UNIVEPWY mm* ^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF c -fORNIA. SAN DIEOB 
 LA IULLA. CALIFORNIA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 F. H. C. 
 
 Dartmouth
 
 Pulpits, Lecterns, & Organs 
 in English Churches 
 
 BY 
 
 J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A. 
 
 Author of "Churches of Derbyshire 1 " (4 vols.), "Churches of Cambridgeshire," 
 "Churches of Cornwall,'' "Churches of Cumberland and Westmorland," 
 "Churches of the Isle of Wight," "Churches of Nottinghamshire," "How to 
 Write the History of a Parish," "Churchwardens' Accounts," "Parish Registers," 
 "Church Furniture," "Royal Forests of England," "Sanctuaries," etc. 
 
 WITH 155 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 London, New York, Toronto, Melbourne, and Bombay 
 
 1915
 
 PRINTED AT 
 
 THE DAKIEN PKKSS 
 
 EDINBURGH
 
 These pages are dedicated to 
 
 The Rev. Dr GEE 
 
 Master of University College, and Professor of 
 Church History in the University of Durham 
 
 as a small token of the author's friendship, 
 
 and of his keen appreciation of the scholarly 
 
 services that he has rendered to the cause of 
 
 English Church History
 
 Vll 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 ALTHOUGH the name of the writer of the letterpress of 
 this book is the only one that appears on the title-page and 
 cover, he is by no means sure that the name of Mr Francis Bond, 
 the General Editor of the series, ought not to have been 
 bracketed with it, as to him these pages are indebted for 
 all the labour and scholarly insight involved in the selection 
 and arrangement of the vast number of choice illustrations 
 of pulpits, lecterns, organ cases, and other consonant details 
 within the covers ; moreover, the letterpress also is indebted 
 to his arrangement, advice, and corrections. 
 
 The writer had long wished to produce a monograph on 
 pulpits, and the suggestion that the subject should form one 
 of the Oxford University Press' noteworthy series of books 
 on the Church Art of English Churches was eagerly welcomed 
 by him. Up to the present time, the only work on this essential 
 branch of English ecclesiology has been Mr Dollman's 
 Examples of Ancient Pulpits published in 1849, an d long ago 
 out of print. The pulpit of mediaeval days w r as evidently intended 
 to take an unmistakably prominent part among the fittings of 
 a church, for the best of sculpture and carving was usually 
 employed in its construction, as is vividly demonstrated in 
 the following pages ; moreover, bright colouring was not 
 infrequently employed, both in stone and wood examples, to 
 make the pulpits still more distinctive. 
 
 There are few subjects upon which mistakes are more 
 common, even amongst those who have some knowledge of 
 Church lore, than those of preaching and pulpits. It is to 
 be hoped that this book may do something to correct several 
 popular delusions. The bounden duty of preaching was insisted 
 upon with constant reiteration by the medieval Church, and was 
 by no means a special appanage of the Reformation period. 
 The Anglo-Saxon priest, from the seventh century onwards, 
 was bound to preach at least every Sunday and Saint's day. 
 Upwards of one hundred and fifty sermons assigned to the 
 Venerable Bede, and certainly of the eighth century, are extant. 
 These sermons are almost entirely concerned with the gospel 
 of the day, as they were usually preached at High Mass. As 
 time went on, the extant sermons of the mediaeval Church 
 increase vastly in number, and their special and invariable
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 characteristic is the thorough and almost intuitive knowledge 
 of the whole of the Scriptures shown by the writer. It is not 
 too much to say that if an ancient sermon be compared with 
 the average pulpit discourse of modern days, the Bible is cited 
 fully ten times oftener in the sermon of former times. Insistence 
 on preaching and directions as to the scope of sermons were 
 persisted in by English synods or by other episcopal injunctions 
 right up to the dawn of the Reformation. Moreover, the 
 frequent and largely circulated religious manuals of the 
 fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries enjoined on the laity the 
 importance of preaching, making it a matter of greater moment 
 to listen to a sermon than even to hear Mass. 
 
 Abundant consecutive evidence is also here adduced to 
 upset the foolish but often held notion that sermons were 
 usually preached in Latin and not in the vernacular. The fact 
 is that, so far as England is concerned, Latin sermons were 
 reserved for the learned, and that for every Latin sermon, at 
 least one hundred were preached in the vulgar tongue. 
 
 With the Reformation came about a most remarkable 
 cessation or reduction of preaching. Sermons became such a 
 rarity that the term " Sermon Bell " was currently applied to a 
 special bell which informed the parishioners when a sermon was 
 about to be delivered. In the days of Edward VI. there were 
 very few licensed preachers ; eight sermons were to be preached 
 annually in every parish church, but four of these were to attack 
 the Papacy or to defend the Royal Supremacy. It was still 
 worse in the following reign. So much alarm was felt lest the 
 sermon should exalt Geneva on the one hand, or Rome on the 
 other, that the Elizabethan Injunctions of 1559 provided that 
 four sermons were to be preached during the year, and that 
 homilies were to be read on the other Sundays. Preachers' 
 licences were most sparingly granted. An Elizabethan clergy 
 list of the whole of the diocese of Lichfield towards the end of 
 the queen's reign enumerates 433 beneficed clergy, whilst out of 
 this number only 81 or less than a fifth were licensed to 
 preach. There can, indeed, be no doubt that there was far 
 less preaching during Elizabeth's long reign than during any 
 other reign from the Conqueror down to the present time. 
 
 Another very common notion, namely, that mediaeval pulpits 
 were of quite exceptional occurrence, the sermon being generally 
 delivered from the altar or chancel steps, is hopelessly wrong. 
 Such an idea is completely disproved by the numerous instances 
 in which churchwardens' accounts of pre-Reformation date are 
 yet extant. In no one case, so far as the writer knows, are 
 the mention of repairs to pulpits or the purchase of new ones 
 absent. A recent writer of repute has had the effrontery to 
 adduce, in support of the alleged rarity of pulpits, that " pulpits
 
 PREFACE ix 
 
 in the inventories of Church Goods, temp. Edward VI., are never 
 catalogued." True, but the same is the case with altars, fonts, 
 and screens. Moreover, the reports of certain of these Church 
 Goods Commissioners actually bear witness to the universality 
 of pulpits. The Surrey Commissioners, for instance, state that 
 " certaine lynen for the furniture of the communion table, the 
 fourmes and pulpits were necessarily left in every parish churche 
 of every hundredth within the countie of Surrey." 
 
 Pulpits, in these pages, are followed up county by county in 
 alphabetical order under three headings, namely, mediaeval 
 examples of both stone and wood, and post-Reformation 
 instances up to about the year 1700. In the last of these 
 divisions all are of oak, with the exception of Binder, Yaxley, 
 Swarby, and Fordington. 
 
 The stone pulpits of pre-Reformation date yet extant number 
 upwards of sixty ; they are chiefly to be found in the counties 
 of Somerset, Gloucester, and Devon. Mediaeval pulpits of wood 
 remain in about one hundred of our parish churches ; but this 
 number includes several cases wherein old panelling has been 
 used in their repair or reconstruction. They are chiefly of 
 the fifteenth century, but in six cases these wooden pulpits 
 undoubtedly pertain to the fourteenth century. 
 
