The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture Part 13

But as to other alterations at this time effected. In January, 1644, an ordinance of parliament was published for the taking away of the Book of Common Prayer, which was forbid to be used any longer in any church, chapel, or place of public worship. In lieu of this the "Directory for the Publike Worship of G.o.d" was established: this contained no stated forms of prayer, but general instructions only for extemporaneous praying and preaching, and for the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; the former of which was to be administered in the place of public worship and in the face of the congregation, but "not," as the Directory expresses, "in the places where fonts in the time of popery were unfitly and superst.i.tiously placed." And at the administration of the Lord's Supper the table was to be so placed that the communicants might sit orderly about it or at it; but all liturgical form was abolished, and the prayers even at this sacrament were such as the minister might spontaneously offer.

At Brill Church, in Buckinghamshire, the communion table, on an elevation of one step, is inclosed with rails, within an area of eight feet by six feet and a half, and a bench is fixed to the wall on each side; an innovation made at this period, in order that the communicants might receive the sacrament sitting. The communion table in Wooten Wawen Church, Warwickshire, though perfectly plain in construction, is unusually long and large, and appears to have been set up by the Puritans at this period, so that they might sit round or at it.

To the removal of the communion table from the east end of the chancel may be attributed the usage which, in the middle of the seventeenth century, began to prevail of constructing close and high seats or pews, without regard to that uniformity of arrangement which had hitherto been observed; and many seats were now so constructed that those who occupied them necessarily turned their backs on the east during the ministration of prayer and public service. The erection of unseemly galleries, which have greatly tended to disfigure our churches, was another consequence of the innovation on the ancient arrangement of pewing.

After the Restoration the communion tables were again restored to their former position at the east end of the chancel; and in Evelyn's Diary for 1661-2, we find the change of position in his parish church thus noticed: "6 April. Being of the vestry in the afternoone, we order'd that the communion table should be set as usual altarwise, with a decent raile in front, as before the rebellion."

The altar rails were now generally restored, and in most instances we find those in our churches to be of a period subsequent to the Restoration, as the details in the workmanship evince. In the church accounts of St.

Mary's, Shrewsbury, for 1662, we find a "memorandum that this year the rayles about the communion table wer new sett up, and the surplice was made." In Wormleighton Church, Warwickshire, the altar rails have on them the date of 1664; and the communion table, which is quite plain, is of the same character and era.

But a return, after the Restoration, to the former usages of the Anglican church was not made without great opposition; and accordingly we find objections stated to the bowing to the altar and to the east, to the preaching by book, to the railing in of the altar, to the candles, cushion, and book thereon, to the bowing at the name of Jesus, and to the organs as "popish-like music, and too much superst.i.tion[250-*]."

When the rood was taken down at the Reformation, a custom began to prevail of fixing up in its stead or place, against the arch leading into the chancel, the upper part of which was in consequence blocked up by it, and facing the congregation, so as to be seen by them, the royal arms, with proper heraldic supporters; but it does not clearly appear that this was done in consequence of any express law or injunction to that effect, though it may perhaps have served to denote the king's supremacy. We seldom, however, find the royal arms of earlier date than the Restoration, in the twenty years previous to which they appear to have been generally taken down. In Brixton Church, Isle of Wight, on some plain wooden panelling between the tower and a gallery at the west end are the remains of the royal arms, which, from the style in which they have been painted with the rose and thistle, appear coeval with the reign of James the First; they are surmounted by a crown, below which is an open six-barred helme. These arms appear to have been removed from their original position against the chancel-arch, and are now much mutilated. In the church accounts, St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, for 1651, is a charge of 1_l._ 8_s._ "for making the states armes." In Anstey Church, Warwickshire, the arms of the commonwealth, put up during the inter-regnum, were taken down not many years back. The little church of St. Lawrence, in the Isle of Wight, still retains the royal arms put up at the Restoration in 1660.

Excepting the rood-loft galleries, we have few galleries in our churches of a period antecedent to the latter part of the seventeenth century. At the west end of Worstead Church, Norfolk, over the west door, is a gallery erected in 1550, at the cost of the candle called the Bachelor's Light. At the west end of the nave in Leighton Buzzard Church is a gallery erected in 1634; and at the west end of Piddletown Church, Dorsetshire, is a gallery with the date of its erection, 1635.

From about the period of the Revolution, in 1688, we may trace the commencement of a custom, still partially prevailing, of setting up the pulpit and reading-pew in the middle aisle, in front of the communion table; so that during the whole of the service the back of the minister was turned to the east, and the view of the communion table obstructed; but we have not found any pulpit thus placed of an earlier period.

We still retain, in the Anglican church, the usage of placing two candlesticks and candles upon the communion table, in compliance with the injunctions of King Edward the Sixth, together also with an offertory dish; of reading the lessons from the eagle desk, and of saying the Litany at the litany-stool. These practices are, however, more particularly observed in our cathedrals and college chapels than in our parochial churches, in most of which they have fallen into desuetude.

