Hobbes 56s. 8d., being one quarter's wages, for his

services in the choir. This choirman therefore had a salary of £11. 6s. 8d.

per annum, which would be equivalent to about £113 of our money. Sir John

Parkyns, a bass, received a quarterly salary of 15s. 8d. "for the help the

quire when Hobbes was dead, and to have 8d. a day every holy day and

Sunday." On the other hand there was "paid 12s. to Mr Hilton, priest, for

three quarters of a year, for keeping daily service in the quire in 1528";

this was at the rate of 16s. per annum; this compares remarkably with John

Hobbes' salary of £11. 6s. 8d. per annum; even allowing for the fact that

Mr Hilton had other sources of revenue, we cannot but infer that priests

were cheap and good singers dear in the sixteenth century. The parishes

were quite willing to pay for good music. At Braunton, Devon, _c._ 1580,

_i.e._, after the Reformation, the churchwardens were still paying four or

five expensive choirmen, as well as singing boys; the highest salary for a

choirman was 26s. 8d.; say £13. 6s. 8d. per annum; the choir in this

village church could not have cost the parish less than £100 per annum of

our money. In all the choirs there seem to have been "singing boys" as well

as men. We hear in 1477 of four choristers being brought over to St Mary at

Hill for a special service, for which they received the modest sum of 1d.

each. At this church it was finally arranged to have a permanent choir, and

what we should call a choir school was established, with John Norfolk, the

organist, at the head of it to train the boys: for there "was paid for

making clean of a chamber in the Abbot's Inn to be a school for Norfolk's

children." The same year "Mr parson gave the boys a playing week to make

merry," and the churchwardens kindly presented the boys and choirmen with

3s. 4d. to spend on their holiday. Next year there was again a payment of

3s. 4d. "in the playing week after Christmas to disport them." Both the

boys and the men wore surplices, bought at the expense of the parish. In

1496 there were at St Mary at Hill "8 surplices for the quire, of which

{97} 2 have no sleeves; and 7 rochets for children, and 6 albs for

children." In 1499 there was "paid 12d. for the making of 6 rochets for

children that were in the quire." At St Nicholas', Bristol, in 1521 there

was paid "1d. for making a child's surplice belonging to the quire"; and in

1542 iiis. viid. for material "to make 2 lads' surplices." An inventory of

Huntingfield church, Suffolk, shews that the church possessed "vii

rochettys ffor men and vii for chyldern," and that the material of the

rochets cost 6d. each; it would seem that this Suffolk village had seven

men and seven boys in the church choir. At St Mary at Hill there was paid

in 1523 "for making 12 surplices for men at 6d. each, 6s.; and for 12

surplices for children at 5d. each, 5s."; this was a rich city parish, and

could afford to have a pair for each choir man and boy, one to be in use,

the other at the wash. Then music had to be paid for. In the same church in

1523 there was paid "for 4 hymnals and a processioner, noted, for the

clerks in the quire, 6s. 8d."; in the same year there was paid "for two

quires of paper to prick songs in, 8d." In 1555 at St Mary the Great,

Cambridge, there was "paid 3s. 4d. for the copy of the service in English

set out by note; and 1s. 4d. for writing and noting part of it to sing on

both sides of the quire"; _i.e._, they sang antiphonally. There are

numerous entries as to the cost of the organ and of the constant repairs

which it required. Lastly, there was the organist's salary, which if it was

anything like the sum received by John Hobbes, would be a heavy item. An

eminent organist like John Norfolk, who was in charge of a choir school,

would expect and no doubt get a large salary. In village churches, however,

the boys would be trained, sometimes by a chantry priest if he was under

statutory obligation to do so, more often by the parish clerk. The latter

was a permanent official with a freehold, as he is still, and a person of

much importance and dignity. Before the Reformation, in addition to serving

at the daily Mass in a village church, carrying holy water and "blessed

bread" round the parish, and many other functions, he was more especially

in charge of the musical part of the services. He was expected to sing or

chant himself, especially the psalms; he had to read the epistles; and, at

any rate in the sixteenth century, he had to train the choir boys. It was

ordered at Faversham in 1506 that "the clerks, or one of them, so much as

in them is, shall endeavour themselves to teach children to read and sing

in the quire." And at St Giles', Reading, in 1544 there was a payment of

12s. "to Whitborne the clerk towards his wages, and he to be bound to teach

2 children for the quire."

{98}

[Illustration: Hambleton]

Beside the professional choirmen and the parish clerks there were sometimes

amateurs also giving help. Sir Thomas More used to sing in Chelsea church

like any parish clerk. "God's body," said the Duke of Norfolk, coming on a

time to Chelsea and finding him in Chelsea church, singing at Mass in the

choir, "God's body, my Lord Chancellor, what turned parish clerk?" Put

these items together--the wages of choirmen and boys, and now and then of

extra help, the making, mending and washing of surplices, the cost of

music, the salaries of the organist and parish clerk and the cost of the

choir school, and it will be seen that the services of a large town church

must have been, musically, on quite a grand scale; it is equally plain that

the love of church music and the willingness to pay for it were equally

great in the villages. It is not possible here to go further into this

matter of the church music. It may be said briefly, however, that the plain

chant of the Divine Office and of the Mass would be sung in the chancel,

and that for this the permanent village choir of men and boys would

suffice. Every parish that could afford it seems to have had a rood loft

and an organ in it. But the organ would not be used to accompany the plain

song, but for what we call "voluntaries" in the various intervals of the

Mass and other services. The {99} organ again would be employed when there

was singing of "motets," _i.e._, anthems, whether the singers were in the

choir or the rood loft. On great days when minstrels playing all manner of

instruments were got together to help out the organ, they would no doubt be

placed in the rood loft, with any extra vocalists for whom place could not

be found in the choir below.

[Illustration: Chaddesden]

Summing up, we may say that in a parochial chancel seats were required (1)

for the parish priest, the parish clerk and any chaplains or chantry

priests; (2) for the patron and a few of the leading churchfolk of the

village; (3) for a choir of men and boys which was occasionally enlarged by

choirmen and choristers borrowed from neighbouring churches. Altogether

quite a considerable number of seats would be required; and we need not be

surprised that there are so many stalls in small village churches, but

rather that they are not more; no doubt, however, additional forms or

benches would be introduced on days of great festival.

Not every parish church could afford to have a set of stalls made,

cathedral fashion, for its chancel. In many cases probably the seats were

but benches or settles; and the naked, desolate {100} look of many spacious

chancels is no doubt due to the removal of these seats. Desks, or as they

were Latinised "deski," there must have been, at least one at each side, on

which to place the anthem book, processioner and other music. We hear of a

double desk at St Mary at Hill; but only the richest parishes seem to have

provided desks for the choir boys as well as for the men. In poor parishes

the men had not armed stalls, but merely a bench to sit on.[61] The boys

sometimes had a bench; sometimes, as at Stowlangtoft, Suffolk (91), the

bench was framed into the desk behind. At the back of the choirmen's seats,

there might be bare wall; or it might be panelled, as at Sall, Norfolk

(85), or arcaded, as at Chichester Cathedral (36). In richer examples there

might be above the panelling a coved cornice, as at Stowlangtoft and

Balsham, Cambridge (3). A still more sumptuous design was to erect a

horizontal canopy above the stalls, as at St Peter's (89) and All Saints'

(45), Hereford, and Brancepeth, John Cosin's church, Durham (93). The

return stalls, facing east, would be those of the parish priest and his

clerical helpers, and were often more spacious and lofty than the rest, and

backed on to the screen, as at Chaddesden, Derbyshire (99), and Trunch,

Norfolk (85).

The workmanship of the best stalls is quite first rate. At All Saints',

Hereford, the timber of the stalls is "good sound English oak, all either

cleft or cut in the quarter, proving that the trees were converted into the

smallest possible sizes before being sawn from either end, the very rough

saw-kerfs meeting at an angle in the centre of the board."[62] The stalls

frequently stand on stone plinths, pierced for ventilation; _e.g._, at Sall

and Trunch (85).

* * * * * {101}

PART II

------

CHAPTER VII

BISHOPS' THRONES

In the next chapter we deal with movable chairs and thrones, descendants

more or less of the "_sella curulis_" and the "_sella gestatoria_." More

important still are the fixed thrones of Early Christian days. These were

not of wood or ivory, but of masonry, usually marble. In shape they were

just high-backed chairs of marble. Now countless numbers of such marble

chairs or stalls were in use in the theatres, thermæ and amphitheatres of

Pagan Rome; the thermæ of Caracalla alone possessed 600 such marble stalls.

Doubtless many a bishop's throne, like those at St John Lateran, St Clement

and Cosmedin, Rome, was actually taken from one of the Roman thermæ.

Similar bishops' chairs, cut out of the solid rock, occur in the catacombs

of Rome.

The position of the fixed marble throne of an Early Christian bishop was

high up in the centre of the back wall of the apse of the church.

