proper repository for its records is the seventieth canon, the latter
part of which runs in the following words, from which it will be seen
that some of its details have been suffered to become obsolete: "For the
safe keeping of the said book (the register of baptisms, weddings, and
burials), the churchwardens, at the charge of the parish, shall provide
one sure coffer, and three locks and keys; whereof one to remain with
the minister, and the other two with the churchwardens severally; so
that neither the minister without the two churchwardens, nor the
churchwardens without the minister, shall at any time take that book out
of the said coffer. And henceforth upon every Sabbath day immediately
after morning or evening prayer, the minister and the churchwardens
shall take the said parchment book out of the said coffer, and the
minister in the presence of the churchwardens shall write and record in
the said book the names of all persons christened, together with the
names and surnames of their parents, and also the names of all persons
married and buried in that parish in the week before, and the day and
year of every such christening, marriage, and burial; and that done,
they shall lay up the book in the coffer as before." This Canon, made
with others in 1603, was a natural sequence to the Act passed in 1538,
which enjoined the due keeping of parish registers of the kind above
described. It is, in fact, obvious that the canon only gave additional
sanction to a practice enforced some years earlier; for Grindal, in his
"Metropolitical Visitation of the Province of York in 1571," uses
almost identical terms, requiring, amongst many other things, "That the
churchwardens in every parish shall, at the costs and charges of the
parish, provide ... a sure coffer with two locks and keys for keeping
the register book, and a strong chest or box for the almose of the poor,
with three locks and keys to the same:" the same demand was made, also
by Grindal, on the province of Canterbury in 1576.
Church chests did not, however, come into use in consequence of the
introduction of the regular keeping of registers. The Synod of Exeter,
held in 1287, ordered that every parish should provide "a chest for the
books and the vestments," and the convenience and even necessity of some
such article of furniture, doubtless led to its use in many places from
yet earlier times.
We have in England several excellent examples of "hutches," or chests,
which date from the thirteenth, or even from the close of the twelfth
century. Some there are for which a much earlier date has been claimed.
These latter are rough coffers formed usually of a single log of wood,
hollowed out, and fitted with a massive lid, the whole being bound with
iron bands. Chests of this kind may be seen at Newdigate, Surrey, at
Hales Owen, Shropshire, and elsewhere; and on the strength of the
rudeness of the carpentry displayed, it has been asserted that they are
of Norman, or even of Saxon, workmanship. Roughness of design and work
are scarcely, however, in themselves sufficient evidence of great
antiquity; many local causes, especially in small country places, may
have led the priests and people to be content with a very rude article
of home manufacture, at a time when far more elaborate ones were
procurable in return for a little more enterprise or considerably more
money. The date of these rough coffers must therefore be considered
doubtful.
Of Early English chests, we have examples at Clymping, Sussex, at
Saltwood and Graveney, Kent, at Earl Stonham, Suffolk, at Stoke
D'Abernon, Surrey, and at Newport, Essex. The Decorated Period is
represented by chests at Brancepeth, Durham, at Huttoft and Haconby,
Lincolnshire, at Faversham and Withersham, Kent, and at S. Mary
Magdalene's, Oxford. The workmanship of the Perpendicular Period has
numerous illustrations among our church chests, such as those at
S. Michael's, Coventry, S. Mary's, Cambridge, the Chapter House of
Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford, and others at Frettenham, Norfolk, at
Guestling, Sussex, at Harty Chapel, Kent, at Southwold, Suffolk, and at
Stonham Aspel, Suffolk.
[Illustration: CHEST AT SALTWOOD, KENT.]
In the making of all these coffers, strength was naturally the great
characteristic which was most obviously aimed at; strength of structure,
so as to secure durability, and strength of locks and bolts, so as to
ensure the contents from theft. But in addition to this, artistic beauty
was not lost sight of, and many chests are excellent illustrations of
the wood-carvers' taste and skill, and several were originally enriched
with colour.
[Illustration: CHEST AT UPTON CHURCH.]
[Illustration: CHEST AT OVER, CHESHIRE.]
A good example of those in which security has been almost exclusively
sought, is provided by a chest at S. Peter's, Upton, Northamptonshire.
