CHURCH FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS.
The most important part of the internal furniture of a church is the
altar, a name derived from the Latin _altare_, a high place. The altar
is a raised structure on which propitiatory offerings are placed. In the
Christian church the altar is a table or slab on which the instruments
of the Eucharist are displayed.
[Side note: The Altar.]
The early Christian altars were portable structures of wood, and the
Church of Rome still allows the use of an altar of this description,
although a consecrated stone, containing an authentic relic and regarded
as the true altar, must be placed upon the wooden table. The slab
forming the altar was sometimes supported on pillars, but more
frequently on solid masonry, and previous to the Reformation it was
marked with five crosses cut into the top, in allusion to the five
wounds of Christ. From the period that stone altars were introduced it
was usual to enclose within them the relics of saints, so that in some
cases they were the actual tombs of saints. In England the altars were
generally taken down about the year 1550, set up again in the beginning
of the reign of Queen Mary, and again removed in the second year of
Queen Elizabeth. In the church of Porlock, Somerset, the original high
altar has been preserved, though not in use, being placed against the
north wall of the chancel. In Dunster Church, in the same county, there
is a solid stone altar, said to have been the original high altar, and
in the ruined church of S. Mary Magdalene at Ripon, the high altar has
escaped destruction. Of chantry altars we have several left, including
those at Abbey Dore, Herefordshire; Grosmont, Monmouthshire; Chipping
Norton, Oxon.; Warmington, Warwick; S. Giles's, Oxford; Lincoln
Cathedral, and many others; and it is rare to find a Gothic church
without some traces of altars in their various chapels, oratories or
chantries.
The altar is, of course, an adoption by the Christian church of a pagan
aid to worship, and at S. Mary's church, Wareham, which is thought to
stand on the site of a Roman temple, are some pieces of stone considered
by antiquaries to be portions of a pagan altar, on which burnt offerings
were placed.
Above many Christian altars was placed a piece of sculpture or a
painting representing some religious subject. These altar pieces
sometimes consist of two pictures, when they are called "diptyches," and
sometimes of three pictures, when they are called "triptyches," and
both forms usually fold up or are provided with shutters. They are often
rare examples of the Flemish and other schools of painting, and of great
value.
At the Reformation the stone altar was displaced by the communion table,
which at first occupied the position vacated by the altar. This gave
umbrage to the Puritan mind, and the communion table was then usually
placed in the centre of the chancel, with seats all round for the
communicants; which arrangement is still in vogue in some of our English
churches and in Jersey, although at the Restoration the communion table
was, as a general rule, replaced at the eastern wall of the Chancel.
[Illustration: _Durham Sanctuary Knocker._]
Long before the Christian era the altar was regarded as a place of
refuge for those fleeing from justice or oppression, and this custom or
privilege of sanctuary was sanctioned by the English bishops and was
retained for many centuries by the Christian Church. Many of our parish
churches claim to possess old sanctuary rings or knockers, but it is
doubtful if any of these were ever used by fugitives, for the reason
that although in early days every parish church had the right to grant
sanctuary, few possessed the means of feeding and housing a refugee,
save in the church itself, which was expressly forbidden. This is why
we find records of fugitives travelling many miles at the risk of their
lives and passing hundreds of parish churches in their endeavour to reach
Bury St. Edmunds, Hexham, Durham or some other of the well-recognised
sanctuaries. The only sanctuary knocker remaining to-day, which is
above suspicion, is that at Durham Cathedral. It is made of bronze and
represents the grotesque head of a dragon, the ring coming from the
mouth.
[Illustration: The Baptistery in Luton Church.
_Photograph Fredk. Thurston, F.R.P.S._]
Above the door is a small room in which attendants watched by
day and night, and when a fugitive was admitted a bell was rung to
announce that someone had taken sanctuary.
[Side note: The Font.]
The font, as we have seen, was originally placed in a separate building
called the baptistery. The only known example of anything of the kind
in England is that in S. Mary's Church, Luton, fully described in The
Homeland Handbook, No. 47. It is in the Decorated style, dates from the
time of Edward III., and is said to have been designed by William of
Wykeham for Queen Philippa. It is composed of white stone with open
panels, pierced by cinquefoils and quatrefoils, while the apex of each
panel terminates in a foliated finial. The font inside is octagonal
in form and of 13th century date, but it has been somewhat restored.