In Dalmatia and Istria several thrones retain their original position. At

Parenzo there remains the semicircle of marble seats for the clergy with

the episcopal throne in the centre; a work of the first half of the sixth

century. At Aquileia, in the centre of the east end, is the Patriarch's

throne of veined white marble, inlaid with serpentine; it is made up of

portions of an older throne of genuine Byzantine work. At Grado the marble

throne at the east end of the church seems to have been made up in the

ninth century; it is surmounted by a stone tester. At Zara in the same

position is another marble chair, raised on five steps. At Trau the bench

of the clergy remains, but the bishop's throne has been destroyed. At

Ossero also is a marble throne made up of fragments of older work.[63] In

the apse of the twelfth century church of S. Stefano, Bologna, is a

bishop's throne ten steps above the choir. Another remains _in situ_ in

Vaison cathedral, Provence. Another episcopal chair of marble is now placed

on the north side of the sanctuary of Avignon cathedral; on it are carved

the emblems of the Evangelists (104). {102}

[Illustration: Exeter]

{103}

[Illustration: Exeter]

{104}

In the Victoria and Albert Museum is a throne, painted and gilded, dated

1779, from a church in Cyprus. In Norwich cathedral in the centre of the

apse wall of the presbytery there are the fragments of the original stone

seat built for the use of the bishop, and on the pavement and adjoining

piers there are traces of the steps by which his throne was reached. When

Blomfield wrote his _History of Norfolk_, 1739-1775, the steps of the

throne had not been disturbed; "the ancient bishop's throne ascended by

three steps," and when built, before a rood screen was erected, the bishop

had an uninterrupted view down the whole church to the west end of the

nave.[64]

[Illustration: Avignon]

In Canterbury cathedral is a stone chair, which as at Norwich was

originally at the back of the High altar; it was removed from that position

by Archbishop Howley _c._ 1840, but has recently been replaced; it consists

of three blocks of Purbeck marble (105). The chronicler Eadmer, writing of

the Pre-Conquest cathedral burnt down in 1067, says that "the pontifical

chair in it was constructed with handsome workmanship and of large stones

and cement." The description would apply very well to the present chair:

but the monk Gervase states that in Lanfranc's cathedral, finished in 1077,

"the patriarchal seat, on which the archbishops were wont to sit during the

solemnities of the Mass, until the consecration of the Sacrament, was of a

single stone." It would seem therefore that the Anglo-Saxon chair perished

in the fire of 1067, and that its successor experienced the same fate in

1174. The probability is therefore that the present chair was made between

the fire of 1174 and the consecration of 1184. A decisive argument against

a Pre-Conquest date is the fact that the throne is made of Purbeck

marble--for this material seems not to have come into use till after the

middle of the twelfth century in the Norman house at Christchurch on the

Avon, in St Cross', Winchester, and in William of Sens' work at Canterbury.

{105}

[Illustration: Canterbury]

The position of the pontifical throne at Canterbury has varied at different

periods. Eadmer states that the cathedral burnt down in 1067 was orientated

to the east, where was the presbytery containing the High altar. But at the

west end of the church was the altar of Our Lady, and behind this altar was

the throne adjoining the west wall. This unusual position is only

explicable by the assumption that the first cathedral at Canterbury was

orientated to the west, and that the site occupied in 1067 by the altar of

Our Lady was originally that of the High altar. The western position so

postulated for the High altar and the throne was originally that of most of

the Early Christian basilicas at Rome, in particular the ancient basilica

of St Peter. At a later period the orientation was often reversed, _e.g._,

in St Paul _extra muros_, Rome; what happened in this latter church seems

also to have happened in Anglo-Saxon times at Canterbury. A similar change

has occurred in the French cathedral of Nevers; where, however, though in

Gothic days a presbytery and High altar were constructed at the east end of

the church, the early {106} Romanesque presbytery, crypt, and two bays of

the nave have been allowed to remain to this day.

[Illustration: Beverley Minster]

What looks like a survival of the marble chair of the bishop is to be seen

in the frithstols of Hexham and Beverley (106). These also are of masonry,

and are so similar in design to the ancient marble thrones that one is

tempted to speculate that the original usage of sanctuary was for the

offender to fly to and occupy the actual throne of the bishop or

archbishop.

As has been said, in the Early Christian churches both the altar and the

seats of the bishop and his clergy were usually at the west end of the

church to the west of the High altar, so that the clergy faced towards the

east, while the congregation faced towards the west. But early examples

occur of churches with the modern orientation. When this was the case, the

congregation faced east; and where the ancient position of the throne and

benches was retained, the clergy were left in an anomalous position facing

west. This led, first to the clergy, then the bishop, migrating elsewhere.

The higher clergy took up their position in the return stalls of the choir,

facing east; the lower clergy occupied stalls north and south of the choir.

As for the bishop, he could not seat himself as before, facing the altar,

for his throne would have blocked the entrance into the presbytery. He

therefore set up his throne on the south side of the choir, at the eastern

end of the southern range of stalls. And this is where we find him in

Gothic days. There is one chief exception. In cathedrals served by monks,

the bishop was the titular abbot of the house, though the superintendence

of the monastery had necessarily to be left mainly in the hands of the

prior; and so to this day in some churches the bishop has no throne, but

occupies the ancient abbot's stall--at Ely the stall of the Benedictine

abbot, at Carlisle the stall of the Augustinian abbot.

{107}

[Illustration: Durham]

The change of position from the back of the High altar to the front of it

was a complete break with tradition. Equally complete was the break in

design. In the design of the Gothic throne there is no reminiscence

whatever of the marble chairs of the Early Christian basilicas and the

Pagan Thermæ. The Gothic thrones are but glorified versions of such stalls

and spirelet-tabernacles as those of Lincoln; they are spacious stalls,

sometimes, as at St David's, big enough to hold a bishop and two chaplains,

and crowned with a spire of open woodwork. The earliest and grandest is

that of Exeter cathedral; the Fabric Rolls shew that in 1312 during the

episcopate of Bishop Stapledon there was paid "for timber for the bishop's

seat £6. 12s. 8½d." The oak was kept four years before it was used. Then £4

was paid to Robert de Galmeton "for making the bishop's seat by contract."

There was also a charge of 30s. for {108} painting, and there must have

been one for carving the statues in the canopy. The whole cost would be

about £13; say £200 in our money; a sum surprisingly small for work of such

magnitude and delicate detail. The throne was evidently intended to have a

chair placed under it, and probably seats for the bishop's chaplains to the

right and left. It is 57 feet high; at present its niches look somewhat

unsubstantial and meagre; but that is because all the niches were tenanted

with statues, and all have disappeared. The carved foliage is of

exceptional excellence, and the corners of the pinnacles are occupied with

small heads of oxen, sheep, dogs, pigs, monkeys and other animals (102).

[Illustration: St David's]

{109}

[Illustration: St David's]

{110} Not much later is the throne in Hereford cathedral. That at Wells is

fifteenth century work, and by a pretty fancy of the "restorers" its

tracery is filled with modern plate glass, and the door is a solid swinging

stone! That at St David's is nearly 30 feet high. Of the throne erected by

Bishop Gower _c._ 1342 there remains _in situ_ only the low partition

surrounding it; the present throne was probably put up by Bishop Morgan

between 1496 and 1504 (109).[65]

The throne at Durham is of masonry, and in two parts of different dates.

The lower portion contains an altar tomb surmounted by a recumbent effigy

of the bishop in richly worked robes beneath a rich lierne vault. No doubt

Bishop Hatfield as usual put this up during his lifetime; he was bishop

from 1345 to 1381. This lower part is an exquisite example of the design in

vogue before the advent of the Black Death of 1349-50. On the tomb is the

pulpit, which bears unmistakable marks of the change of style which became

general after 1350. The drawing shews the throne as it was in 1843 (107).

* * * * * {111}

CHAPTER VIII

CHAIRS IN CHURCHES

Hardly anything in a cathedral has so venerable a history as the throne and

chair of the Bishop, of wood or ivory. The origin of this type of Bishop's

chair goes back to Pagan Rome. There the greater officials had two official

chairs, both portable; one, the "_sella curulis_" in which they sat while

administering justice; the other, the "_sella gestatoria_" in which they

were carried in procession. The "_sella curulis_" was a folding chair with

crossed legs like the chair of Dagobert in the Hotel Cluny, Paris: chairs

of this form are still in use in many Continental cathedrals.

The "_sella gestatoria_" was a kind of sedan chair, shaped like a settle;

with high back and usually without arms; it was provided with rings through

which were passed staves when it was borne in procession. Similar is the

Pope's chair in St Peter's, Rome, last shewn in 1867 (112). It is said to

have belonged to the Senator Pudens and to have been used by St Peter.