The dimensions of this hutch are six feet three inches in length, two
feet six inches in height, and two feet in width. Its only adornment is
provided by the wrought iron bands which are attached to it. Four of
these are laid laterally across each end, and four more, running
perpendicularly, divide the front into five unequal panels; the bands on
the front correspond with an equal number laid across the lid, where,
however, two more are placed at the extreme ends. Each of the panels in
front and top is filled with a device in beaten iron roughly resembling
an eight-pointed star, the lowest point of which runs to the bottom of
the chest. Yet simpler is the chest at S. Mary's, West Horsley, which is
a long, narrow, oaken box, strengthened by flat iron bands crossing the
ends and doubled well round the front and back, while six others are
fastened perpendicularly to the front; there are two large locks, and
three hinges terminating in long strips of iron running almost the
complete breadth of the lid. The church of S. Botolph, Church Brampton,
has a chest equally plain in itself, but the iron bands are in this
case of a richer character. Elegant scroll-work originally covered the
front and ends, much still remaining to this day. S. Lawrence's, in the
Isle of Thanet, possesses an exceedingly rough example, with a curved
top; seven broad iron bands strengthen the lid, and several
perpendicular ones, crossed by a lateral one, are affixed to the front,
the whole being studded with large square-headed nails; a huge lock is
placed in the middle, with hasps for padlocks to the right and left of
it. It is raised slightly from the ground by wooden "feet."
[Illustration: CHEST AT S. LAWRENCE, ISLE OF THANET.]
For security and strength, however, the palm must be awarded to a coffer
at Stonham Aspel. The following description of this remarkable chest was
given in the "Journal of the British Archaeological Society" in
September, 1872: "This curious example is of chestnut wood, 8 feet in
length, 2 feet 3 inches in height, and 2 feet 7 inches from front to
back; and is entirely covered on the outer surface with sheets of iron
41/2 inches in width, the joinings being hid by straps. The two lids are
secured by fourteen hasps; the second from the left locks the first, and
the hasp simply covers the keyhole; the fourth locks the third, etc.
After this process is finished, a bar from each angle passes over them,
and is secured by a curious lock in the centre, which fastens them both.
The interior of this gigantic chest is divided into two equal
compartments by a central partition of wood, the one to the left being
painted red; the other is plain. Each division can be opened separately;
the rector holding four of the keys, and the churchwardens the others,
all being of different patterns." The writer of this description (Mr.
H. Syer Cuming, F.S.A., Scot., V.P.) assigns the chest to the fifteenth
century.
[Illustration: CHURCH CHEST, S. MICHAEL'S, COVENTRY.]
Turning now to those chests, whose makers, while not forgetting the
needful solidity and strength, aimed also at greater decoration, the
handsome hutch at S. Michael's, Coventry, claims our notice. The front
of this is carved with a double row of panels having traceried heads,
the upper row being half the width of the lower one. In the centre are
two crowned figures, popularly (and not improbably) described as Leofric
and his wife, the Lady Godiva. At each end of the front is a long panel
decorated with lozenges enclosing Tudor roses, foliage, and conventional
animals; while two dragons adorn the bottom, which is cut away so as to
leave a triangular space beneath the chest. At S. John's, Glastonbury,
is another fine example, measuring six feet two inches in length, and at
present lidless. Within six vesica-shaped panels are placed quatrefoil
ornaments, each divided by a horizontal bar. Above these are five
shields, three charged with S. George's Cross, and the others, one with
three lozenges in fess, and the other with three roundles, two and one,
and a label. The ends, or legs, are elaborately carved with dog-tooth
figures in squares and circles. Saltwood, Kent, has an ornately carved
chest, divided (like that of Stonham Aspel) into two parts, the lid
being correspondingly formed, and opening in sections. One half is
secured by three locks, and the other by one. The front is carved with
five geometrical "windows" of four lights each; and the ends of the
front have three carved square panels, divided by bands of dancette
ornament. The base has a long narrow panel, with a simple wavy design.
There is some bold carving on a chest at S. George's, South Acre, in
Norfolk; a row of cusped arches fills rather more than half the height
of the front, the rest being taken up with four panels containing roses
and stars, similar designs on a smaller scale being repeated at the
ends. The front is cut away at the bottom in a series of curves.