Ancient fonts were always large enough to allow for total immersion,
and our present custom of baptism by affusion, or sprinkling, is only
permitted, not enjoined by the rubric. In early days the sacrament of
baptism was only administered by the bishops at the great festivals of
Pentecost and Easter, for the reason that this afforded the greater
convenience for immediate confirmation, but with the increase in the
number of churches the rite was administered by the priests in every
village. The font was required by the canon to be of stone, but there
are a few Norman fonts made of lead, among them those at S. Mary's
Church, Wareham, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, and at Edburton, Parham,
and Pyecombe, Sussex. A remarkable font is that at Dolton Church, Devon,
made up of fragments of the churchyard cross, and there is also a
somewhat similar one at Melbury Bubb, Dorset. By a constitution of
Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury (1236), fonts were required to be
covered and locked, and at first these covers were little more than
plain lids, but they afterwards became highly ornamental and were
enriched with buttresses, pinnacles, crockets, etc. It is doubtful if
any fonts exist which can reasonably be supposed to be Saxon, although
a few, like that at Little Billing, Northants, may possibly be of that
era. Of Norman fonts we have large numbers. They are sometimes plain
hollow cylinders; others are massive squares with a large pillar in
the centre, and small shafts at the corners. These fonts are generally
ornamented with rudely executed carvings, consisting of foliage and
grotesque animals.
[Illustration: An Example of a Leaden Font of the late Norman period.
Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey.]
The one in Winchester Cathedral is a good example, and there are three
other very similar ones in Hampshire. Early English fonts are very often
circular, and sometimes square, and they are often supported in much the
same way as the Norman ones. In the Decorated and Perpendicular styles
they are, with few exceptions, octagonal, and the details generally
partake of the character of those used in the other architectural features
of the period. There are hexagonal fonts of Decorated date at Rolvenden,
Kent, and Heckington, Lincs. The font is usually placed close to a pillar
near the entrance, generally that nearest but one to the tower in the
south arcade, or, in larger buildings, in the middle of the nave.
[Side note: Stoups.]
The holy-water stoups sometimes found in our old churches are generally
small niches with stone basins formed in the wall either in or just
outside the porch, or within the church close to the door, or in one of
the pillars nearest to the door. These niches resemble piscinas, except
that they differ in situation, are smaller and plainer, and rarely have
a drain. A good example of an outside stoup is that at Broadmayne,
Dorset, where there is also one inside the church. They are rarely found
unmutilated, but there is one in perfect condition in the north porch of
Thornham Church, Kent; and a rather elaborate example at Pylle Church,
near Glastonbury.
[Illustration: A Reputed Saxon Font. Shaldon, Devon.]
The piscina is a water-drain formerly placed near the altar and
consisting of a shallow stone basin, or sink, with a drain to carry off
whatever is poured into it.
[Side note: Piscinas.]
It was used to receive the water in which the priest washed his hands,
as well as for that with which the chalice was rinsed at the celebration
of the mass. It was usually placed within a niche, although the basin
often projects from the face of the wall, and is sometimes supported
on a shaft rising from the floor. In the Early English and Decorated
periods there are often two basins and two drains, and occasionally
three. Within the niche a wooden or stone shelf is often found, called
a credence-table, on which the sacred vessels were placed previous to
their being required at the altar.
[Illustration: A Detached Holy-water Stoup of unusual design.
Wooton Courtenay, Som.]
Piscinas are unknown in England of earlier date than the middle of the
12th century, and of that date they are extremely rare. Of thirteenth
and succeeding centuries we have many examples, more or less mutilated.
Their forms and decorations are very various, but the character of their
architectural features will always decide their approximate date.
[Side note: Sedilia.]
The Sedilia, from the Latin _sedile_, a seat, has come to be applied in
modern times to the seats used by the celebrants during the pauses in
the mass. They were sometimes moveable, but more usually in this country
were formed of masonry and recessed in the wall. They are generally three
in number, for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon, while in a few rare
instances they number four seats, as at Rothwell Church, Northants, and
Furness Abbey; or even five, as at Southwell Minster. Sometimes a long
single seat under one arch is found, and when three seats are used the
two western ones are often on the same level and the eastern one raised
above them. Numerous examples remain in our churches, some being as
early as the latter part of the 12th century, but they are mostly later
and extend to the end of the Perpendicular style. Some of them are
separated by shafts, and profusely ornamented with panelling, niches,
statues, pinnacles, tabernacle work, and crowned with canopies all more
or less elaborately enriched.