Whether that be so or not, it is undoubtedly very ancient, and its legs may

be of the Apostolic age; they are of yellow oak, worm-eaten, and chipped by

pilgrims who carried away bits as relics; the seat and back are of acacia

wood and are of a later period. This back is ornamented with ivory panels

carved to represent the Labours of Hercules; the panels are probably of the

ninth century, for among the decorations is a bust with a crown bearing

_fleurs de lis_, and what seems to be a portrait of Charles the Bald.[66]

Very similar is the chair in which St Silvester is represented as seated in

the dome of the apse of St John Lateran, where the mosaics are those of

1291, copied probably from the original ones executed in 428. Similar

chairs also appear in the mosaics of Sta. Pudentiana and other Roman

basilicas, and in those of Santa Sophia, Constantinople. {112}

[Illustration: Pope's Chair]

{113}

In the Archbishop's chapel at Ravenna is preserved a chair made for

Maximian who was Archbishop of Ravenna from 546 to 556. It is in wood

entirely covered with plaques of ivory, arranged in panels, with Scriptural

subjects--among others the story of Joseph--and figures of saints richly

carved in high relief. The plaques have borders with foliated ornaments,

birds and animals, flowers and fruit, filling the spandrels.

[Illustration: Pope's Chair]

At Lincoln is a wooden chair, which appears to be _c._ 1300; it has

recently been placed in the Chapter House and is now used by the bishop at

diocesan synods (114). It is possible that since several Parliaments met at

Lincoln, between 1265 and 1327, that this may be the royal chair: it may

well have been used also at the great trial of the Knights Templars, which

was held in the Chapter House in 1310. It is only original up to the level

of the arms; the lions, the back and the canopy are modern. {114}

[Illustration: Lincoln] [Illustration: Hereford Cathedral]

{115} In Hereford cathedral is an ancient wooden chair, once coloured in

red and gold; it is composed of fifty-three pieces; not counting the seat

of two boards and the two circular heads in front; it has been variously

ascribed to the twelfth or fourteenth century; but no doubt is Jacobean,

belonging to the same class of chairs as those enumerated in the following

paragraph (114).[67] At Stanford Bishop church, Hereford, is a rude chair

or settle, of oak without nails. It is said to have been traditionally

called "Old Horstin's chair," and therefore has been supposed, very

improbably, to be the identical chair seated on which St Augustine received

the British bishops in Herefordshire _c._ 600 A.D., greatly exciting the

ire of the irascible Celts by not rising from his seat to receive them. In

the Canterbury Museum Dr Cox has recently deposited a mediæval chair

believed to be of great antiquity.[68]

[Illustration: Wells] [Illustration: Wells]

A few examples remain of what are supposed to have been abbots' chairs. In

the Bishop's Palace at Wells is preserved a chair of remarkable type, said

to have been used by the Abbot {116} of Glastonbury. In the College,

Manchester, is or was an ancient chair of the same baluster shape; and a

very similar one formerly was to be seen in Agecroft Hall, Manchester. In

the cottage at Zaandam, Holland, is a baluster chair, formerly used by

Peter the Great. Another chair of this type, but of simpler form, is that

once used by John Bunyan, and now preserved, together with his pulpit, in

the meeting house of the Independent Congregation at Bedford. In the

Victoria and Albert Museum is an arm-chair with balusters of turned ash.

All these chairs are of seventeenth century date; no abbot of Glastonbury

can have sat in the chair in the Bishop's Palace at Wells (115, on the

left).

[Illustration: Dunmow] [Illustration: Winchfield]

A chair from Glastonbury, bearing an inscription, and in date _c._ 1530, is

now in the chapel of the Bishop's Palace at Wells; modern copies of it may

be seen in hundreds of churches. It is inscribed _Monachus Glastonie_ and

_Johannes Arthurus_; a similar chair was formerly in Southwick Priory,

Hampshire (115). An abbot's chair, reputed to have belonged originally to

Peterborough cathedral, stands in the south chapel of Connington church,

Hunts, where it is said to have been brought from the collegiate church of

Fotheringhay, and is said to have been the last chair in which Mary, Queen

of Scots, sat previous to her execution. From Little Dunmow priory came the

chair now in Great Dunmow church, Essex; its trefoiled arcading shews that

it was made in the thirteenth century. In it, up to 1907, were chaired the

married couple "who had not repented them, sleeping or waking, of their

marriage in a year and a day." The first recorded claim for the

happy-marriage prize was made at the Priory in 1445 (116). {117}

[Illustration: Coventry]

{118}

[Illustration: Bishop's Cannings]

{119}

A magnificent and well-preserved seat is to be seen in St Mary's Hall,

Coventry, and is assigned to the middle of the fifteenth century: it is of

oak. From the mortices at one end and the discontinuance of the lower

pattern it would seem to have been attached to a set of stalls, and to have

belonged therefore originally to some church or chapel (117).[69]

[Illustration: Jarrow] [Illustration: Beeston Regis]

In Bishop's Cannings church, Wiltshire, is a remarkable seat believed to be

a "carrel," or desk and seat, such as used to be employed by monks when at

study in their cloister; it may have been brought from some monastic house.

"It consists of an upright panel, with some fifteenth century moldings at

the {120} 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." With this

description may be compared that of the monastic carrels given in the

_Rites of Durham_;

"In the north side of the cloister from the Corner over against the

Church Door to the corner over against the Dorter door was all finely

glazed from the height to the sole within a little of the ground into

the cloister garth, and in every window three pews or carrels where

every one of the old monks had his Carrel, several by himself, that

when they had dined they did resort to that place of cloister, and

there studied upon their books, every one in his carrel, all the

afternoon unto evensong time; this was their exercise every day. All

their pews or Carrels was all finely wainscotted and very close, all

but the forepart, which had carved work that gave light in at the

carrel doors of wain scot. And in every Carrel was a desk to lie their

books on; and the Carrels was no greater than from one stanchion of the

window to another."

[Illustration: Lutterworth]

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 _Manus meditationis_; beginning

on the thumb with _Nescis quantum, Nescis quoties, Deum offendisit_. Below

the hand with its pious sentences on the respective points of each finger,

two cocks are painted, the one white and the other black; from their beaks

proceed two labels, bearing further ejaculations (118).[70] {121}

[Illustration: Westminster Abbey]

{122}

[Illustration: Winchester Cathedral]

In St Paul's church, Jarrow, is a very rude seat known as the chair of the

Venerable Bede; he was a monk of Jarrow, and died in 742; only the sides

and seat and the crossbar at the top are original. Mr Mickethwaite was of

opinion that it was originally a settle; and it seems hardly likely that

the chair can have survived from the eighth century, especially as the

monastery of Jarrow was repeatedly burnt by the Danes; but it is of an

exceptionally hard oak, and bears marks of fire, and has had its present

designation for several centuries.[71] It will be noticed that the

standards have been whittled away by relic hunters (119). At Lutterworth is

a well-known chair; the tradition is that it was used by John Wyclif, and

that he was smitten with paralysis while sitting in it hearing mass, on

Holy Innocents' day, 1384, and was carried in it to the rectory hard by,

where he died on the last day of that year. A brass plate on it records the

tradition; but the chair is plainly Jacobean and of domestic origin; there

is another chair in the chancel of exactly the same shape and pattern

(120). {123}

[Illustration: Mainwaring Chapel] [Illustration: Higher Peover]

{124} At Kidderminster Baxter's chair is preserved; on it is the following

inscription:--"Rev. R^d Baxter born n^r Shrewsbury in 1615 and died at

London in 1691. Chaplain to King Charles II. Rev. T. Doolittle, M.A. S^r H.

Ashurst B^t, Kidderminster, A. 1650 D." Baxter speaks of Mr Thomas

Doolittle, born in Kidderminster, as "a good schollar, a godly man, of an

upright life and moderate Principles, and a very profitable serious

Preacher." To Sir Henry Ashurst, Bart., Sylvester dedicated his _Reliquiae

Baxterianae_, 1696. He also stood by Baxter in the day of his trial and

distress, paid the fees for his six counsel, and when the trial before

Judge Jeffries was over, led Baxter through the crowd, and conveyed him

away in his coach. He was also Baxter's executor, and it is possible the

chair may originally have belonged to him. At Beeston Regis, Norfolk, is a

fine old seat, now used by the parish clerk (119); it would seem to be of

the period of the work at Balsham and elsewhere (3). At Winchfield,

Hampshire, is another old seat of rude and early design (116).

[Illustration: Puddletown]

Stone seats are occasionally found. Where they are placed south of the

altar, they are probably sedilia; but not when they are placed in the

western bay or bays of the chancel or in the nave. At Barnack the remains

of a stone seat were found on the west wall of the Pre-Conquest tower; it

had formerly an oak seat and oak slabs on either side: a stone seat occurs

also in the west wall of the nave of Old Radnor church. A stone seat is not

uncommon in the western bays on the south side of chancels; the object of

this is not clear; perhaps it was to provide a seat for the priest while

reading his office; in later days, as we have seen, oak stalls were common

in parish chancels, and the priest would read his office in one of these.

Several examples occur. There is a rude example in the Pre-Conquest church

of Corhampton, Hampshire. Others, probably {125} of thirteenth century

date, occur at Warlingham, Surrey, and Halsham and Sprotborough, Yorkshire.