[Illustration: CHURCH CHEST S. JOHN'S GLASTONBURY]
At Alnwick is a massive coffer, over seven feet long, bearing on its
front a number of figures of dragons, and heads of birds and beasts,
amid foliage; above which are two hunting scenes, in which appear men
with horns, dogs, and deer, amid trees. These two scenes are separated
by the lock, and are precisely alike, save that the quarry in one is a
stag, and a hind in the other. Empingham, near Stamford, has a fine
chest of cedar wood, adorned with incised figures. At S. Mary's,
Mortlake, is one of walnut, inlaid with boxwood and ebony, and
ornamented with designs in metal work; the under side of the lid has
some delicate iron-wrought tracery, which was originally set off with
red velvet. The Huttoft chest is enriched with traceried arches, which
were apparently at one time picked out in colour; that of Stoke
D'Abernon is raised on four substantial legs, and is decorated with
three circles on the front filled with a kind of tracery; there are
other interesting specimens at Winchester and at Ewerby. In the old
castle at Newcastle-on-Tyne is preserved an old church coffer, which was
probably removed there for safety during the troublous days of the Civil
War. At Harty Chapel, Kent, we find the figures of two knights in full
armour, tilting at each other, carved on the front of a chest; the
legend of S. George and the dragon is illustrated in a similar way at
Southwold Church, Suffolk, and yet more fully on a chest in the treasury
of York Minster.
Probably, however, the handsomest example of a carved church chest now
preserved in England is at Brancepeth, in the county of Durham. This
beautiful piece of work, which rests in the south chapel of the church,
has its front completely covered with elaborate carving. At either end
are three oblong panels, one above another, on each of which is a
conventional bird or beast; at the base is a series of diamonds filled,
as are the intervals between them, with tracery; and above this is an
arcade of six pointed arches, each enclosing three lights surmounted by
a circle, the six being divided by tall lancets, the crockets of the
arches and a wealth of foliage filling up the intervening spaces. This
fine chest dates from the fourteenth century.
The Rev. Francis E. Powell, M.A., in his pleasantly-written work
entitled "The Story of a Cheshire Parish," gives particulars of the
parish chest of Over. "The chest," says Mr. Powell, was "the gift of
Bishop Samuel Peploe to Joseph Maddock, Clerk, April 30th, 1750." It
probably was an old chest even then. The donor was Bishop of Chester
from 1726 to 1752. He was a Whig in politics, and a latitudinarian in
religion, as so many bishops of that time were. That he was a man of
determined courage may be seen by his loyalty to the House of Hanover,
even under adverse circumstances. One day, in the year 1715, he was
reading Morning Prayer at the parish church at Preston. The town was
occupied by Jacobite troops, some of whom burst into the church during
the service. Approaching the prayer-desk, with drawn sword, a trooper
demanded that Peploe should substitute James for George in the prayer
for the King's Majesty. Peploe merely paused to say, "Soldier, I am
doing my duty; do you do yours;" and went on with the prayers, whereupon
the soldiers at once proceeded to eject him from the church. The
illustration of the chest is kindly lent to us by the Rev. Francis E.
Powell, vicar of Over.
In the vestry of Lambeth Palace is a curiously painted chest; several of
an early date are preserved in the triforium of Westminster Abbey; there
is one at Salisbury Cathedral, and another in the Record Office, having
been removed from the Pix Chapel.
One of the original uses of these coffers, as we have seen, was to
preserve the vestments of the church. The copes, however, being larger
than the other vestments, and in the cathedrals and other important
churches, being very numerous, frequently had a special receptacle
provided. At York, Salisbury, Westminster, and Gloucester, ancient
cope-chests are still preserved. These are triangular in shape, the cope
being most easily folded into that form.
In not a few instances these large coffers, or sections of them, were
used as alms boxes, for which a very ancient precedent can be found. At
the restoration of the Jewish Temple under King Joash, we are told
(2 Kings xii., 9, 10) that "Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored
a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side
as one cometh into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept the
door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the
Lord: and it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the
chest, that the King's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put
up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the Lord."