 As to good examples of post- Reformation date, they are 
 far more numerous ; they abound in certain counties, such 
 as Xorthants and Notts., but several northern shires are almost 
 destitute of late Tudor or Stuart instances. An endeavour 
 is made here to differentiate between Jacobean and Carolean 
 examples. It is somewhat absurd to style every kind of wood- 
 work Jacobean long after the death of James. The Carolean 
 (Charles I.) pulpits in various counties are superior both in 
 number and beauty of design to those of the first James. The 
 true admirer and reverent student of our old parish churches 
 has long since ceased to limit his appreciation to Gothic 
 details. He realises that all that is good of its kind in the 
 work of painstaking craftsmen is well worthy of attention. 
 When complete, the pulpit, tester, and pedestal in these late 
 Elizabethan, Jacobean, or Carolean compositions often form 
 an imposing ensemble. But ignorant restorers have not infre- 
 quently marred the whole effect by the removal of the canopy 
 or sounding-board. Other parsons or would-be architects 
 deliberately mar the effect of an old post-Reformation pulpit 
 by placing it on a white stone base ; while in fully a score 
 of cases with which the writer, in the course of a long life, 
 is well acquainted, beautiful and cunningly wrought late pulpits 
 have been ruthlessly ejected altogether from the church. It 
 is hoped that these pages may do something to add to their 
 greater appreciation. 
 b
 
 X PREFACE 
 
 To the long account of pulpits, a briefer one follows, which is 
 well illustrated, dealing with the kindred subject of hour glasses. 
 
 The interesting subject of ancient lecterns is treated after 
 a much fuller fashion than has hitherto prevailed, and is enriched 
 by numerous illustrations. Brass eagles are carefully discussed. 
 A recently published Ecclesiastical Dictionary has stated that 
 the old brass eagles in English churches are " nearly a score in 
 number." But in these pages the number is shown to be at 
 least forty-six. Eagles of wood, as well as lectern desks of 
 both brass and wood, are also treated for the first time as 
 distinct subjects, and efforts have been made to make their 
 enumeration as complete as possible. 
 
 Reading desks of late origin, gospel desks in the chancel 
 wall, and desks for chained books also receive attention, while a 
 few concluding pages deal with the few examples of handsome 
 old organ cases still surviving, though none of them unfor- 
 tunately are of mediaeval date. 
 
 Though a good deal of care has been expended in the 
 endeavour to make this book both comprehensive and accurate, 
 the author's long experience both as a writer and a reviewer 
 causes him to fear that a perfect book has never yet been 
 published, and he will be grateful to those who will point 
 out sins either of omission or commission. 
 
 His best thanks are due to several friends who have assisted 
 him, both clerical and lay, but as they have all been thanked 
 personally or by letter, no list of them need be here given. 
 One exception must, however, be made, for he owes so much 
 to the continuous help received from his old friend, the 
 Rev. R. M. Serjeantson, the rector of St Peter's, Northampton. 
 
 For photographs and drawings, acknowledgments are due 
 to Mr M. B. Adams, F.R.I.B.A., Dr F. J. Allen, Mr A. W. 
 Anderson, A.R.I. B.A., Mr Thomas Baddeley, Mr W. H. Barrell, 
 Mr A. Bedding, Dr G. Granville Buckley, Dr P. B. Burroughs, 
 Mr F. H. Crossley, Mr W. Davidson, Mr W. Marriott Dodson, 
 Mr G. C. Druce, Mr J. F. East, Mr William Francis, Miss A. E. 
 Gimmingham, Mr T. M. Grose-Lloyd, Mr J. F. Hamilton, 
 Mr F. T. S. Houghton, Mr P. M. Johnston, F.S.A., Mr J. T. Lee, 
 Messrs Levy, Mr W. Maitland, Rev. Walter Marshall, Mr C. F. 
 Nunneley, Rev. H. B. Pirn, Professor S. H. Reynolds, Rev. G. W. 
 Saunders, Mr C. B. Shuttleworth, Rev. F. Sumner, Mr F. R. P. 
 Sumner, Rev. F. H. Sutton, Mr Syers-Cuming, Mr F. R. Taylor, 
 Mr G. H. Tyndall, Mr J. C. Wall, Mr G. H. Widdows, A.R.I.B.A., 
 Mr W. Percival-Wiseman, Miss Carrie Percival-Wiseman, and 
 Mr E. W. M. Wonnacott, F.S.I. ; reproductions of the above 
 are distinguished by the initials of the owner of the photograph 
 or drawing. J. C. C. 
 
 LONUTON AVENUE, SYDENHAM, 
 January 1915.
 
 XI 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. PREACHING AND PULPITS i 
 
 II. THE PULPIT PROPER 28 
 
 III. MEDIAEVAL STONE PULPITS 36 
 
 IV. MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 52 
 V. POST-REFORMATION PREACHING 82 
 
 VI. POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 89 
 
 VII. HOUR GLASSES - 147 
 
 VIII. LECTERNS AND EAGLES OF BRASS AND STONE AND 
 
 GOSPEL DESKS 163 
 
 IX. LECTERNS AND EAGLES OF WOOD 182 
 
 X. READING DESKS - 197 
 
 XI. DESKS FOR CHAINED BOOKS - 200 
 
 XII. ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 204 
 
 INDEX LOCORUM - 217 
 
 INDEX RERUM - - ... 226
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 THE first historical mention of a pulpit occurs in the Book of 
 Books, for when Ezra began his mission of reform at Jerusalem, 
 B.C. 458, he "stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had 
 made for the purpose, in the sight of all the people, for he was 
 above all the people." This passage at once supplies the object 
 of a pulpit, namely, an elevated structure to enable the preacher 
 to be seen and heard by the congregation. Ezra's pulpit on 
 this occasion, however, was not in harmony with our usual 
 conception of such a structure, unless it is the one of modern 
 erection in the great church of Yarmouth, for it was of sufficient 
 size to accommodate six attendants on his right hand, and seven 
 on his left. It is said that this stately precedent of Ezra's was 
 to some extent followed in the earlier mediaeval days in cathedral 
 churches, for when the bishop preached it was customary for 
 him to be accompanied into the pulpit by his two archdeacons. 
 
 It is a complete mistake to imagine that preaching was 
 neglected in the mediaeval Church, or that sermons were in the 
 main a product of Reformation days. The exact contrary is 
 the case, as will presently appear. Oral teaching was by no 
 means confined to missionary labours among the heathen, but 
 was the habitual practice of the Church for the maintenance 
 of the faith, and for the instruction of the faithful from the earliest 
 days. Much may be gleaned on the subject from the Fathers. 
 So far as our own country is concerned, the incidental evidence 
 of the regular custom of preaching in their churches by the 
 Anglo-Saxon priests during the seventh and following centuries
 
 2 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 is abundantly convincing. The reforming canons of King 
 Edgar (959-975) provide that the clergy were to preach every 
 Sunday, but this had been the general practice for three 
 centuries. 
 
 In 1223 the Synod of Oxford exhorted the clergy to 
 " preach the Word of God, and not to be dumb dogs, but with 
 salutary bark to drive away the disease of spiritual wolves from 
 the flock." Grosseteste, the famous Bishop of Lincoln (1235- 
 54), not only directed the clergy of his huge diocese to preach 
 regularly on Sundays, but he drew up headings of sermons for 
 them. This great bishop, soon after his consecration, went 
 the round of his various archdeaconries, summoning the clergy 
 of each deanery to meet him at a certain church and date, and 
 the people also were warned to attend, that their children might 
 be confirmed, and that they might hear the Word of God and 
 make their confessions. On such occasions, the bishop leaves it 
 on record that " I myself was accustomed to preach the Word of 
 God to the clergy, and some Friar, either Preacher or Minorite, 
 to the people." Somewhat later in this century, Bishop Quivil 
 of Exeter (1280-92) drew up homilies for the use of his clergy, 
 and ordered, under a penalty, that every parish should possess 
 a copy. From about this date onwards, when most of our 
 diocesan episcopal registers begin, official references to preach- 
 ing became frequent. It was in 1281 that Archbishop Peckham 
 put forth his injunctions directing the clergy to expound in the 
 vulgar tongue four times in a year, the Fourteen Articles of 
 Faith with regard to the Holy Trinity and Christ's Humanity, 
 the Ten Commandments, the Two Evangelical Precepts of 
 love to God and man, the Seven Works of Mercy, the Seven 
 Capital Sins, the Seven Virtues, and the Seven Sacraments. It 
 is quite incorrect to imagine that this order meant that there 
 were to be but four sermons in the vernacular each year. In 
 1408 no ordinary secular or religious priest was allowed to 
 preach without the licence of his diocesan ; but the four orders 
 of Friars were authorised to preach in the churchyard, and 
 indeed of common right anywhere. The perpetual curate, how- 
 ever, that is to say the rector, vicar, or licensed incumbent, 
 preached by virtue of his office ; temporary chaplains (or as 
 we should now say " curates ") were restricted to the topics 
 of the 1281 injunctions. 
 