At Lenham, Kent, is one with solid stone arms, and with a cinquefoiled

canopy of later date.

[Illustration: Redenhall] [Illustration: Redenhall]

Last, we have the Coronation chair at Westminster,[72] which has a long, if

somewhat unreliable history behind it. The stone beneath it is said to have

been the one on which Jacob's head rested at Bethel; from whence it

travelled to Egypt, and thence to Spain, Ireland and lastly Scotland. King

Kenneth of Scotland had the following inscription engraved on it in Latin

verse:--

"Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum

Invenient lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem";

a prophecy curiously fulfilled on the accession of James I. to the English

throne (121). On the upper surface of the stone is a rectangular groove

large enough to receive an inscribed plate. Edward I. found the stone in

1296 at Scone abbey, where the Scotch kings had always been crowned on it.

He carried it to London, and in 1300 Master Adam, the king's goldsmith, was

working at a bronze chair to hold it. But when this was nearly {126}

finished, the king altered his mind and had a copy of it made in wood--the

present chair--which cost 100s., by Master Walter, the king's painter. The

chair has lost the quatrefoils in front, and the lions are of recent date.

It originally stood in the same position as a bishop's chair, _i.e._, at

the back of the High altar and in front of the shrine of Edward the

Confessor, and facing to the west. It is made of oak, fastened together

with pins; the surface was first covered over with the usual gesso; then

gold was applied by means of white of egg, and burnished; then minute dots,

forming diapers of foliage, beasts, birds, &c., were pricked on the surface

of the gold, taking care not to penetrate it, with a blunt instrument

before the ground and gilding had lost their elasticity; a most tedious and

delicate process. A second chair, modelled on the older one, was made on

her coronation for Mary II., Queen of William III. It used to stand by the

side of the king's chair, but has been moved to the easternmost recess of

Henry VII.'s chapel. In Winchester cathedral is the chair which was used by

Mary I. on her marriage with Philip of Spain, which was solemnised in the

Lady chapel: it is now placed in Bishop Langton's chapel (122). Very

similar is a chair preserved in York Minster, which, owing to the shield

attached in front, is probably not older than the time of Richard II.:[73]

the cushion is stuffed, and covered with green velvet; the shield also is

covered with leather, the upper part of which has been torn away, and the

lines upon it are but slightly stamped. At Constance is shewn a similar

chair of Martin V., who was elected Pope there in 1417.

[Illustration: Much Hadham]

{127}

[Illustration: Cartmel]

In addition to the above, chairs are often placed in the presbytery to the

north of the altar. These were occupied by the preacher during morning or

evening service, till his turn came to ascend the pulpit and deliver the

sermon. Of these the greater number no doubt have been presented by the

owner of some manor house or parsonage, or have been picked up in recent

years in some second-hand furniture shop. This is probably the case with

the interesting chair which is known to have been for nearly a century in

the Mainwaring chapel of Higher Peover church, Cheshire; it bears not only

the name, but the portrait and initials of the owner. The inscription is

DORATHY MAYNWARING; she married Sir Richard Mainwaring of Ightfield, Salop,

High Sheriff of that county in 1545. Most of the chair is older than her

time; Dorothy seems to have had it put together of old bits of carving,

adding her name and portrait, and the raven, the crest of her father, Sir

Robert Corbet. She lived at Ightfield, and it was probably when that branch

of the family became extinct that the chair was brought to Higher Peover

church, and placed in the Mainwaring chapel. At the top are holes for

holding sconces in which tapers would be placed (123). {128}

[Illustration: Suffolk] [Illustration: Halsall]

At Penshurst there used to be a chair with a bust on the inner panel of the

back; the tradition was that it belonged to Sir Philip Sidney.[74] At

Puddletown, Dorset, a chair has been in the chancel for very many years; it

is of Elizabethan date, and was probably brought from some hall or manor

house. "The tall narrow back, the broadening seat, the vertically straight,

but horizontally angled arms are those of the French caqueteure type rarely

seen in England. The strap carving of the back is of the best; while the

twin greyhounds with averted heads that fit the curved top of the chair no

doubt have reference to the original owner" (124).[75] At Upton, near

Castor, there {129} are two chairs in the chancel; on one of which is

inscribed "A.D. 1700--Joane Browne--Want Not." The other has the initials

J. D.; the Doves were Lords of the Manor at that time (130).[76] In

Redenhall church, Norfolk, is one of two chairs brought there from

Canterbury cathedral by Archbishop Sancroft on his expulsion from the see

in 1615; it is of a curious pattern common in the latter part of the

seventeenth century, in which the back is hinged and can be turned over to

convert the chair into a table. Archbishop Sancroft is buried at Redenhall,

which, by the way, possesses perhaps the finest church tower of any village

in England and an exceptionally fine ring of ancient bells. The other chair

is kept at Gawdy Hall, the seat of the Sancrofts (125).

In many cases the chair is a composite product, made up of fragments of

screens, bench ends and the like; this seems to be the case with the chairs

in the churches of Bridford, Devon, and Othery, Somerset; that at Much

Hadham, Hertfordshire, appears to be put together out of the fragments of a

screen (126). In the Chapter House of Gloucester cathedral are two chairs,

on the inner panels of the back of which are carved "The Last Supper" and

"The Ascension" respectively; the panels were presented in the time of Dean

Law, and, provided with a framework, now form part of two chairs.

[Illustration: Combmartin]

Where, however, the chair has a representation of some ecclesiastical

subject, the presumption is that it was made for the church in which it is

placed. In Cartmel Priory church is a fine chair on the back of which is

represented the Resurrection; below are seen the Roman soldiers; above,

Christ shews the wounds in His hands (127). At Sanderstead, Surrey, Abraham

{130} with uplifted sword is about to slay Isaac; on the right is shewn the

ram, on the left an angel. The same subject appears, better carved, on the

back of one of two chairs brought from a church in Suffolk, now pulled

down; on the other chair is a representation of what looks like the

Temptation (128). In Halsall church, Lancashire, are two beautiful chairs

with the initials IHS; beneath them is a scroll on which is inscribed _Ecce

quomodo amabat_ (128). In the Victoria and Albert Museum is a similar

"winged" chair, which bears the initials IPI and the date 1670. In the

chancel of Combmartin church, Devon, is a mahogany chair with wheat and

grapes, apparently referring to the sacramental bread and wine; it had been

for many years in the family of the present incumbent, Rev. F. W. Jones,

and was presented by him to the church; it is possible that it was

originally made for a church (129).

[Illustration: Upton]

{131}

[Illustration: Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westminster]

* * * * *

{133}

INDEX TO PLACES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

------

_Numbers followed by the name of the Photographer or the Draughtsman refer

to Illustrations_

------

Aberdeen, King's College, 29, 68

Abergavenny Priory, Monmouth, 46, G. G. Buckley. 29, 40, 47

Amiens, 11

Aquileia, 101

Avignon, 104, F. Bond. 104

Balsham, Cambs., 3, G. G. Buckley. 1, 5, 100, 124

Barnack, Northants, 124

Basing, Hants, 79

Bedford, 116

Beeston Regis, Norfolk, 119, C. F. Nunneley. 124

Belgium, 29, 31

Beverley Minster, Yorks., 3, 14, 14; C. Goulding. 7, Alan Potter. 27, 63,

64, and frontispiece; W. E. Wigfall. 64, 65, 106; F. H. Crossley. 5,

7, 26, 29, 40, 51, 65, 66, 68, 74, 106

Beverley St Mary, 2, F. H. Crossley. 1, 5

Bishop Auckland, Durham, 31, 67

Bishop Cannings, Wilts., 118, Wilts. Archæological Society. 119

Blythburgh, Suffolk, 11, S. Gardner. 7

Bologna, St Stefano, 101

Bossal, Yorks., 92

Boston, Lincs., 86, 95

Brancepeth, Durham, 93, F. Bond. 31, 67, 100

Braunton, Devon, 96

Brescia, Sta. Maria dei Miracoli, 82

Bristol Cathedral, 29, 50. St Nicholas, 97

Bruges, 68, 70

Burlingham St Edmund, Norfolk, 85

Cambridge, Great St Mary, 97. King's College Chapel, 78, F. R. Taylor. 5,

29, 75, 77, 79, 82

Canterbury Cathedral, 105, S. Gardner. 23, 31, 36, 53, 84, 104, 115

Carlisle Cathedral, 21, R. Billings. 59, F. Bond. 23, 29, 51, 58, 61, 66,

68, 70, 82, 106

Cartmel, Lancashire, 80, 81, 127; F. H. Crossley. 5, 31, 75, 79, 129

Chaddesden, Derbyshire, 99, G. H. Widdows. 12, 100

Chelsea, 94, 98

Chester Cathedral, 9, W. M. Dodson. 10, 24, 53, 55, 56; F. H. Crossley.