At Llanaber, near Barmouth in North Wales, is a chest hewn from a single
block of wood, and pierced to receive coins. At Hatfield, Yorkshire, is
an ancient example of a similar kind; and others may be seen at
S. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, at Drayton in Berkshire, at Meare
Church, Somersetshire, at Irchester and Mears Ashby, in
Northamptonshire, at Hartland, in Devonshire, and in the Isle of Wight
at Carisbrooke. An interesting chest, with provision for the reception
of alms, is preserved at Combs Church, Suffolk, where there is also
another plain hutch, iron-bound and treble-locked. The chest in question
is strongly, but simply, made, the front being divided into four plain
panels, with some very slight attempt at decoration in the form of small
disks and diamonds along the top; and the lid being quite flat and
plain, and secured by two locks. At one end, however, a long slit has
been cut in this lid, and beneath it is a till, or trough, to receive
the money, very similar to the little locker often inserted at one end
of an old oak chest intended for domestic use, save that in this case
the compartment has, of course, no second lid of its own. This chest has
the date 1599 carved upon it, but is supposed to be some half a century
older, the date perhaps marking the time of some repairs or alterations
made in it.
Hutches of the kind that we have been considering are not peculiar to
England, some fine and well-preserved examples being found in several
of the ancient churches in France. Among ourselves it is obvious that
great numbers must have disappeared; many doubtless were rough and
scarcely worthy of long preservation; others by the very beauty of their
workmanship probably roused the cupidity, or the iconoclastic prejudice,
of the spoiler. Near Brinkburn Priory a handsome fourteenth century
chest was found, used for domestic purposes, in a neighbouring
farm-house; a Tudor chest, belonging to S. Mary's, Newington, lay for
years in the old rectory house, and subsequently disappeared; and these
are doubtless typical of many another case. When the strictness at first
enforced as to the care of the parish registers became culpably relaxed,
and parish clerks and sextons were left in practically sole charge of
them, it is but too probable that these men, often illiterate and
otherwise unsuited to such a trust, were in many instances as careless,
or as criminal, in regard to the coffers, as we unfortunately know they
frequently were with respect to their contents.
Few church chests of any interest date from the Jacobean, or any
subsequent period. Plain deal boxes were then held good enough for the
purpose of a "church hutch."
An Antiquarian Problem: The Leper Window.
By William White, F.S.A.
These windows were called by Parker and other writers of the Gothic
Revival, "Lychnoscopes;" and then by the ecclesiologists, "Low-side
Windows." But the name given by the late G. E. Street has now become so
generally accepted that it seems necessary to look a little further into
the evidence of the fitness or unfitness of this designation for them.
Behind some stalls in the Royal Chapel were discovered some remains of a
mural painting, apparently to represent the communicating of a leper
through some such window, and he at once concluded that it was for this
very purpose so many of them were introduced into the chancels of our
mediaeval churches. There seemed, however, nothing to indicate that it
was at one of these special windows at all that this function was
performed. And the very fact of the representation itself would seem to
indicate rather an exceptional instance, or special circumstance, such
as the communicating of some knight or person of note who might, for
instance, have brought leprosy in his own person from the Holy Land,
from whence probably in the first instance it came; and who would not be
admitted within the church. But the records of the existence of lepers
would seem to show their numbers to have been very limited, and confined
to few localities. And in any case this would be no sufficient cause for
the introduction of these windows as of universal occurrence throughout
the land, for these windows are found almost everywhere, and in very
many instances on both sides of the chancel. Moreover, in many cases the
act of administration through these windows would be exceedingly
difficult, if not impossible, on account of the position, or the
arrangement, of the window itself.
To my mind a very much more practical and reasonable supposition would
be that they were introduced, and used, for burial purposes. At a period
when the body would not be brought into the church, except in the case
of some ecclesiastic or other notable person, the priest would here be
able, _from his stall_, to see the funeral _cortege_ come into the
churchyard, and then say the first part of the office through this
window; which was always shuttered and without glass. In some cases
there is a book-ledge corbelled out on the east jamb of the window
inside, which has puzzled antiquaries, but which has not otherwise
received a satisfactory explanation. In immediate proximity to the
window, at the end of the stalls (and sometimes in the earlier churches
_through_ them), was the priest's door, out of which he would then
proceed to the grave to commit the body to the earth. The grave itself
needs not necessarily be within sight of the window. But in a number of
instances the churchyard cross was so; and this may have served as the
recognised place for the mourners, with the body, to assemble.