 Before we come to the question of the place where sermons 
 or discourses were delivered within churches, it may be well to 
 offer a few words so as to remove a common misapprehension. 
 In the inimitable Chronicle of Joceline de Brakelond it is 
 recorded under the year 1187, that Abbot Samson, of Bury St
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Coleridge, Devon
 
 4 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Edmunds, was wont to preach to the people in the nave of the 
 great conventual church, from a pulpit which he had caused to 
 be made for that purpose, and that he preached to them not 
 only in the English tongue, but even in the East Anglian dialect 
 (Angltee, sed secundum linguam Norfolckie). The point of this 
 story is, of course, in this great abbot condescending to use the 
 terms of provincial pronunciation best known to his hearers ; 
 just as if one of our present-day gifted scholar-preachers were to 
 use, in a local church, broad Derbyshire or Exmoor " Zummerzet." 
 But the incident is usually cited to show how extremely rare 
 was any preaching in the vernacular ! In reality it means 
 nothing of the kind. In all probability for every sermon 
 preached in Latin throughout England for about a thousand 
 years before the Reformation, at least one hundred were 
 preached in English. Latin was the language both spoken and 
 written by scholars throughout Western Christendom during 
 mediaeval days ; it was a most useful medium of intercom- 
 munication, common to all the European nations, in fact a sort 
 of learned Esperanto after which we are now vainly yearning. 
 There were, too, infinitely strong reasons for its initial adoption 
 as the shrine of a faith wherein the deepest of holy truths were 
 crystallised, reasons which were sound enough in the infancy of 
 coming languages, but have long since lost their efficacy. 
 Naturally enough, from being the receptacle of the inmost 
 conceptions of the Divine Liturgy, the Latin tongue became 
 the essential medium of expressing the teaching both in doctrine 
 and morals of the Crucified, and Latin sermons, when they came 
 to be written, or still later when they came to be printed, were 
 the result. 
 
 Now and again, when the literates or learned were gathered 
 together, sermons were preached in Latin, as they still are before 
 the Convocation of the Church of England. But no one can 
 possibly believe that, when St Augustine and his band of the 
 Roman mission landed on our shores, or when St Aidan came 
 down from the North, they addressed our pagan forefathers 
 in Latin. If so, for all the consequent result, they might just 
 as well have croaked like frogs ! Nowadays, if a man is moved 
 to become a missionary in such a district, say as Central Africa, 
 the very first thing he does in a practical direction is to set to 
 work to learn one or more of the languages of the inhabitants, 
 and the preaching in the native tongue when the rude churches 
 are built, as converts are made, will still for a long time be his 
 chief duty and perchance difficulty. It was the same in the 
 sixth century as it is in the twentieth. 
 
 When Grosseteste, in his decanal visitation, preached to the
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Winchester Cathedral
 
 6 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 assembled clergy, the language was probably Latin, but when 
 one of the friars addressed the people does anyone believe that 
 that tongue was used? It is known from the much later Act 
 Books of our English mediaeval prelates that they or their 
 commissaries were in the habit of preaching in the Chapter 
 House to the inmates of the monasteries at the time of their 
 formal visitation. Occasionally the episcopal scribe set down 
 in the register the actual text taken from the Vulgate, which 
 the bishop used when preaching to the religious of a particular 
 house. Thus Bishop Oulton of Winchester (1333-43), when 
 visiting the great Benedictine nunnery of Nunminster, on 
 9th April 1334, took for his text Deo per omnia placentes, and 
 when visiting the nuns of Romsey Abbey he preached from 
 Qui parati erant, intraverant cum eo ad nuptias. The same 
 bishop, when visiting the Austin canons of Christ Church, 
 addressed them, at a later date, from Ascendente Jesu in navi- 
 culam, secuti sunt eum discipitli ejus, and when at Southwick 
 Priory his text from the gospel was Est puer mine hie qui habet 
 guinque panes hordaceos et duo pisces. 
 
 It is, however, by no means improbable that even when 
 the good bishop was thus addressing the religious, he preached 
 to them in either English or possibly in Norman-French. There 
 is good ground for believing that inability to understand 
 colloquial Latin, or even to master the construction or exact 
 sense of the very canon of the Mass, was by no means unknown 
 amongst the ordinary priesthood, whilst this ignorance was 
 still more marked amongst the women of even the vowed 
 religious. This may be illustrated by two true stories taken from 
 old mediaeval registers, the one sad and the other entertaining. 
 
 When William de Wenda succeeded to the dignity of dean 
 of the new foundation at Salisbury in 1220, he at once pro- 
 ceeded to make a searching visitation of the parishes on the 
 prebendal estates which pertained to the Dean and Chapter. 
 Certain of the outcomings of this tour were deplorable, and 
 loudly called for reformanda. Among the defaults then exposed 
 was the ignorance of certain of the clergy, all of whom were 
 called before the dean to be examined as to their orders and 
 learning. Among them was one Simon, chaplain of a dependent 
 chapel of Sonning, Berks., who had been four years in priest's 
 orders. The dean examined him in the gospel for the first 
 Sunday in Advent, when it was found that he did not under- 
 stand what he read. He was then tested in the opening of the 
 canon of the Mass, Te igitur clementissime Pater rogamus, etc. 
 He had no idea in what case Te was, nor by what it was 
 governed. Requested by the dean to look more closely at the
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Shepton Mallet, Somerset
 
 8 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 words, the chaplain gravely suggested that Te was governed by 
 Pater, because the Father governed all things ! nor could he 
 state the case, or decline the word clementissime, or explain 
 the meaning of clem ens. This was doubtless quite an excep- 
 tional case, but the result of this visitation was the suspension 
 of several other chaplain priests for almost equal ignorance of 
 the Latin that they used. 1 
 
 The other story is about a century later, and has been taken 
 direct from the voluminous Act Books of the energetic Bishop 
 of Lichfield, Roger de Norbury, who ruled over the diocese from 
 1322 to 1358. In the course of a general visitation, soon after 
 his consecration, the bishop paid an official visit to the small 
 Benedictine nunnery of Fairwell, which was only a mile or two 
 from his cathedral city. The priory was surrounded by woods, 
 and was within the limits of the royal forest of Cannock. 
 Among the reformanda issued as the result of this visit, the 
 prioress was warned not to keep any hounds (canes venatici}. 
 Three years later the bishop again visited this house, and was 
 surprised to find certain hunting dogs still kennelled within 
 the precincts of the priory. On remonstrating at this disobedi- 
 ence, the lady superior coolly told his lordship that, after his 
 previous visit, the convent had received a document from 
 Lichfield, but, as they could not read Latin, they did not know 
 what it was all about. As a practical reply, the long-suffering 
 bishop, on his return to Lichfield, sent the prioress another 
 copy of his injunctions in Norman-French. 
 
 It may also be remembered that Giraldus Cambrensis, when 
 speaking of the ignorance of some of the clergy, tells the story 
 of a preacher who described the Canaanitish woman as partly 
 a dog and partly a woman, believing that her name was derived 
 from cants, a dog ! 
 