5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 23, 26, 29, 51, 54, 58, 61, 66, 68, 70

Chichester Cathedral, 36, P. M. Johnston. 5, 26, 29, 36, 38, 47, 100

Christchurch, Hants, 2, G. F. Gillham. 76, 77; F. H. Crossley. 1, 5, 29,

75, 77, 79, 82, 105

Cockersand Abbey, Lancs., 43

Combmartin, Devon, 129, W. M. Dodson. 130

Connington, Hunts., 116

Constance, 126

Constantinople, Santa Sophia, 111

Corhampton, Hants, 124

Coventry, St Mary's Hall, 117, Anon. 119

Cyprus, 104

Dalmatia, 16, 101

Dinant, 31

Dunblane, Scotland, 67, W. Maitland. 5, 29, 67

Dunis, Flanders, 68

Dunmow, Essex, 116, F. R. Taylor. 116

{134}

Durham Cathedral, 22, 107; R. Billings. 66, F. Bond. 15, 31, 51, 66, 68,

94, 110. Castle, 5

Ely Cathedral, 37, G. H. Tyndall. 13, 20, 29, 36, 37, 38, 40, 43, 47, 49,

51, 61, 66, 68, 91, 106

Etwall, Derbyshire, 13, G. H. Widdows. 8

Exeter, 102, E. K. Prideaux. 103, G. H. Widdows. 12, 15, 23, 107

Faversham, Kent, 97

Flanders, West, 68, 70

Fotheringhay, Northants, 116

France, 31, 67, 68, 92, 105

Fressingfield, Suffolk, 8

Gawdy Hall, Norfolk, 129

Gendron-Celles, 31

Glastonbury, Somerset, 115, 116

Gloucester Cathedral, 38, Oscar Clark. 23, 29, 33, 38, 40, 129

Grado, 101

Great Burstead, Essex, 94

Halifax, 89

Halsall, Lancashire, 128, G. G. Buckley. 130

Halsham, Yorkshire, 125

Hambleton, Worcester, 98, G. H. Poole. 100

Hampton Court, Middlesex, 75, 77

Hastières, 31

Hemingborough, Yorks., 87, C. de Gruchy. 33, 77, 88

Hereford Cathedral, 43, G. B. Atkinson. 114, A. J. Wilson. 13, 20, 26,

29, 40, 44, 108, 115. All Saints', 44, G. G. Buckley. 45, W. M.

Dodson. 5, 29, 40, 47, 100. St Peter, 89, G. G. Buckley. 29, 49, 100

Hexham, Northumberland, 23, 29, 106

Higham Ferrers, Northants, 29

Higher Peover, Cheshire, 123, F. H. Crossley. 127

Huntingfield, Suffolk, 97

Iffley, Oxon., 86

Ightfield, Salop, 128

Ingham, Norfolk, 85

Istria, 16, 101

Ivychurch, Kent, 85

Jarrow, Durham, 119, W. Maitland. 120

Kidderminster, 122

Kildwick, 90

Kilpeck, Herefordshire, 122

Kirkstall, Yorks., 20, 23

Lacock, Wilts., 82

Lancaster, 39, 41, 42; F. H. Crossley. 29, 40, 54

Lapford, Devon, 77

Layer Marney, Essex, 75, 79

Lenham, Kent, 125

Lincoln Minster, 5, 52, 114; S. Smith. 17, Hugh McLachlan. 5, 10, 13, 23,

25, 26, 28, 29, 51, 54, 58, 59, 61, 66, 68, 91, 106, 113

Littlebourne, Kent, 86

London, 70, 79. Christ Church, Newgate Street, 4, F. R. Taylor. 5.

Hampton Court, 75, 77. Rolls Chapel, 75. St Botolph, Aldgate, 94. St

Mary-at-Hill, 88, 95, 96, 97, 100. St Paul's, 83, F. J. Hall. 28, 31,

82. Old St Paul's, 23. Victoria and Albert Museum, 104, 116, 130. See

Westminster Abbey

Louth, Lincs., 75

Ludham, Norfolk, 85

Lutterworth, Leicester, 120, E. H. Day. 122

Manchester Cathedral, 6, 62; F. H. Crossley. 5, 7, 29, 51, 61, 65, 66,

68, 70, 74. Agecroft Hall, 116. College, 116

Mantes, 93

Melrose, 68

Milan, St Ambrogio, 16

Much Hadham, Herts., 126, A. W. Anderson. 129

Nantwich, Cheshire, 57, F. H. Crossley. 29, 51, 58, 59, 61, 68

Nevers, 105

Newark, 29

Norbury, Derbyshire, 86

North Cadbury, Somerset, 77

Norton, Suffolk, 85

Norwich, 48, S. Gardner. 13, 19, 25, 26, 29, 40, 43, 47, 104

Notre Dame de la Roche, 31

Nottingham, 90

{135}

Old Radnor, Radnorshire, 124

Ossero, 101

Othery, Somerset, 129

Oulton, Suffolk, 86

Oxford, 29, 79

Parenzo, 101

Paris, Hotel Cluny, 111

Penshurst, Kent, 128

Peterborough, 32, H. Plowman. 15, 33, 116

Poitiers, 31

Puddletown, Dorset, 124, W. Wonnacott. 128

Ratzburg, 31

Ravenna, 113

Reading, St Giles', 97

Redenhall, Norfolk, 125, C. F. Nunneley. 129

Ripon Minster, 8, W. Maitland. 60, J. H. Bayley. 5, 6, 7, 15, 23, 26, 29,

51, 61, 65, 66, 68, 70, 93

Rochester Cathedral, 30, P. M. Johnston. 23, 29, 31

Rome, 16, 19, 23, 101, 105, 111. Baths of Caracalla, 101. S. Clemente,

19, 101. St John Lateran, 101, 111. S. Maria in Cosmedin, 19, 101. St

Paul extra Muros, 19. St Peter's, 111. Old, 105. Sta. Pudentiana, 111

Rotherham, Yorks., 94

Rothwell, Northants, 90

St Asaph, 51, 61

St David's, 108, 109; W. M. Dodson. 15, 29, 50, 107, 110

St Gall, 20, 23

St Paul's, 83, F. J. Hall. 28, 31, 82

Salisbury, 92

Sall, Norfolk, 85, F. Bond. 85, 100

Sanderstead, Surrey, 129

Saulieu, 31

Scotland, 67, 68, 91

Sedgefield, Durham, 31, 67

Sees, St Martin, Normandy, 43

Sherborne, Dorset, 49, G. G. Buckley. 29, 49

Sherburn Hospital, Durham, 31, 67

Sion Abbey, Middlesex, 43

Sluys, 70

Snettisham, Norfolk, 40

Southampton, 79

Southwell, Notts., 25, 26, 50

Southwick Priory, Hants, 116

Sprotborough, Yorks., 125

Stanford Bishop, Herefordshire, 115

Stirling, 68

Stowlangtoft, Suffolk, 91, C. F. Nunneley. 5, 7, 29, 49, 85, 100

Suffolk, 128, J. C. Stenning. 49, 85, 130

Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, 84

Swine, Yorks., 77

Talland, Cornwall, 77

Theydon Gardon, Essex, 92

Trau, 101

Trunch, Norfolk, 85, F. Bond. 5, 85, 100

Upton, Northants, 130, G. C. Druce. 128

Vaison, Provence, 101

Venice, St Mark's, 16. Sta. Maria dei Miracoli, 82

Walpole St Peter, Norfolk, 12, S. Gardner. 7

Warlingham, Surrey, 125

Wells Cathedral, 115, G. W. Saunders. 7, 11, 13, 20, 26, 28, 29, 110.

Bishop's Palace, 115, 116

Westminster Abbey, 31, Sandford. 121, A. Gardner. 21, 23, 25, 29, 31, 33,

51, 77, 125, 73; Henry VII.'s Chapel, A. W. Pugin, 73; D. Weller,

131. 10, 25, 70, 74, 75.

Weston in Gordano, Somerset, 85

Winchelsea, Sussex, 36

Winchester Cathedral, 34, 122; C. E. S. Beloe. 35, S. Gardner. 72, J. F.

Hamilton. 73, J. Britton. 5, 13, 23, 29, 33, 40, 43, 72, 75, 79, 126.