[Side note: Stalls.]
Stalls are fixed seats in the choir, either wholly or partially enclosed
and used by the clergy. Previous to the Reformation all large and many
small churches had a range of wooden stalls on each side and at the west
end of the choir. In cathedrals they were enclosed at the back with
panelling, and surmounted by overhanging canopies of tabernacle work,
generally of oak, of which those at Winchester, Henry VII.'s Chapel at
Westminster, and Manchester Cathedral are possibly our finest examples.
When the stalls occupied both sides of the choir, return seats were
placed at the ends for the prior, dean, precentor, and other of the
officiating clergy.
[Illustration: Sedilia and Chantry. Luton, Beds.
_Photograph Fredk. Thurston, F.R.P.S._]
Mr. Parker, in his "_Glossary of Architecture_," gives the following
definition of the miserere, patience or pretella. "The projecting bracket
on the underside of the seats of stalls in churches; these, when perfect,
are fixed with hinges so they may be turned up, and when this is done the
projection of the miserere is sufficient, without actually forming a
seat, to afford very considerable rest to anyone leaning upon it. They
were allowed as a relief to the infirm during the long services that
were required to be performed by ecclesiastics in a standing posture."
It is in the carving of these that one is frequently struck by the
curious mixture of the sacred and the profane, the refined and the
vulgar, for which it is difficult to find any adequate explanation. Of
so coarse a nature are some of these carvings that it has been necessary
to entirely remove them from the stalls. They are usually attributed to
the mendicant and wandering monks, and they undoubtedly reflect the
licentiousness which at one time pervaded the monastic and conventual
establishments. Among our best examples are those at Christchurch
Priory, Hants, and in Henry VII.'s Chapel. There is a remarkably
complete set in Exeter Cathedral.
[Illustration: A Typical Somerset Bench-End.
Showing a Fuller at work with the implements of his trade. Spaxton.
_Photograph Mr. Page._]
Of modern pews it is not necessary to say anything here, but previous
to the Reformation the nave of a church was usually fitted with fixed
seats, parted from each other by wainscoting, and partially enclosed at
the ends by framed panelling, but more often by solid pieces of wood,
either panelled or carved on the front. These bench-ends are very common
in the West of England, in Somerset and Devon, and they are often very
beautiful pieces of work and were in all probability executed by local
craftsmen. They embrace a variety of subjects: figures, scrolls, dragons,
serpents, etc., and frequently bear the arms of the family who owned the
pew. Sometimes they terminate at the top with finials either in the form
of heads, bunches of foliage, a chamfered _fleur-de-lys_ and a variety
of other ornaments called Poppy-heads, from the French _Poupée_. No
examples are known to exist earlier than the Decorated style, but of
Perpendicular date specimens are very numerous, especially in our
cathedrals and old abbey churches.
[Side note: Pulpits.]
Pulpits were formerly placed, not only in churches, but in the
refectories and occasionally in the cloisters of monasteries, and there
is one in the outer court of Magdalen College, Oxford, and another at
Shrewsbury. In former times pulpits were placed in the nave attached
to a wall, pillar or screen, usually against the second pier from the
chancel arch. Some are of wood, others of stone; the former are mostly
polygonal, with the panels enriched with foliation or tracery. Few exist
of earlier date than the Perpendicular style, but stone pulpits of
Decorated date are sometimes met with as at Beaulieu, Hants, a very
early specimen. Wooden pulpits are usually hexagonal or octagonal; some
stand on slender wooden stems, others on stone bases. A few have canopies
or sounding boards, and their dates can be fixed by the character of
their ornamentation. At Kenton, Devon, there is an early pulpit which
has retained its original paintings. Jacobean pulpits are very numerous,
and are frequently gilded and painted; the one at S. Saviour's Church,
Dartmouth, being a most elaborate example.
[Illustration: A Richly Carved Pulpit and Canopy.