 The oldest set of sermons preached in England, now extant, 
 are those assigned to the Venerable Bede, who flourished 
 between 672 and 735. They are a proof of the early establish- 
 ment of the custom of preaching on all Sundays and Saints' 
 days. They number twenty-two for Lent, forty-seven in the 
 course of the Church's year, forty-eight on Saints' days, and 
 some twenty very short ones, evidently uttered to country con- 
 gregations. Nearly all the sermons, as was customary for 
 many centuries the sermon being delivered at High Mass 
 were expositions of the gospel for the day. Critics are doubt- 
 ful if all those which appear in the earlier editions are rightly 
 assigned to Bede, but at all events they are all of the age of 
 
 1 Viet. Co. Hist, of Berks., \\. 5-7.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 P. B. B. 
 
 Banwell, Somerset
 
 10 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Bede. It is obvious, on consulting them, that the short popular 
 discourses are so slipshod in style, that they must have been 
 taken down by some admirer or pupil of the preacher. They 
 are all in Latin, but it is simply impossible that they were 
 delivered in that tongue, for Latin was in England of those 
 days just as much a dead language as it is at the present time. 
 
 With regard to the vast mass of mediaeval sermons it may 
 be said, contrary probably to the general belief, that they have 
 one common characteristic, namely, the immense and almost 
 intuitive knowledge of Scripture which their writers possessed. 
 "If anyone, to take the lowest view of the subject, will be at 
 the trouble of comparing the number of references to be found 
 in a modern with those which occur in an ancient sermon, he 
 will find that ten to one is by no means an exaggerated 
 estimate of their relative proportions. Nor is this all. Modern 
 quotations are almost entirely taken from certain books 
 or chapters of the Bible ; the more important portions, as men 
 nowadays irreverently, not to say profanely, call them. The 
 ancient preachers drew their citations from all parts of Scripture 
 alike ; equally imbued with the spirit of all, it was impossible 
 that they should quote otherwise than according to analogy. 1 
 
 It is not, however, a matter of guess-work or deduction to 
 assert that Bede used the vulgar tongue when instructing our 
 forefathers in the rudiments or mysteries of the faith. The 
 great preacher himself, in a letter to Egbert, lays down the 
 principle that it is best to preach in Latin to those who could 
 grasp its meaning, but that those who only understand their 
 mother tongue were to be addressed in the vernacular (sua lingua] ; 
 doubtless the early preaching in the vulgar tongue would be in 
 the main extemporary, for the niceties of expression could 
 scarcely be rendered in a barbarous and unformed language. 
 The taking down a sermon during delivery, in writing by an 
 official notary, or by a private admirer of the preacher, was a 
 recognised habit of the Church three centuries before the days of 
 Bede. Gregory Nazienzen, who died in 389, in his valedictory 
 discourse, says : " Farewell, ye lovers of my sermons ; farewell, 
 ye pens, both public and private." 
 
 Students of the Councils of the Church, whether general, 
 continental, or insular, are well aware of the continued insistence 
 of the bishops upon the importance of frequent preaching 
 and the use of the vernacular. But as popular ideas in the 
 opposite direction are so deeply ingrained, it may be well to cite 
 one or two striking early instances. The twenty-fourth Canon 
 
 1 Neale's Mediaeval Preaching (1856), xxv.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 II 
 
 F H. C. 
 
 Bovey Tracey, Devon
 
 12 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 of the Council of Carthage, held in 398, enjoins that all persons 
 leaving the church during sermon time shall be excommunicated. 
 The English Council of Cloveshoe of 747, orders priests to learn 
 to construe and expound the Our Father, the Creed, and all the 
 solemn parts of the Mass and Holy Baptism in the vulgar tongue. 
 The Council of Aries, of the year 813, insists on sermons on all 
 Sundays and festivals, not only in city churches, but in those of 
 country parishes ; whilst the Council of Mayence, of the same 
 year, lays special stress on preaching in the vernacular. 
 
 As the Anglo-Saxon language became more formulated, 
 some of our great prelates and preachers did not hesitate to 
 write out their religious instructions in that language. Thus 
 /Elfric the Grammarian, Archbishop of Canterbury from 995 to 
 1005, left behind him eighty Anglo-Saxon homilies. Amongst 
 others who in this particular followed his example were yElfric, 
 Archbishop of York from 1023-51, and Wulfstan, Bishop of 
 Worcester, who died in 1023. 
 
 The laity, too, appear to have been distinctly attached to 
 preaching, and to the length and frequency of sermons both 
 in the earlier and later mediaeval days, a liking which is usually 
 attributed solely to Puritans or those of post-Reformation days. 
 From various incidental references that we have gleaned upon 
 this point, we are content to cite two. The late Prebendary 
 Randolph cites one instance at Colyton, Devon, where the 
 questmen, at a visitation of Bishop Stapleton (1308-26), 
 complained of the rarity and brevity of their vicar's preaching. 
 " It was not of the quality they complained, for after all it was 
 his best, and he was a good man, but he stinted quantity, nor 
 would he admit the preaching friars to eke out his insufficiency 
 as his predecessors had done." 1 Two centuries later the laity 
 of Durham must have shown a strong devotion to sermons ; 
 for the Rites of Durham tell us that the monks were wont 
 to preach every Sunday afternoon from one o'clock to three 
 in the Galilee chapel at the west end of the great cathedral 
 church ; for their own sake, we cannot help hoping that this was 
 done by a system of relays. 
 
 The grammar-school masters of Oxford, in the first half 
 of the fourteenth century, were instructed to insist on their 
 scholars talking either in Latin or French, as Mr A. F. Leach 
 reminds us. This illustrates a striking passage in Higden's 
 Polychronicon, written in 1327, wherein he says that the corrup- 
 tion of the English language of his day, of which he complains, 
 " comes chiefly from two things, viz., that boys in school, contrary 
 
 1 Neivberry House Magazine, Feb. 1890.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Pilton, Devon
 
 14 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 to the custom of all other nations, since the first coming of 
 the Normans, abandoning their own tongue, are compelled 
 to converse in French ; and also that noblemen's sons from 
 their very cradles are taught the French idiom ; and that 
 countrymen wishing to be like them, that so they may appear 
 more respectable, endeavour to Frenchify themselves with all 
 their might" 
 
 Archbishop Peckham, as visitor of Merton in 1271 "seeing 
 that the clerks of England for the most part stutter and stammer 
 in talking Latin," ordered that the grammar pupils should be 
 obliged to talk in Latin, and that certain specified Latin works 
 should be procured and chained on a desk for their study. 
 
 It may perhaps be as well, in this opening section, to bring 
 the matter of preaching and of preaching in the vulgar tongue 
 to the later days of the mediaeval period, and even to the eve of 
 the Reformation. To avoid discursiveness this had better be 
 done by the citation of one or two pertinent facts illustrative of 
 many more that might be adduced. 
 
 The Acts of a Synod, held by Bishop Langham at Ely. in 
 1 364, order every parish priest to preach frequently, and to ex- 
 pound the Ten Commandments, etc., in English, or as the 
 original has it, in idiomate comnmni. 
 