St Cross, 75, 105

Winchfield, Hants, 116, G. C. Druce. 124

Windsor, St George's Chapel, 69, Lysons' _Magna Britannia_. 71, Alan

Potter. 12, 29, 51, 70

Wingfield, Suffolk, 46, C. F. Nunneley. 29, 47

Worcester, 23, 84, 91

Yatton, Somerset, 92

York Minster, 18, 58; J. Britton. 23, 58, 126. St Maurice, 88. St Michael

Belfry, 92

Zara, 101

Zaandam, Holland, 116

* * * * *

{136}

INDEX RERUM

Abbot, place in choir, 13, 106

Accounts (_see also_ Cost), 95

Arcading, 40, 54, 100

Arms and armour, 36, 48, 54 (_see also_ Heraldry)

Arrangements of stalls, 12, 16, 26

Back of Stalls, 5, 10, 15, 26, 28 (_see_ Panelling)

Badges, 47

Baluster chairs, 115, 116

Bath, order of the, 74

Battlements, 36, 38, 47, 51, 54, 61

Baxter's chair, 124

Benches, 49, 99

Benefactors, 92

Bishop's chair, 13, 19

---- throne, 101

Black Death, 40, 47, 58, 110

Boys, 96 (_see_ "Children of the Choir")

Brattishing, 47, 63

Busts, 70, 77

Buttresses, 54

Canons, resident and non-resident, 11, 25, 28

Canopies, construction of, 1, 10, 33, 54

---- ogee, 10, 33, 36, 43, 45, 47, 50, 53, 54, 59, 65, 68

---- bowing ogee, 10, 38, 45, 47, 51

---- compound ogee, 54

---- "Lincoln" ogee, 54

---- tiers or stories of, 38

---- varieties of, 1, 29, 51, 74, 100

Capitals, 10, 61, 82

Capping, 10

Carrel, 119

Carvers, 68, 70, 74, 77

Carving, 5, 33, 38, 53, 54, 61, 68, 70, 77, 79, 82, 108

Centaurs, 68

Chairs, abbots', 115

---- bishops', 13, 111

---- church, 111

---- marble, 101

---- popes', 111

---- stone, 101, 124

---- winged, 130

Chancels, 16, 20

---- enlargement of, 86

Chantries and Chantry priests, 8

"Children of the Choir," 25, 96

Choir, 13, 16, 20

Choristers, 1, 25, 26, 85, 95

Chronological order of stalls, 29

Churchwardens' accounts, 95 (_see_ Cost)

Classical design, 67, 79

Clerk, parish, 97, 124

Construction of stalls and canopies, 1, 8, 10, 33, 54 (_see also_

Canopies)

Cornice, 1, 40, 47, 49, 50, 63, 100

Coronation chair, 125

Cost, 11, 79, 84, 88, 107

Costume, 36

Cresting, 29, 36, 45, 65, 72, 79

Crockets, 10, 33, 44, 47, 51

Crossing, 20, 23

Crypts, 23

Cusps, 33, 36, 43, 47, 49, 61

Dagobert, chair of, 111

Dates of stalls, 5, 29

Dean's stall, 13, 50, 54

Design, 10, 38, 68, 70, 74

Desks, 1, 5, 7, 47, 88, 100, 119

Dorothy Mainwaring, 79, 127

Dove, 95, 129

---- of St Botolph's, Aldgate, 95

---- of Upton, 129

Dutch carvers, 70

Edmund Crouchback, 33

Edmund, Saint, 7

Elbows of stalls, 1, 5, 10, 77

Ends of stalls, 5, 8

Entablature, 79, 82

Epistle, place of reading, 13

{137}

Finials, 33, 51

Flamboyant, 40

Flemish work, 68, 70

Fleur de lis, 68

Flying buttresses, 10, 54

Foreign design and workmen, 68, 77, 79, 82

Frithstols, 106

Gables, 10, 33, 54, 61, 65 (_see_ Canopies)

Galleries, 29

Garter, Knights of Order of, 72

Gilds, 8, 95

Glastonbury chairs, 116

Gospel, desks, and place of reading, 13

Grinling Gibbons, 84

Hawks, 47

Heraldry, 5, 6, 47, 48, 50, 79

Hipknobs, 10

Honeycomb, 77

Honour, place of, 13

Inscriptions, 26, 28, 82

Italian workers, 77, 79, 82

Jacobean chairs, 115, 122

Kemp, Archbishop, 53

Knights of the Bath, 74

Knights of the Garter, 72

Laity, 1, 16, 19, 90

"Lincoln ogee," 54

Mainwaring, Dorothy, 79, 127

Marble chairs, 101, 106

Masks, 5, 44

Mayor's stall, 6, 15, 82, 94

Maximian, chair of, 113

Minstrels, 99

Misericords, 1, 48, 50, 53, 54, 61, 65, 74, 75

Moldings, 40

More, Sir Thomas, 94, 98

Music in churches, 95

Niches, 10, 38, 51, 54, 58, 59, 61, 63, 65

Nobility in chancel, 91

North side, 13, 15

Number of stalls, 25, 26, 50, 75

Oak, 68

Occupants of stalls, 1, 88

Ogee, 10, 33, 36, 43, 45, 47, 51, 53, 54, 59, 65, 68

Orientation, 16, 105

Organs and Organists, 96, 98

Panelling, 5, 50, 68, 74, 100

Parish churches, planning, growth of, 16, 23, 25, 85, 86 (_see_ Chancel)

---- stalls in, 49, 85

Parish clerk, 97, 124

Passion, emblems of, 82

Patrons, in chancels, 91

Pediment, 33, 43, 51

Pews in chancels, 95

Pinnacles, 10, 38, 51, 53, 54, 58, 59, 61, 66, 74, 108

Place of honour, 13

Planning, 16, 20, 23, 25, 85

Plinth, 100

Poppyheads, 6, 7

Portrait busts, 77

---- panels, 75

Position of stalls, 1, 16

Prebendaries, 25, 28

Processions, 13, 25, 92

Projection of canopies, 47

Psalter, recitation of, 26, 28

Purbeck marble, 105

Removals from other churches, 43

Renaissance, 66, 75

Restorers and restorations, 20, 29, 38, 84

Return stalls, 12, 13, 25, 100, 106

Rochets, 97

Rood loft, 95, 98

Rows of stalls, 25

Sancroft, Archbishop, 129

Screens, 10, 12, 19, 20, 50, 75, 79, 100

Scrollwork, 5, 82

Seats, 1, 10, 48, 77

---- marble and stone, 111, 124

Sedilia, 124

Sella curulis and gestatoria, 101, 111

Shafts, 10, 33, 51, 59, 77, 82

Shields, 5, 6

Shoulders of stalls, 1, 5, 59

Singers, 1, 16, 95 (_see also_ Boys, "Children of the Choir," Choristers)

{138}

South side, 13, 15

Spires and spirelets, 1, 11, 38, 40, 49, 51, 53, 54, 58, 61, 63, 66, 72,

106

Stalls in greater churches, 1, 13

---- in parish churches, 49, 85, 90

---- object of, 85

Stall-wages, 26

---- work, earliest, 31

---- thirteenth century, 31, 88, 90

---- fourteenth century, 33, 50, 51, 53, 58

---- fifteenth century, 48, 50

---- sixteenth century, 79

---- Renaissance, 66, 75

---- eighteenth century, 84

Standards, 8

Stanley legend, 61

Statues, 10, 51, 61

Stone chairs and seats, 101, 124

---- _versus_ wood, 51

Stories of stalls, one, 38, 43, 44, 51, 59, 72, 74

---- two, 10, 38, 47, 51, 53, 58, 61, 65, 72

String-course, 58, 59, 61, 65, 66

Sudbury hutch, 75

Sunday and other processions, 25, 92

Supermullions, 40, 47

Supports, 5, 77

Surplices, 89, 96

Tabernacled spires and canopies, 1, 10, 51, 53, 66, 106

Tester, coved, 47, 63

Thirteenth century work, 31, 88, 90, 116, 125

Thistle, Scottish, 68

Three-gabled canopies, 38, 51, 54, 59

Throne, bishop's, 13, 16, 19, 101, 105

Tiers of canopies, 38

Tracery, 33, 36, 40, 43, 45, 51, 54, 58, 59, 61, 63, 65, 68, 82

Vicars choral, 26

Ventilation, 100

Vine, 68

Winged chairs, 130

Women in stalls, 92

Wood _versus_ stone, 51

Workmanship, 100

Wyche, Lady, 94

Wiclif, 122

------

_Printed at_ THE DARIEN PRESS, _Edinburgh_.

* * * * *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

SCREENS AND GALLERIES IN ENGLISH CHURCHES

A HANDSOME VOLUME, CONTAINING 204 PP., WITH 152 ILLUSTRATIONS, REPRODUCED

FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEASURED DRAWINGS. OCTAVO, STRONGLY BOUND IN CLOTH.

PRICE 6S. NET.

LONDON: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press

----------

SOME PRESS NOTICES

_Builder._--"When we look at the detailed photographs we realise the

richness of the field which Mr Bond has traversed, and congratulate him on

the choice of his subject. His method is one of singular thoroughness from

the ecclesiological standpoint."

_Journal of the Architectural Association._--"As a record of the screens

remaining in our churches it cannot be valued too highly. No book till now

has brought such a number together, or traced their development in so full

and interesting a manner.... A most delightful book."

_Builders' Journal._--"The author may be congratulated on the production of

a book which, in text as well as in illustrations, is of striking and

inexhaustible interest; it is the kind of book to which one returns again

and again, in the assurance of renewed and increased pleasure at each

reperusal."

_Tablet._--"The numerous excellent illustrations are of the greatest

interest, and form a veritable surprise as to the beauty and variety of the

treatment which our forefathers lavished upon the rood screen."