In the case of Foxton, Leicestershire, the "Lych Window," as I would
call it, is on the north side. Here the burials are chiefly on the north
side; a steep slope down towards the church on the south side rendering
it very difficult and unsuitable for them. At Addisham, Kent, the
priest's door is, contrary to the usual custom, on the north side, where
is also a principal portion of the churchyard, and, so far as my own
observations go, the position of the window would greatly depend upon
the arrangement of the churchyard, whether north or south.
Mazes.
By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A.
Something concerning the construction of labyrinths, or mazes, is known
even to the most general reader; it needs but a slight acquaintance with
classical literature to learn of the famous example formed at Crete by
Daedalus; the legend of the concealment of "fair Rosamond," within a maze
at Woodstock, is familiar enough; and the existing labyrinth at Hampton
Court, the work of William III. is well known. But probably few who have
not looked somewhat into the matter, have any idea of the number of such
mazes which still exist, or of the yet greater number of which we have
authentic records. A learned French antiquary, Mons. Bonnin, of Evreux,
collected two hundred examples, gathered from many lands, and stretching
in history from classical to modern times.
Of the most ancient labyrinths it will be enough to indicate the
localities. One is said to have been constructed in Egypt by King
Minos, and to have served as a model for the one raised by Daedalus at
Cnossus, in Crete, as a prison for the Minataur. Another Egyptian
example, which has been noticed by several authors, was near Lake
Moeris. Lemnos contained a famous labyrinth; and Lar Porsena built one
at Clusium, in Etruria. These mazes consisted either of a series of
connected caverns, as it has been supposed was the case in Crete; or, as
in the other instances, were formed of courts enclosed by walls and
colonnades.
[Illustration: LABYRINTH INSCRIBED ON ONE OF THE PORCH PIERS
OF LUCCA CATHEDRAL.]
The use of the labyrinth in mediaeval times, has, however, greater
interest for us in this paper, especially from the fact that such was
distinctly ecclesiastical. Several continental churches have labyrinths,
either cut in stone or inlaid in coloured marbles, figured upon their
walls or elsewhere. At Lucca Cathedral is an example incised upon one of
the piers of the porch; and others may be seen at Pavia, Aix in
Provence, and at Poitiers. These are all small, the diameter of the
Lucca labyrinth being 1 foot 71/2 inches, which is the dimension also of
one in an ancient pavement in the church of S. Maria in Aquiro, in Rome.
That the suggestion for the construction of these arose from the
mythological legends concerning those of pagan days is proved by the
fact that in several of them the figures of Theseus and the Minataur
were placed in the centre. Probably from the first, the Church, in her
use of the figure, spiritualized the meaning of the heathen story, as we
know was her wont in other cases; and a labyrinth formed in mosaic on
the floor of an ancient basilica at Orleansville, Algeria, shows that
presently the mythological symbols gave place entirely to obviously
Christian ones. In this last-named instance, the centre is occupied by
the words _Sancta Ecclesia_.
About the twelfth century these curious figures became very popular, and
a considerable number dating from that period still exist. They have for
the most part been constructed in parti-coloured marbles on some portion
of the floor of the church. One was laid down in 1189 at S. Maria in
Trastevere, in Rome; S. Vitale, Ravenna, contains another; and the
parish church of S. Quentin has a third. Others formerly existed at
Amiens Cathedral (made in 1288 and destroyed in 1825), at Rheims (made
about 1240 and destroyed in 1779), and at Arras (destroyed at the
Revolution). These are much larger than the examples before noticed; the
two Italian examples are each about 11 feet across, but the French ones
greatly exceed this. Those of S. Quentin and Arras were each over 34
feet in diameter, and the others were somewhat larger; Amiens possessed
the largest, measuring 42 feet. France had another example of a similar
kind at Chartres.