To conclude, in the language of the synod held in 1640: "Whereas the church is the house of G.o.d, dedicated to his holy worship, and therefore ought to remind us both of the greatness and goodness of his Divine Majesty; certain it is that the acknowledgment thereof, not only inwardly in our hearts, but also outwardly with our bodies, must needs be pious in itself, profitable unto us, and edifying unto others: we therefore think it meet and behoveful, and heartily commend it to all good and well-affected people, members of this church, that they be ready to tender unto the Lord the said acknowledgment, by doing reverence and obeisance, both at their coming in and going out of the said churches, chancels, or chapels, according to the most ancient custom of the primitive church in the purest times, and of this church also for many years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

"The reviving, therefore, of this ancient and laudable custom we heartily recommend to the serious consideration of all good people, not with any intention to exhibit any religious worship to the communion table, the east, or church, or any thing therein contained, in so doing; or to perform the said gesture in the celebration of the holy eucharist, upon any opinion of a corporal presence of the body of Jesus Christ on the holy table or in the mystical elements, but only for the advancement of G.o.d's majesty, and to give him alone that honour and glory that is due unto him, and no otherwise; and in the practice or omission of this rite we desire that the rule of charity prescribed by the apostle may be observed, which is, that they which use this rite despise not them who use it not, and that they who use it not condemn not those that use it."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"... a bloodie crosse he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord, For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living, ever him ador'd: Upon his shield the like was also scor'd."

FOOTNOTES:

[154-*] Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. 6. Durantus, however, a.s.signs a different origin. "In veteri testamento non nisi lotus templum ingrediebatur." De Labro, seu Vase Aquae Benedictae, c. 21.

[156-*] "Ad valvas ecclesiae,"--Ordo ad Faciendum Catechumenum, Manuale.

[156-] Const.i.tutions of Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236.

[TN-7]De Baptismo et eius Effectu."

[158-*] It is much to be regretted that of late years many ancient fonts have been cast out of our churches, and earthenware and pewter basins subst.i.tuted in their stead for the administration of the holy sacrament of baptism: a practice not authorized by the Anglican church, but rather condemned; for in the canons set forth by authority, A. D. 1571, it is provided that "Curabunt (ditui) ut in singulis ecclesiis sit sacer fons, _non pelvis_, in quo baptismus ministretur, isque ut decenter et munde conservetur." And in the canons of 1603, after alluding to the foregoing const.i.tution, and observing that it was too much neglected in many places, it is appointed "That there shall be a font of stone in every church and chapel where baptism is to be ministered; the same to be set in the _ancient usual places_." In the orders and directions given by Bishop Wren, A. D. 1636, to be observed in his diocese of Norwich, we find it enjoined, "That the font at baptism be filled with clear water, and no dishes, pails, or basins be used in it or instead of it."

[160-*] The 28th decree of a foreign council, that of Wirtzburgh, held A. D. 1278, prohibits the fortifying of churches in order to make use of them as castles.

[164-*] Anglice sermocinari solebat (Abbas Samson) populo, sed secundum Linguam Norfolchie ... unde et pulpitum jussit fieri in ecclesia et ad utilitatem audiencium et ad decorem ecclesie.--Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, sub anno 1187.

[167-*] Cottonian MS. t.i.tus D. xxvii. 10th saec.

[167-] "Crux que erat super magnum altare, et Mariola, et Johannes, quas imagines Stigandus archiepiscopus magno pondere auri et argenti ornaverat, et sancto aedmundo dederat."--Cronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, p. 4.

[168-*] "Supra pulpitum trabes erat, per tranversum ecclesiae posita, quae crucem grandem et duo cherubin et imagines Sanctae _Mariae_ et Sancti _Johannis_ apostoli sustentabat."--Gervasius de Combustione, &c.

[169-*] "Superest exponere, quod ma.n.u.s illa e nubibus erumpens indicet: Quae procul dubio omnipotentis Dei dexteram designat."--Ciampini Vetera Monimenta, vol. ii. pp. 22, 81.

[171-*] "In elevatione atque utriusque squilla pulsatur."--Durandi Rationale, lib. iv.

[171-] In Yeovil Church Accounts, A. D. 1457, is an item, "_In una cordul empt p le salsyngbelle ijd_."--Collectanea Topographica, vol.

iii. p. 130.

[172-*] It is now in the possession of William Staunton, esq., of Longbridge House, near Warwick.

[173-*] Durandus, in his description of a church, makes no mention of screen-work, but observes, "Notandum est quod triplex genus _veli_ suspenditur in ecclesia videlicet quod sacra operit, quod sanctuarium a clero dividit, _et quod clerum a populo secernit_;" evidently alluding in the latter to the curtain extended across the chancel arch.

[174-*] "Item tunc stent in sedibus suis versa facie ad altare donec ad _misericordias_ vel super _formulas_ prout tempus postulat inclinent."--Monasticon, 1st ed. vol. i. p. 951.

[180-*] The placing of more than two lights on the altar seems never to have been practised in the churches of this country; at least I have not met with any ancient illumination in which more than two are represented.