_British Weekly._--"The book abounds with admirable illustrations of these

beautiful works of art, so perfect even in the minute details that any one

interested in the art of woodcarving could reproduce the designs with ease

from the excellent photographs which occur on almost every page. There is

also a series of 'measured drawings' of great beauty and interest."

_New York Nation._--"It is not easy to praise too highly the simple and

effective presentation of the subject and the interest of the book to all

persons who care for ecclesiology or for decorative art."

_Bibliophile._--"This excellent book is a sign of the times; of the

reawakened interest in the beautiful and historic.... A model of scholarly

compression. Of the finely produced illustrations it is difficult to speak

in too high terms of praise."

_Daily Graphic._--"Mr Bond has produced a work on our ecclesiastical

screens and galleries which, like his larger work on the 'Gothic

Architecture of England,' is in the first degree masterly. His knowledge of

his subject, exact and comprehensive, is compressed into a minimum amount

of space, and illustrated by a series of photographs and measured drawings

which render the work of permanent value."

_Bulletin Monumental._--"Après avoir analysé, aussi exactement que

possible, l'intéressant étude de M. Bond, nous devons le féliciter de nous

avoir donné ce complément si utile à son grand ouvrage."

* * * * *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

FONTS & FONT COVERS

A HANDSOME VOLUME CONTAINING 364 PAGES, WITH 426 ILLUSTRATIONS REPRODUCED

FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEASURED DRAWINGS. OCTAVO, STRONGLY BOUND IN CLOTH.

PRICE 12S. NET.

LONDON: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press

----------

SOME PRESS NOTICES

_Guardian._--"Mr Bond is so well known by his monumental work on 'Gothic

Architecture in England,' and by his beautiful book on 'Screens and

Galleries,' that his name alone is a sufficient guarantee for this new

volume on 'Fonts and Font Covers,' the most complete and thorough that has

yet appeared."

_Church Times._--"The finest collection of illustrations of fonts and font

covers yet attempted.... A real delight to the ecclesiologist."

_Commonwealth._--"A sumptuous monograph on a very interesting subject;

complete and thorough."

_Church Quarterly Review._--"It is most delightful, not only to indulge in

a serious perusal of this volume, but to turn over its pages again and

again, always sure to find within half a minute some beautiful illustration

or some illuminating remark."

_Irish Builder._--"This book on 'Fonts and Font Covers' is a most valuable

contribution to mediæval study, put together in masterly fashion, with deep

knowledge and love of the subject."

_Westminster Gazette._--"Every one interested in church architecture and

sculpture will feel almost as much surprise as delight in Mr Bond's

attractive volume on 'Fonts and Font Covers.' The wealth of illustrations

and variety of interest are truly astonishing."

_Journal of the Society of Architects._--"The book is a monument of

painstaking labour and monumental research; its classification is most

admirable. The whole subject is treated in a masterly way with perfect

sequence and a thorough appreciation of the many sources of development;

the illustrations, too, are thoroughly representative. To many the book

will come as a revelation. We all recognise that the fonts are essential,

and in many cases beautiful and interesting features in our ancient

churches, but few can have anticipated the extraordinary wealth of detail

which they exhibit when the photographs of all the best of them are

collected together in a single volume."

_Outlook._--"Mr Francis Bond's book carefully included in one's luggage

enables one, with no specialist's knowledge postulated, to pursue to a most

profitable end one of the most interesting, almost, we could say, romantic,

branches of ecclesiastical architecture.... This book, owing to its

scholarship and thoroughness in letterpress and illustrations, will

doubtless be classic; in all its methods it strikes us as admirable. The

bibliography and the indexes are beyond praise."

* * * * *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

VISITORS' GUIDE TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY

93 PAGES OF TEXT, ABRIDGED FROM THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CHAPTERS OF

THE AUTHOR'S LARGER WORK ON "WESTMINSTER ABBEY," CONSISTING CHIEFLY OF

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOMBS, MONUMENTS, AND CLOISTERS, WITH 15 PLANS AND

DRAWINGS AND 32 PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS. PRICE 1S. NET.

LONDON: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press

----------

SOME PRESS NOTICES

_Guardian._--"There is probably no better brief handbook. Mr Bond's

qualifications for the task are beyond question. By the use of varied type,

ingenious arrangement, and excellent tone-blocks and plans, the book

attains a high standard of lucidity as well as of accuracy."

_Building News._--"This little work is characterised by its terseness,

directness, and practical treatment. A carefully compiled and scholarly

guide-book."

_Architect._--"This book will excellently and admirably fulfil its

purpose.... A splendid itinerary, in which almost every inch of the way is

made to speak of its historical connections."

_Birmingham Daily Post._--"Concise, informative, reliable, and admirably

illustrated."

_Western Morning News._--"By his key plan and very clear directions as to

where to find the numerous side chapels, historic monuments, and other

objects of interest, Mr Bond makes it possible for a visitor to find his

way round the building at his leisure. It refreshes one's knowledge of

English history, and is supplemented by thirty-two excellent plates, which

by themselves are worth the shilling charged for it."

_Scotsman._--"A more complete and dependable guide to the National Pantheon

could not be desired."

_Architectural Review._--"This is an excellent little text-book. Mr Bond is

to be congratulated in having introduced into it an interesting element of

history. The notes in small print should make the visit to the Abbey both

more profitable and more interesting. The key plan and the numerous small

plans are extremely clear and easily read. The information given is concise

and to the point, and a word of special praise must be given to the plates

at the end; the subjects of these are well chosen and are illustrated by

very good photographs."

_Antiquary._--"This little book, strongly bound in linen boards, gives

concisely and clearly all the information the ordinary visitor is likely to

require. Cheap, well arranged, well printed, abundantly illustrated and

well indexed, this handy book, which is light and 'pocketable,' is the best

possible companion for which a visitor to our noble Abbey can wish; it is

an ideal guide."

* * * * *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

A HANDSOME VOLUME, CONTAINING 348 PAGES, WITH 270 PHOTOGRAPHS, PLANS,

SECTIONS, SKETCHES, AND MEASURED DRAWINGS. OCTAVO, STRONGLY BOUND IN CLOTH.

PRICE 10S. NET.

LONDON: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press

----------

SOME PRESS NOTICES

_Oxford Magazine._--"All who love the Abbey will be grateful for the skill

and affection bestowed on this admirable work."

_Birmingham Post._--"With the history of the Abbey the author interweaves

the life of the Benedictines, peopling the building with its occupants in

the centuries when England was a Catholic country, and does it with such

skill than one can almost imagine oneself at the services."

_Englishman._--"The writer handles his subject with consummate skill, and

his reward will lie in the unmeasured praise of his many readers."

_Guardian._--"A book which brings fresh enthusiasm, and will impart a new

impetus to the study of the Abbey and its history."

_Scotsman._--"At once instructive and delightful, it more than justifies

its existence by its historical and architectural learning."

_Liverpool Daily Courier._--"We found the earlier parts of the book most

fascinating, and have read them over and over again."

_Architectural Association Journal._--"Bright and interesting; evincing the

author's invariable enthusiasm and characteristic industry."

_Western Morning News._--"To say that the book is interesting is to say

little; it is a monument of patient and loving industry and extreme

thoroughness, an inexhaustible mine of delight to the reader, general or

technical."

_Outlook._--"The author discusses the architecture with a minuteness that

might terrify the inexpert if it were not for the sustained ease and

interest of his style; great is the fascination of the expert hand when its

touch is light."

_Saturday Review._--"Mr Bond leaves us more than ever proud of what is left

to us of the stately Benedictine house of God, which is to the entire

English-speaking world a common bond and home."

_Antiquary._--"It has a wealth of capital illustrations, is preceded by a

bibliography, and is supplied with good indexes to both illustrations and

text."

_Journal des Savants._--"Certains clichés, comme ceux des voûtes, des

tombeaux et de quelques détails de sculpture sont de véritables tours de

force. Le choix des illustrations est très heureux, comme d'ailleurs dans

les autres ouvrages de M. Bond."

* * * * *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES

I. MISERICORDS

A HANDSOME VOLUME, CONTAINING 257 PAGES, WITH 241 ILLUSTRATIONS. OCTAVO,

STRONGLY BOUND IN CLOTH. PRICE 7S. 6D. NET.

LONDON: HENRY FROWDE, Oxford University Press

----------

SOME PRESS NOTICES

_Morning Post._--"The subject is one of the first importance to mediæval

popular history, and we welcome this very admirable and thorough monograph

with special gratitude."

_Athenæum._--"Mr Bond has put his rare industry in all that pertains to

ecclesiology to excellent service in his latest book on Misericords."

_Antiquary._--"An authoritative and, at the same time, delightful and

instructive volume. Really the first attempt to deal comprehensively with

the great variety of carvings on misericords."

_New York Herald._--"One of the quaintest, most fascinating, and at the

same time most learned volumes that a reader would happen upon in a

lifetime."

_Church Times._--"An indispensable guide to the subject. The illustrations

are worthy of all praise."

_Architectural Association Journal._--"The blocks, taken from photographs,

are of an excellence really amazing, when the difficulties such subjects

present to the camera are considered. A most delightful book."