 It is recorded of Edmund Lacy, when he was installed 
 Bishop of Exeter on Mid-Lent Sunday, 1472, that he gave a 
 great feast, and on the morrow visited the church, and preached a 
 good sermon in Latin in the Chapter House. On the following 
 Wednesday, being the Annunciation, he preached in English 
 in the pulpit before all the choir and the people of the city of 
 Exeter. 1 
 
 In 1447, William Plympton, a Dominican friar, was licensed 
 to preach at Otford, Kent, on a special occasion, in vulgari, by 
 the prior and convent of Canterbury when the see was vacant.' 2 
 
 In 1486, Prior William Sellyng, on behalf of himself and 
 the convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, sede vacante, granted 
 a licence to Thomas Goldstone, authorising him to preach, 
 latine vel vulgari, clero et populo, in all lawful places within the 
 province of Canterbury. 3 
 
 The witness, too, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 
 of the numerous manuals issued to help the clergy in carrying 
 out the injunction of 1281 as to definite instruction in the 
 vernacular in the main tenets of the Christian faith, is not a 
 little remarkable, and points to the reality of the teaching 
 
 1 Hist. MSS. Com., Var. Coll., iv. 46. 
 
 2 Hist. MSS. Com. Kept., v. 430. 
 
 3 Hist. MSS. Com. Refit., v. 430.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Harberton, Devon
 
 16 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 and preaching in many a parish. The invention of printing 
 towards the close of the latter century made the multiplication 
 of such manuals a comparatively easy matter; the printing of 
 Archbishop Peckham's Constitution was at once undertaken, as 
 well as several glosses upon it. In 1466 a synod of the province 
 of York, under Archbishop Neville, not only insisted upon the 
 observance of these essentially definite instructions, but set out, 
 at considerable length, the method in which the parish priests 
 had best use this work, so as to improve the lives of those com- 
 mitted to their charge. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the force of language used in 
 these manuals respecting the value of preaching and instruction, 
 not only as to the bounden duty of the priest to be a faithful 
 expounder of the Word of God, but as to the faithful attendance 
 of the laity at such ministration. Neglect of sermon-hearing was 
 made a question of conscience in preparing for Confession, as 
 manuscript as well as printed sources plainly prove, and this 
 some years before the separation from Rome. 1 
 
 Richard Whitford, the Monk of Zion, in his popular Work 
 for Householders, first published in 1330, after instructing the 
 householder how to bring up the young and those under him, to 
 be devout at the Sunday Mass, with their eyes on their books 
 and beads, goes on to estimate the sermon even higher than the 
 Mass. " If there be a sermon any time of the day let them be 
 present, all that are not occupied in needful or lawful business ; 
 all other occupations laid aside, let them ever keep the preachings 
 rather than the Mass, if, perchance, they may not hear both." 
 Other manuals, at least a dozen, express themselves with equal 
 definiteness on the danger of neglecting or despising oral in- 
 structions and sermons, among which may be mentioned The 
 Myrrour of the CJiurch, Exornatorium Curatoriuin, and The 
 Interpretatyon and Sygnyfycacyon of t/ie Masse, printed in 1532. 
 Probably only one other quotation is necessary to drive home 
 the literal truth of this present contention. It shall be taken 
 from Dives et Pauper, which appears to have been by far the 
 most popular book of religious instruction in England, first 
 brought out in the middle of the fifteenth century. 
 
 The author of this tractate, in addition to other strong 
 passages of a like nature, writes thus : " As St Anselm saith 
 God's Word ought to be worshipped as much as Christ's Body, 
 and he sins as much who hindereth God's Word or taketh it 
 recklessly, as he that despiseth God's Body, or through his negli- 
 gence letteth it fall to the ground. ... It is more profitable to 
 
 1 HarL MSS., B. Mus. 172, f. 12, and 115, fif. 51, 53.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Mellor, Derbyshire
 
 1 8 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 hear God's Word in preaching than to hear a Mass, and that a 
 man should rather forbear his Mass than his sermon. For, by 
 preaching, folks are stirred to contrition, to forsake sin and the 
 fiend, and to love God and goodness, and by it they may be 
 illumined to know their God, and virtue from vice, truth from 
 falsehood, or to forsake errors and heresies. By the Mass they 
 are not so, for if they come to Mass in sin they go away in sin. 
 Nevertheless the Mass profiteth them that are in grace to get 
 grace and forgiveness of sin. . . . Both are good, but the 
 preaching of God's Word ought to be more discharged and 
 more to be desired than the hearing of Mass." 1 
 
 Bishop Veysey, on /th September 1536, wrote a severe letter 
 of reprimand to the President and Chapter of Exeter, asking if 
 it was possibly true that there was no canon present to preach 
 either on the Feast of the Assumption or on the following Sunday, 
 and that they had not even provided a substitute preacher. He 
 insisted on the canons fulfilling their duty as preachers. In 
 February 1538 the bishop acknowledged a letter from the 
 Chapter sending their preachers' names from Septuagesima until 
 Good Friday, and recommending the preachers to make use of 
 the new treatise called the Institution of a Christian Ulan,-' 
 " late consevyd by a greate number as ye know of the most 
 famous clerks of this realm, wherein ye shall finde mater 
 sufficient to preach of, on especiall in the articles of our 
 Faythe, the seven Sacraments, the petitions of our Pater Noster 
 and Ave, and of the Ten Commandementes." 3 
 
 SECONDARY USE OF THE PULPIT 
 
 In addition to the use of the pulpit in the English mediaeval 
 Church for the general delivery of the instruction or the sermon, 
 and particularly of the exposition of the gospel which followed 
 the reading or singing of it at the High Mass, there were several 
 particular uses of it which ought here to be enumerated. The 
 most important of these was the reading of the Bede Roll. 
 
 The Bede Roll or the Bidding of Bedes was of two kinds, 
 the general and particular, though as a rule the latter was 
 preceded by the former and delivered from the pulpit every 
 Sunday, and usually on the chief festivals. The Bidding Prayer 
 took its name from the priest bidding the people pray for all 
 
 1 On the subject of such manuals, several of a far earlier date than those 
 cited, see Cutts' Parish Priests and their People, chaps, xiv., xv. 
 
 2 First published in May 1537, by the King's authority, but usually called 
 The Bishop J Book. 
 
 3 Hist. MSS. Com., Var. Coll., iv. 8, 59.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 Nantwich, Cheshire
 
 20 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 sorts and conditions of men, mentioning the pope, the metro- 
 politan, the bishop, the parish priests " having care of mannes 
 soule," and including in the temporality the king and queen, 
 etc., corresponding in most respects to the prayer for the Church 
 Militant in our modern Prayer Book. Then the priest specially 
 commended to the people's prayers, either for their souls or their 
 good estate, all particular benefactors "that have honoured the 
 church wyth light, lamp, vestment, or bell, or any ornaments by 
 the vvhyche the service of Almighty God is the better main- 
 tained and kept." The spirit of this is still maintained in the 
 remembrance of past benefactors in the Bidding Prayer before 
 University and other special sermons. 
 
 For the due reciting of the Bede Roll, it was customary for 
 the parish priest to receive an annual gratuity, which also 
 included the registering of new names on the parchment roll. 
 The usual fee in this respect at St Edmund's, Salisbury, where 
 the wardens' accounts begin in 1464, was 45. per annum. The 
 following long entry occurs under 1499-1500 in this parish : 
 
 "Giftes for names to be put in the bede roll in this yere. It. 
 received of the gift of Robert South Gent at the namys of hym Alys 
 his wiffe their faders and their moders be set in the bede rolle of 
 the seide Churche of Seynt Edmunde that the pepulle then beying 
 present may pray for the Sowlys Amongiste all Crystyn every Sonday 
 when the parishe preste rehersithe tham then in all 405. Of the gyft 
 of Stephyn Walwyn, and Katerine his wif a vestment for the pryst 
 of Crymson Velvet with alle thapparelle at their namys be put in the 
 same bede rolle for like cause." 
 
 The accounts clerk for 1500-1501 duly entered the heading 
 Nomina in le bede rolle hoc A" registrata, but he had to add, 
 NulTquia nemo hoc Anno desideravit, 
 
 The payment for the Bede Roll in the Somerset parish of 
 Tintinhull was very trifling for 1477-78. 
 
 " For the bedrowyll to the prest at iiij times xijd." 
 
 There are various entries under this head in the accounts 
 of St Mary-at-Hill, London city: 
 
 1477-79. T the parish preste to Remember in the pulpite the 
 sowl of Richard Eliot which gave to the Churche 
 works vjs. viiid. - ijd. 
 
 1489-90. To Mr John Redy, parish priest, for rehersing of the 
 
 bede roll - - viijd. 
 
 1490-91. To Mr John Redy for the Rehersing of the names of 
 Founders of the chauntryes in the bede roll for a 
 hole yer at Michelmas - xvjd. 
 