[181-*] The cover of an ancient thurible of latten was lately discovered in the chest of Ashbury Church, Berkshire: the lower part is of a semi-globular or domical form, from which issues an embattled turret or lantern in the form of a pentagon, which is finished by a quadrangular spire; the sides both of the lantern and spire are partly of open work, and round the domical part is inscribed _Gloria Tibi Domine_.

[181-] A small ampulla of bra.s.s or latten, supposed to have been an ancient chrismatory for the consecrated oil used in the sacrament of extreme unction, has been within the last few years discovered in the castle ditch, Pulford, Cheshire: this curious little relic is not more than two inches high; the body is semi-globular, or bulges in front, with a plain Greek cross engraved on it, and is flattened at the back; and at the neck are two bowed handles, by chains attached to which it appears to have hung suspended from the shoulders.

[182-*] Harding, in his controversy with Bishop Jewell, mentions "the monstrance or pixe" as if one and the same article.--Defence of the Apology, &c., p. 343.

[183-*] Quo finito sacerdos c.u.m suis ministris in sedibus ad hos paratis se recipiant et expectent usque ad orationem dicendam vel alio tempore usque ad _Gloria in excelsis_.--MS. Rituale pen. Auc.

[183-] This arrangement was different to that directed by the rubrical orders of the Roman missals, on their revision after the council of Trent, by which the celebrant was to be seated between the deacon and sub-deacon: "In missa item solemni celebrans medius inter diaconum et sub-diaconum sedere potest a cornu epistolae juxta altare c.u.m cantatur _Kyrie eleison, Gloria in excelsis_, et _Credo_."--Missale Romanum, Antverpiae, MDCx.x.xI.; Rubricae Generales, &c. One of the queries published by Le Brun, whilst composing his liturgical work, was, "Si le pretre s'a.s.sied au dessus du diacre et du soudiacre, ou au milieu d'eux."

[186-*] Prope altare collocatur Piscina seu Lavacrum in quo ma.n.u.s lavantur.--Durandi Rat. de Ecclesia, &c. In ancient church contracts the term _Lavatorie_ was sometimes used for the Piscina, as in that for Catterick Church. In the Roman Missal subsequent to the Tridentine council the word _Sacrarium_ is used.

[187-*] At Alvechurch, Worcestershire, the custom prevails of the priest washing his hands in the vestry before the administration of the sacrament, and napkins are brought to dry his hands.

[189-*] "Il y avoit pour cet effet en chaque piscine, comme en peut voir encore a une infinite d'autels, deux conduits, ou canaux, pour faire ecouler l'eau, l'un pour recevoir l'eau qui avoit servi au lavement des mains, l'autre pour celle qui avoit servi au purification ou perfusion du chalice."--De Vert, Explication des Ceremonies de l'Eglise, vol. iii.

p. 193.

[190-*] In "Le Parfaict Ecclesiastique, par M. Claude de la Croix," (a curious work published A. D. 1666, and containing full instructions for the clergy of the Gallican church, and an exposition of the rites and ceremonies,) amongst appendages to an altar is enumerated "une credance ou niche dans le mur a poser les burettes et le ba.s.sin," p. 536. And in another place, "au coste de l'Autel il y faut une pet.i.te niche a poser les burettes et le ba.s.sin, et y faire un trou en facon de piscine a fin que l'eau se perde en terre." p. 568.

[190-] "In cornu Epistolae ... ampullae vitreae vini et aquae c.u.m pelvicula et manutergio mundo in fenestella seu in parva mensa ad haec praeparata"--Missale Romanum ex Decreto, &c. 1631.

"Calix vero et alia necessaria praeparentur in credentia cooperta linteo, antequam sacerdos veniat ad altare."--Ibid.

[192-*] The earliest account of the sepulchre thus set up that I have yet met with occurs in an inventory of church furniture, A. D. 1214, in which is mentioned "_velum unum de serico supra sepulchrum_."

[193-*] "Table" was a word used to express any sculptured ba.s.so relievo, more especially that inserted in the wall over an altar.

[199-*] A series of coloured engravings from the paintings on the walls of this chapel, which were evidently executed at the close of the fifteenth century, was published in 1807 by the late Mr. Thomas Fisher.

[200-*] By an injunction set forth by royal authority, A. D. 1539, it was ordered, "That from henceforth the said Thomas Becket shall not be esteemed, named, reputed, and called a saint, but Bishop Becket; and that his images and pictures thorow the whole realme shal be pluckt downe and avoided out of all churches, chapel, and other places."--Fox's Martyrology.

[209-*] The locality, character, and construction of the confessional in our ancient churches are not yet clearly elucidated. Du Cange described the confessional, "_confessio_," simply as "cellula in qua presbyteri fidelium confessiones excipiebant;" whilst according to De la Croix, in his remarks on those of the Gallican churches in the middle of the seventeenth century, "Les confessionaux doiuent estre a l'entree des Eglises, et non pas aupres des Autels, ny dans le Chur, ny en lieu cache, et tousieurs vne ouuerture pour ecouter le Penitent, avec vn treillis de bois ou autre estoffe, et vn volet pour le fermer, quand on ecoute de l'vn des costez ouuert."

[210-*] The tabard or heraldic coat worn over the body armour, and still worn by the heralds on state occasions.