_Yorkshire Post._--"Another of the valuable series of monographs on Church

Art in England, and the most entertaining of all."

_Architects' and Builders' Journal._--"An exceedingly interesting volume

both in illustrations and subject-matter, and full of curious information."

_Glasgow Herald._--"Mr Bond's scholarly and most interesting book brings us

very near to popular life in the Middle Ages."

_Liverpool Courier._--"Another of the admirably written and illustrated art

handbooks for which the author is famous."

_Birmingham Post._--"This well illustrated volume is not only a valuable

technical monograph, but also an important contribution to the history of

social life and thought in the Middle Ages. Mr Bond's treatment of the

subject is exceptionally charming and successful. The general excellence of

the book is great."

_Outlook._--"Many there must be to whom Mr Bond's new book will be welcome.

Into all the details of this varied and most puzzling subject he goes with

thoroughness and a pleasant humour. The bibliography and indexes, as usual

in Mr Bond's work, are admirable."

* * * * *

Notes

[1] Harry Sirr in _Art Journal_, 1883, 329.

[2] Wickenden, _Archæological Journal_, 1881, pp. 43-61.

[3] Canon Church in _Archæologia_, lv. 326.

[4] _Dictionnaire raisonné_, viii. 464.

[5] C. R. Peers in _Victoria County History of Northants_, ii. 445.

[6] Illustrated in the writer's _Screens and Galleries_, 2.

[7] Faber's _Poems_, pp. 227-229.

[8] See the writer's _Westminster Abbey_, 48.

[9] For plans of St Gall, Kirkstall, Westminster, Canterbury, Exeter, York,

see the writer's _Gothic Architecture in England_.

[10] For an account of the working of the system of Secular Canons in the

English cathedrals see Canon Church's paper in _Archæologia_, lv.;

Professor Freeman's _Cathedral Church of Wells_; Mr A. F. Leach on

_Beverley Minster_ in vols. 98 and 100 of the Surtees Society, and on

_Southwell Minster_ in the 1891 volume of the Camden Society; and Rev. J.

T. Fowler, D.C.L., on _Ripon Minster_ in vols. 64, 74, 78, 81 of the

Surtees Society.

[11] See Mr A. F. Leach's _Memorials of Beverley Minster_, Surtees Society,

vols. 98 and 108.

[12] Views of galleried choirs may be seen in Britton's _Cathedral

Antiquities_; Norwich, ii. 13, Oxford, ii. 10.

[13] Illustrated in Maeterlinck, _La genre satirique dans la sculpture

flamande et wallonne_, page 12.

[14] See Viollet-le-Duc's _Dictionnaire_, viii. 464.

[15] See C. R. B. King in _Index_ to _Spring Gardens Sketch Book_, ii. 46,

and Plate XLVI.

[16] Hope's _Rochester Cathedral_, pp. 110, 111.

[17] It is illustrated in Professor Lethaby's _Westminster Abbey_, p. 23,

from Sandford's _Coronation of James II._, and is reproduced above.

[18] Illustrated in _Gothic Architecture in England_, 481.

[19] See _John O'Gaunt's Sketch Book_, vol. i.

[20] Here, as always, one has to recognise the technical and artistic

excellence of Mr Crossley's photography; he has even reproduced the

cobwebs.

[21] They are ascribed to the fourteenth century by Mr Octavius Morgan in

_Monuments of Abergavenny Church_.

[22] My attention was directed to these arms by Mr W. H. St John Hope.

[23] Jones and Freeman's _St David's_, pp. 87 and 91.

[24] Illustrated in Dart's _Canterbury Cathedral_, 145 and 160.

[25] E. Mansel Sympson's _Lincoln_, 277.

[26] Illustrated in the writer's _Gothic Architecture in England_, p. 269.

[27] A photograph of the north range of the Chester stalls forms the

frontispiece of the writer's _Misericords_.

[28] Mr C. H. Purday.

[29] Illustrated in Murray's _Welsh Cathedrals_, page 267.

[30] Illustrated in the writer's _Fonts and Font Covers_, 296.

[31] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, ii. 105. Drawings by Mr J.

B. Fulton appeared in the _Builder_, 1st Oct. 1898 and 2nd Dec. 1893; and

by Mr A. S. Robertson in the _Builders' Journal_, 14th Jan. 1903.

[32] Macgibbon and Ross. _Castellated and Domestic Architecture of

Scotland_, v. 543; and _Builder_, lxxv. 293, in which are measured drawings

by Mr J. B. Fulton.

[33] _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries_, i. 112.

[34] For information relating to the Windsor stalls I am indebted to Mr W.

H. St John Hope: see his paper "On a remarkable series of Wooden Busts

surmounting the stall-canopies in St George's chapel, Windsor," in

_Archæologia_, liv. 115, and the building accounts to be published in his

forthcoming work on _Windsor Castle_.

[35] See the writer's _Westminster Abbey_, 146.

[36] _Sacristy_, i. 266.

[37] The Hampton Court busts are by Giovanni de Majano, who in 1521

demanded payment for ten "medallions of terra cotta." They cost £2. 6s. 8d.

each. R. Blomfield's _History of Renaissance Architecture in England_, 3.

[38] Illustrated in the writer's _Westminster Abbey_, 197.

[39] See also the illustration of the chair made _c._ 1545 for Dorothy

Mainwaring, page 123.

[40] See Willis and Clark, i. 516-522.

[41] Gotch's _Early English Renaissance_, 29, 254.

[42] _Annales Caermoclenses_, by James Stockdale; Ulverston, 1872, p. 76.

[43] _Early Renaissance Architecture in England_, 38.

[44] _Annals of St Paul's_, 447.

[45] Measured drawings of the stalls of St Paul's by Mr C. W. Baker

appeared in the _Building News_, 1891, pages 108 and 358.

[46] The Renaissance woodwork ousted from Worcester cathedral by Sir

Gilbert Scott found a resting-place in the church of Sutton Coldfield (R.

A. D.).

[47] Willis' _Canterbury Cathedral_, 107.

[48] These are illustrated in _Archæologia Cantiana_, vol. xiii.

[49] _York Fabric Rolls_, 35, 248.

[50] Canon Savage's pamphlet, 369.

[51] Cutts' _Parish Priests_, 466.

[52] Gasquet's _Parish Life in Mediæval England_, 96.

[53] Gasquet, _Parish Life in Mediæval England_, 45.

[54] It is of course possible that both Alan de Alnewyk and Robert

Constable sat in the chancel in surplice either as a member of a gild or of

the choir.

[55] This, however, may have been for one of the choirmen or choristers.

[56] Reproduced in Gasquet, _ibid._, 47, from Didron.

[57] Wordsworth's _Salisbury Ceremonies and Processions_, 20.

[58] Inhibitions of Archbishop William of York in 1308 and 1312 in Rev. Dr

Fowler's _Memorials of Ripon Minster_, Surtees Society, vol. 78.

[59] "South chancel" may mean "the chapel south of the chancel."

[60] Admirably edited by Mr Littlehales for the Early English Text Society;

vols. 20 and 24.

[61] At Hambleton (98) the chancel was remodelled, and the simple desks

with linen pattern may be of that date. But the seats behind were never

more than rough movable benches.--G. H. P.

[62] R. H. Murray on _Ancient Church Fittings_, 12.

[63] Mr T. Graham Jackson's _Dalmatia_: iii. 319, 427, 105: i. 272 and ii.

123.

[64] Stewart in _Archæological Journal_, xxxii. 18.

[65] Jones and Freeman's _St David's_, 90-93.

[66] Padre Garrucci in _Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries_, iv. 40, and

illustrations in _Vetusta Monumenta_, vol. vi. The perspective sketch is by

Carlo Fontana and is in the Royal Library at Windsor; the measured drawing

is by Signor S. A. Scardonelli, and was made in 1784.

[67] Measured drawings of the Hereford chair by Mr W. H. Brierley appeared

in the _British Architect_, xxiii. 114.

[68] Described by Dr Cox in _English Church Furniture_, p. 250.

[69] Shaw's _Ancient Furniture_, 31.

[70] _Wiltshire Archæological Society's Magazine_, vi. 147-149, quoted in

_English Church Furniture_, 253.

[71] _Archæologia Æliana_, xvii. 47, and _Proceedings of the Society of

Antiquaries_, xvii. 238. There are four similar chairs at Kilpeck.

[72] For descriptions and illustrations see Mr J. Hunter's "Edward the

First's Spoliations in Scotland, A.D. 1296" in _Arch. Journal_, vol. xiii.;

Mr W. Burges' paper in "Gleanings from Westminster Abbey," p. 121; and Mr

Lethaby's _Westminster_, pp. 18, 265, 297.

[73] Henry Shaw's _Ancient Furniture_, Plate VI.

[74] Illustrated in Hone's _Year Book_, 143.

[75] Rev. Arthur Helps from _Country Life_, 12th March 1910.

[76] Communicated by Rev. R. M. Serjeantson