 149899. For making of a tabyll for the beyd Roll ijd. 
 
 1529-42. To Mr Alen for the Bede Rowle of the Church ijs.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 21 
 
 c 
 
 _. 
 rt
 
 22 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Occasionally the definite mention of benefactors went back 
 a long way. Thus the Bede Roll of St Michael's, Cornhill, ran 
 thus, early in the sixteenth century : 
 
 "Ye must pray for Richard Atfield, sometime parish parson of this 
 church, for he with the consent of the Bishop ordained and established 
 Mattins, High Mass, and Evensong to be sung daily in the year 1375." 
 
 In addition to sermons, instructions, and Bede Rolls, the 
 mediaeval pulpit was made the vehicle, when the public press 
 was unknown, of giving forth of all kinds of authoritative 
 announcements of an ecclesiastical, semi-ecclesiastical, or purely 
 civil character. The three several declarations of the banns of 
 marriage were read from the pulpit, and notices of coming 
 feasts and fasts declared. The Council of Oxford ordered that 
 parish priests were to warn people from their pulpits of the duty 
 of bringing their children to confirmation ; some time previous 
 to this Bishop Wykeham instructed them to give notice of this 
 when warning them of a coming episcopal visitation. 
 
 Another matter of fairly common occurrence was the publi- 
 cation from the same place of a grant of spiritual favour from 
 the bishop, usually in the form of an indulgence, to all who 
 should help on a specified good work, usually of an ecclesiastical, 
 but sometimes of a secular character. The Lichfield episcopal 
 registers open with that of Bishop Walter Langton (1296-1323). 
 Among his earliest acts was assistance offered to John Percy, 
 who was collecting money for the repair or rebuilding of an 
 important bridge at Colwich. The bishop requested all parish 
 priests to explain the matter from their pulpits, to show that it 
 was a work of charity, and to say that all who contributed in 
 any way should have forty days of indulgence. A like 
 assistance was granted to bridge-building by several of his 
 successors in the same diocese, notably by Bishop Bolars (1453- 
 59), when the bridges of Wolsey, Packington, \Veston-on-Trent, 
 Yoxall, Oreton, and Aston were thus aided. Reverting for a 
 moment to another subject, it may be remarked that this bishop, 
 in 1455, offered a forty days' indulgence to every one who would 
 listen to the sermons of a canon of Haughmond Abbey, who was 
 to preach throughout the diocese in either Latin or English. 
 But the majority of such indulgences, whilst a minority gave 
 relief to individuals in personal distress, were to encourage sub- 
 scriptions to architectural repairs from the greatest to the 
 humblest. Bishop Walter Langton, at another time, ordered 
 all parish priests to publish, " at the time of their sermons and 
 exhortations," his indulgence to all who would visit the cathedral 
 church of Lichfield, and contribute to the building of the spires.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS
 
 24 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Space would not permit enumerating a tenth of the subjects 
 in connection with which pulpit utterances or announcements, 
 many of a litigious character, were associated. But in one 
 important national point, successive kings and their councils 
 largely availed themselves of the pulpits of the Established 
 Church. Bishop Trellick of Hereford's register (1322-62) affords 
 examples of the way in which the clergy were directed by the 
 Crown, through their bishops, to give notice of striking events 
 from their pulpits, arid to invite prayers to excite the fears or 
 the patriotism of the populace. Within a short period of Edward 
 III.'s reign, Bishop Trellick had to forward instructions to his 
 clergy as to the line they were to take with regard to the dread felt 
 before the battle of Crecy, the reports of a treacherous attack on 
 Calais, the alarm as to the presence of the Spanish fleet before 
 the battle of Winchester, and the crowning glory of Poictiers. 
 
 Nowhere was the alarm greater, as the awful Black Death 
 of 1348-49 approached England, than in the sea-girt district 
 of Hampshire. Bishop Edington of Winchester made every 
 possible spiritual preparation against its ravages, using most 
 exceptional and pathetic language in his instructions. One of 
 his directions is not a little singular. Some turbulent folk in 
 the city of Winchester resisted Church services at the burial of 
 some of the victims. The bishop would not permit burial in 
 unconsecrated ground, but he enlarged graveyards and con- 
 secrated new ones. Further, he ordered the Prior of Winchester 
 and the Abbot of Hyde to cause sermons to be preached on the 
 Resurrection of the Body, fearing that in those grievous times 
 there might be some open repudiation of the Church's faith. 
 
 The great Bishop Wykeham's orderly register abounds in 
 directions for special prayers for particular events, mostly issued 
 in response to a privy seal from the Crown ; they are so 
 numerous that a mere recitation of them would cover several 
 pages. The point here to be made is that on various occasions 
 he ordered the attention of the faithful to be roused by sermons 
 as well as by Masses and processions. Perhaps the most note- 
 worthy was that sent forth by Wykeham on 3Oth May 1375, 
 after the defeat off Rochelle, which he described as " a time of 
 shame and suffering such as England had never known." l 
 
 The mediaeval Church was by no means free from occasional 
 brawls in church, wherein the pulpit played a part. The small 
 church of Mellor, in North Derbyshire, possesses the most 
 remarkable of old oak pulpits in England, and there is a curious 
 story about the chapel and this very piece of furniture (17). 
 
 1 See Viet. Co. Hist, of Hants, ; ii. 42-4.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS
 
 26 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Among Sir George O. Wombwell's MSS., at Newburgh 
 Priory, are various papers relative to prolonged lawsuits between 
 Robert Pilkington and John Ainsworth, in 1496-98, as to the 
 ejection of some tenants on the ground of wood trespass. 
 Amongst them is a memorandum as to the felling of a large 
 number of valuable trees in Mellor township by " Sir Perys Legh 
 Knyght," including " an aspe (aspen) to make arrowys of won the 
 fayrest that tyme in all Derbyschyre." This was done on Thursday 
 in Whitsun week, 1498, and " on the Sunday afore midsumer day 
 the Knight sent his servant to Mellur chapel, & causyd the prest 
 to say in pylpyd after the prayers . . . that the said Knyght was 
 nolle aggreyed with the partese for the said trees that he had fallen 
 in Mellur," and protested that he had done no wrong to Robert 
 Pilkington. " Then the said Robert herd tell of this sclaundur & 
 saying in Mellur chapel aforesaid & was sore asstoynd & grevyd 
 there with & come to the same chapell ye Sonday next after 
 saynt Peter day then next ensewyng, & when the prest had 
 bedyn the pryers in the pylpyt the said Robert stole up in the 
 chaunsell & speke on loude that all the pepull myght here hym 
 & prayed them all to bere hym recorde anothere tyme what his 
 saynges was at that tyme." Pilkington then proceeded to set 
 forth at length his version of the tree felling ; but with the strife 
 itself we have here no further concern.
 
 PREACHING AND PULPITS 
 
 .^.."U.i^ki.JUliull 11 in" ."\~.>. j^^ - .__ 
 
 ^^= "*-- --trr --O" . 
 
 '^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 y^^^^m^^^} ( 
 
 KL ,^Jj 
 
 j 1 1 1' :---* ^--^1 ?r-;|r ^44, 
 
 ^PS^SEl^S 
 
 v v >- y "^ i^: -~' r In irff^-ftr j r ii]L-Z> ^ 
 
 ^^^s^^S^^^iwS^^^^^ 1 
 
 . . j. 
 
 i/r 
 
 St Peter, Wolverhampton
 
 28 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE PULPIT PROPER 
 
 IN mediaeval days the word pulpitum was usually applied, but 
 by no means invariably, to the substantial screen shutting off the 
 nave in monastic, minster, and collegiate churches from the choir. 
 From this elevation there is evidence that occasionally the sermon 
 was delivered. It gradually came to be used to signify the 
 panelled erection, with a book-desk or lectern, at the west side 
 of the screen, from which the sermon was delivered. The 
 ambon from the Greek word to mount, because it was 
 ascended by steps, and usually termed ambo because there 
 were generally two was the elevated stand or tribunal from 
 which the gospel was read, or if there were two, the gospel and 
 the epistle. The position varied, but, for the most part, the 
 gospel ambon was on the north side, and the epistle ambon 
 on the south. St Christopher, St Ambrose, and St Augustine 
 were in the habit of preaching from the ambon. The ambo 
 ritual seems never to have had an exact place in the English 
 Church ; the nearest approach to it is the fine stone pulpit 
 example at Nantwich, which is, as it were, a south ambon 
 combined with and projecting from the low stone screen that 
 protects the chancel (19). 
 