Edlesborough, Bucks. _Photograph H. A. Strange._]
Open-air preaching is anything but a modern invention, for long before
the erection of parish churches it was the recognised method of addressing
the people. There is a print of some popular bishop preaching in a
pulpit at Paul's Cross in S. Paul's Churchyard, and in mediæval days
open-air pulpits were erected near the roads, on bridges and often on
the steps of the market crosses, which are often still known as
preaching crosses.
[Side note: Squints.]
In some of our churches is to be seen a squint, an opening in an oblique
direction through a wall or pier for the purpose of enabling persons in
the aisles or transepts to see the elevation of the Host at the high
altar. They are of frequent occurrence in our churches and are very
numerous in the neighbourhood of Tenby, South Wales, also in Devon and
the West generally. They are usually without any ornament, but are
sometimes arched and enriched with tracery. They are mostly found on one
or both sides of the chancel arch, but they sometimes occur in rooms
above porches, in side-chapels and the like; in every instance they were
so situated that the altar could be seen. When they occur in porches or
the rooms above they are thought to have been for the use of the acolyte
appointed to ring the sanctus bell, who, viewing the performance of mass,
would be thus able to sound the bell at the proper time. The name
hagioscope has been used to describe these oblique openings.
Cruciform marks are sometimes found on our churches, often on a stone in
the porch; they are usually incised crosses or five dots in the form of
a cross. They were, presumably, cut by the bishop when the building was
consecrated, and are called consecration crosses.
[Side note: Screens.]
The rood-screens, separating the chancel or choir of a church from the
nave, usually supported the great Rood or Crucifix, not actually on the
screen itself, but on a beam called the rood-beam, or by a gallery
called the rood-loft, which last was approached from the inside of the
church, by a small stone staircase in the wall, as can be seen in many
of our churches to-day. Although rood-lofts have been generally destroyed
in England, some beautiful examples remain at Long Sutton, Barnwell,
Dunster and Minehead, Somerset; Kemsing, Kent; Newark, Nottingham;
Uffendon, Collumpton, Dartmouth, Kenton, Plymtree and Hartland, Devon.
The general construction of wooden screens is close panelling below,
from which rise tall slender balusters, or wooden mullions supporting
tracery rich with cornices and crestings, frequently painted and gilded.
The lower panels often depict saints and martyrs. From the top of the
screen certain parts of the services and the lessons were read. They
were occasionally close together and glazed, as we see by a most beautiful
example at Charlton-on-Otmoor, in Oxfordshire. These screens, many of
which have been over-restored, are very common, and in addition to those
above mentioned, are found at S. Mary's, Stamford, Ottery S. Mary,
Chudleigh, Bovey, and in nearly all the Devon parish churches. At
Dunstable a screen of Queen Mary's time separates the vestry from the
chancel.
[Illustration: Screen with Rood Loft.
Kenton, Devon. _Photograph by Chapman._]
Of stone screens space will permit of only the briefest mention. They
were used in various situations, to enclose tombs and to separate
chapels, and occasionally the rood-screen was of stone.
[Illustration: The Carved Oak Balustrade in Compton Church.
Held to be the oldest existing piece of carved woodwork in England.]
The oldest piece of screen work in this country is that at Compton
Church, Surrey; it is of wood and shows the transition from the Norman
to the Early English styles. Stone screens are often massive structures
enriched with niches, statues, tabernacles, pinnacles, crestings, etc.,
as those at Canterbury, York and Gloucester.
[Side note: The Reredos.]
The reredos forms no part of the altar, and is often highly enriched
with niches, buttresses, pinnacles, and other ornaments. Not infrequently
it extends across the whole breadth of the church, and is sometimes
carried nearly up to the roof, as at S. Alban's Abbey, Durham and
Gloucester Cathedrals, S. Saviour's, Southwark and in that remarkably
fine example at Christchurch, Hants. In village churches they are mostly
very simple, and generally have no ornaments formed in the wall, though
niches and corbels are sometimes provided to carry images, and that part
of the wall immediately over the altar is panelled, as at S. Michael's,
Oxford; Solihull, Warwickshire; Euston and Hanwell, Oxfordshire, etc.
It is interesting to note that the open fire-hearth, once used in
domestic halls, was also called a "reredos."