 We know, also, that early preachers, especially in small 
 churches, sometimes used the altar steps, and more frequently 
 the chancel steps, as is still the case in many English churches 
 at missions and less formal occasions. It need not be supposed, 
 because of the absence of pulpits of either the twelfth or thir- 
 teenth centuries, that there was therefore any dearth of preach- 
 ing during that period. Viollet le Due was of opinion, judging 
 from pictures in old MSS., that the pulpits of those days were 
 light movable constructions of wood, which were very likely to 
 perish or be destroyed when more imposing and fixed pulpits 
 came into fashion. The same is true of England : even as 
 late as the days of Archbishop Arundel of Canterbury, 1396- 
 1414, that prelate is represented as preaching from a movable
 
 THE PULPIT PROPER 
 
 2 9
 
 3O PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 wooden pulpit. 1 Such pulpits were in early days kept in the 
 Chapter Houses of St Augustine, Canterbury, and of Bury St 
 Edmunds, and brought out when required. There used to be 
 one at Norwich Cathedral, and they still exist at Hereford 
 Cathedral, and at King's College chapel, Cambridge. Within 
 living memory there was one at Granchester, Cambridgeshire. 2 
 
 Nor must outdoor pulpits be forgotten. They used to be 
 associated with the cathedrals of Norwich, Worcester, and 
 London, the last-named being the famous " Paul's Cross." There 
 is a celebrated one in the outer court of Magdalen College, 
 Oxford, c. 1480, from which the University Sermon was formerly 
 preached on St John Baptist's Day ; the example of the 
 Dominicans at Hereford is canopied (21). Among the many 
 instances which occur abroad, those at Vitre, St Lo, Brittany, 
 Laon, Strasburg, and Perugia may be mentioned ; from the last 
 of these St Bernardino used to preach. 3 
 
 Fixed pulpits were usually constructed of wood, and not 
 infrequently of stone. The extant mediaeval examples in both 
 these materials are fully dealt with in subsequent chapters. A 
 third material, still in use on the Continent, is metal. There is 
 an old iron pulpit at the cathedral of Bruges, and Street, in his 
 Gothic Architecture in Spain, tells us of several later examples. 
 The Rites of Durham tells us that there was an iron pulpit in 
 the Galilee : 
 
 " Adjoining unto the lower part of the great window in the west 
 end of the Galilee was a fair iron pulpit, with bars of iron for one to 
 hold them by, going up the steps unto the pulpit, where one of the 
 monks did come every holy day and Sunday to preach, at one o'clock in 
 the afternoon." 
 
 The position of the pulpit varied greatly, and would-be 
 learned wiseacres have often moved mediaeval examples to 
 place them in the " correct " position. But the student of 
 pulpits knows full well that there was no correct position. 
 Generally they stood on one side or the other of the chancel 
 screen, but were occasionally attached to a pier on either side of 
 the nave. There is no necessity for imagining that our fore- 
 fathers treated the pulpit position as a matter of caprice ; they 
 
 1 Harl. MSS., 1319 ; reproduced in Strutt's Antiquities (1793), p. 45. 
 
 2 The present writer has several times preached from a movable pulpit 
 at Helmsley, N.R. Yorks., placed occasionally in the nave during Lent, etc., 
 as the regular pulpit is so far off from most of the seats. 
 
 3 Of recent years several open-air pulpits have been constructed, as at 
 St James's, Piccadilly, and St Mary's, Whitechapel.
 
 THE PULPIT PROPER
 
 32 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 were probably guided by common sense applicable to the time 
 of their erection, taking, for instance, into account the interference 
 of chantry enclosures with a general congregation. It is some- 
 times said that the proper place for the pulpit was on the south 
 side, because that was the more honourable side, being the side 
 of the men ; but there is rather more to be said for the north, 
 for that was usually the gospel side. As a matter of fact, when 
 the original position has been maintained, or can be traced, the 
 English pulpit more often stood on the north side, though in 
 no very marked degree. In Dollman's treatise on old English 
 pulpits, twenty-two are described and illustrated, some of stone, 
 and some of wood ; of these, sixteen are on the north side, and 
 six on the south. 1 
 
 The mediaeval pulpit was clearly intended to be a centre of 
 attraction, for the best of sculpture and of carving was often 
 employed in its construction. Moreover, vivid colouring was 
 frequently used in both stone and wood examples, many traces 
 of which have been found, and though usually removed, the 
 original colour has sometimes been retained or somewhat 
 renewed. Of stone colouring, Cheddar maintains the most 
 striking instance ; of wood, the Norfolk examples of Burnham 
 Norton and Burlingham St Andrew maybe mentioned, together 
 with those of Southwold, Suffolk, and Burford, Oxon. (23). 
 
 The ascent to a pulpit and its height from the floor level 
 used to be a matter of importance, and was obviously dictated 
 by the size and plan of the fabric. In the great majority of 
 cases, crude restorations have destroyed or neglected these old 
 levels, and have frequently committed the absurdity of placing 
 mediaeval pulpits of wood on clumsy stone bases. A war has 
 been specially waged on old steps or stairways. There is just 
 one old stone pulpit stairway left of singularly fine treatment, 
 namely that of St Peter's, Wolverhampton (27). In a few cases 
 wall stairways, like those to refectory pulpits, occur in parish 
 churches ; e.g., at Chipping Sudbury, Gloucestershire, and at 
 Holton, Nailsea, and Weston-in-Gordano, Somerset (29). 
 
 Occasionally, too, as at Staunton and Cold Ashton, 
 Gloucestershire, an opening from the rood-loft stairs served 
 as access to the pulpit (29). At Walpole St Andrew, Norfolk, 
 there is the quite exceptional feature of a wide stone bracket 
 projecting over the lower doorway of the rood-loft, which in all 
 probability used to support a wooden pulpit ; the panel over the 
 
 1 The only printed work on old English pulpits is that by T. T. Dollman, 
 entitled Examples of Ancient Pulpits (1849) ; a second series was projected, 
 but never issued.
 
 THE PULPIT PROPER 33 
 
 bracket is now blocked up, but it used to open from the stair- 
 case (21). 
 
 The old wooden stairs or steps for mounting pulpits have 
 almost entirely perished or been destroyed. We only know of 
 a single instance where the original ornamental steps remain, 
 namely, at East Hagbourne, Berks. (31). These oak pulpits, 
 usually of octagonal or hexagonal plan, with panelled sides, are 
 for the most part supported by slender shafts or stems, but occa- 
 sionally the bases are continued after the plan of the pulpit 
 proper, as at Lutterworth, or in the later instance at St Ives, 
 Cornwall (51). Now and again the panelling is continued right 
 down from the cornice to the base, as at Hannington, Northants, 
 or Affpuddle, Dorset (67). 
 
 At Wendens Ambo, Essex, and in the south pulpit of 
 Worstead, 1 Norfolk, the buttresses between the panels are 
 continued downwards, as plain squared parts to raise the pulpit 
 some short distance above the floor level (34, 31). 
 
 The prevalent notion that mediaeval pulpits were exceptional 
 in English churches is completely disproved by a study of parish 
 accounts. Almost all those of pre- Reformation date contain 
 entries relative to repairs of pulpits, often of quite a trivial 
 character, at the cost of a few pence. The following are some 
 entries, selected from many others, of a large expenditure in the 
 same direction : 
 
 1458 (Arlington, Sussex). Et ijs. iiijd. ob. p' faciend' de la 
 
 pulpitte. 
 1478-80 (St Margaret, Westminster). For a pulpite in the Chirche 
 
 Yerde agenst the preching of Doctour Penkey ijs. viijd. 
 1447-48 ( Yatton, Somerset). Vor the makyng of the pulpyt iijs. iiijd. 
 1503-04 (St Mary -at -Hilt). To John bull for hys labyr for 
 
 makkyng the pulppet ixs. viijd. 
 
 To hys man for xiij dayys wark to the sam - xiiijs. iiijd. 
 
 For Nayllys to the sam pulppet ijd. 
 
 [Other items for fixing it 25. 7^d.] 
 1517-18. Resc' of M r Doctor for the olde pulpet that stode in 
 
 the chirch vs. 
 
 More than one writer, who ought to have known better, in 
 his attempt to show that pulpits and preachments were flowers 
 of Reformation growth, has brought forward with triumph the 
 
 1 At Worstead there are two mediaeval pulpits, north and south of the 
 chancel entrance, with similar beautifully traceried panels, an interesting 
 reminiscence of the ambo. But during an ill-considered restoration the 
 one to the north was much " improved," and raised considerably on a stone 
 pedestal. 
 
 5
 
 34 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS
 
 THE PULPIT PROPER 35 
 
 argument that pulpits are never catalogued in the inventories 
 of Church Goods temp. Edward VI. True, but neither are altars, 
 fonts, or screens ! Moreover the reports of some of these Church 
 Goods Commissioners, who superintended the pillage and 
 stripping of the parish churches, actually bear witness to the 
 universality of pulpits. For instance, the Surrey Commissioners 
 report that " certain lynen for the furniture of the Communion 
 table, the fourmes and pulpitts were necessarily left in every 
 parish churche of every hundredth within the countie of Surrey."
 
 3 6 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 THERE are upwards of sixty stone pulpits of pre-Reformation 
 date throughout the parish churches of England. They are 
 chiefly to be found in the counties of Somerset, Gloucester, and 
 Devon. In one or two instances these stone pulpits are of the 
 close of the fourteenth century, but otherwise they are almost 
 entirely of fifteenth-century date. 
 
 These stone pulpits are usually of some fine grained, easily 
 worked white stone such as Painswick or Bath, which was 
 readily procurable in the shires just mentioned. In the follow- 
 ing lists they are set forth in county order. 
 
 Mention, however, should first be made of a few earlier 
 examples of thirteenth-century stone pulpits to be found in 
 connection with the conventual buildings of religious houses. 
 
 From quite early days it was the custom for the Scripture or 
 some sacred book to be read aloud during meal time in monastic 
 refectories. For the convenience of the reader, and to secure a 
 better hearing for his voice, it was usual for a pulpit to be 
 constructed at some little height in the thickness of the walls, to 
 which access was gained by a stairway. Good instances of these 
 readers' pulpits remain in the refectories of the abbeys of 
 Beaulieu and Shrewsbury, and in those attached to the cathedral 
 cloisters of Carlisle and Chester. 1 The best of these is at Beaulieu, 
 where the great refectory of the monks stands in good condition 
 on the south side of the cloister garth. The building is a fine 
 example of advanced Early English, c. 1250. The pulpit is a 
 beautiful piece of work in the centre of the west side. It is 
 entered by a wall stairway with an open arcade and groined roof. 
 The actual pulpit is supported by a semi-octagonal stone corbel 
 richly carved with foliated work. The specially interesting point 
 about this readers' pulpit is that it is still in use for the delivery 
 of sermons, for the whole of the refectory building was 
 appropriated some time ago to be the parish church of Beaulieu. 
 
 1 C. 1270. Fully illustrated in Dollman's Pulpits.
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 37 
 
 Dittisham, Devon
 
 38 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 It can therefore claim to be the only example of a church pulpit 
 of Early English design left in England. 
 
 BERKSHIRE. From Mr Brabant's recent Little Guide (1911), 
 we much regret to learn that the curious small stone pulpit 
 projecting from the wall in the south transept of Childrey church, 
 which was approached by a doorway from behind, has of late 
 years been cleared away. 
 
 CAMBRIDGESHIRE has several interesting and striking pulpits. 
 There is one of stone at Witcham ; it is massive and of early 
 Perpendicular date, c. 1420. The original stone steps were 
 recently disclosed. 
 
 CHESHIRE possesses a single very fine example of a stone 
 pulpit at Nantwich ; it is attached to the north-east pier of the 
 tower, and is approached from the nave, and is of Late Decorated 
 character, and distinct beauty. It is enriched with panelling 
 and tracery, and is slightly embattled round the upper part. 
 When Sir Stephen Glynne was here, about 1840, he describes 
 the pulpit as " unhappily disused, and half concealed," but it has 
 since undergone a small amount of careful restoration (19). 
 
 CORNWALL possesses two late mediaeval pulpits of stone. The 
 thirteenth-century pulpit of Egloshayle is formed of Caen stone ; 
 the panels are carved with emblems of the Passion, but it has 
 unfortunately been not a little spoilt by heedless enlargement 
 at the time of restoration, in 1867. There is another of like 
 date and material, which now stands meaningless and unused, 
 in the south choir aisle of the modern church of St Paul, Truro, 
 which was built in 1848. This pulpit is of octagonal plan, and 
 stands on an octagonal panelled stone. Each panel is sculptured 
 with a repeated design, apparently a monstrance. It used to 
 stand on the north side of the nave, but was disastrously removed 
 during a restoration of I884. 1 
 
 It is somewhat surprising to find that the county of DEVON 
 so justly celebrated for the beautiful woodwork of its old 
 
 1 There is some degree of mystery attached to this pulpit. It was pro- 
 nounced to be medieval when carefully examined in 1909 by the writer, in 
 company with two experienced archaeologists, and again in 191 1. The vicar, 
 who has been there since 1897, knew nothing about it, and other local 
 antiquaries were puzzled as to its date. A drawing of it appears in English 
 Church Furniture, p. 123. In March 1913, Mr Mitchell Whitley, a former 
 Honorary Secretary of the Royal Institute of Cornwall, wrote to me saying 
 that the pulpit was an 1848 gift by Mr William Tweedy of Alverton, Truro, 
 and is supposed by some to be modern. Further inquiries produce a story 
 of its having been recovered out of a wreck from Normandy, with other 
 somewhat wild particulars.
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 39
 
 4O PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 churches, possesses several late mediaeval stone pulpits, some 
 of which are elaborately sculptured. Its ten examples are of 
 octagonal plan, with one exception. South Molton appears 
 to be the oldest, c. 1450. It is beautifully carved throughout, and 
 stands on a well-panelled stem and has statuettes of apostles 
 under canopied niches. When first seen by the writer in the 
 sixties of last century much original painting remained, of which 
 some traces are still extant. Bovey Tracey pulpit is not much 
 later in date, and is still more elaborately treated ; the panels 
 are sculptured into two tiers of small canopied saints, representing 
 St Peter, St Paul, St Andrew, St James, St Margaret, St George, 
 and the Four Evangelists ; the whole is richly coloured and 
 gilt, being carefully restored about 1887 (i i). The stone pulpit of 
 Paignton is somewhat more clumsily sculptured ; there is a row 
 of quatrefoils below each of the panels ; the central panel bears 
 the Rood, with small figures of the Blessed Virgin and St John 
 on brackets at either side ; the other mutilated figures are 
 perhaps intended for the Evangelists. Totnes has a stone 
 octagonal pulpit of simple design ; the six divisions (one side is 
 fixed against the pier, and another forms the entrance) are each 
 divided into two tiers of panels with cinquefoil heads. When 
 described and illustrated (PI. xv.) by Dollman, he remarked : 
 " Modern wisdom has thought fit to paint and grain the pulpit 
 in imitation of oak." It is known that the adjacent stone screen 
 was erected by the Corporation in 1559-60, and this is probably 
 the date of the pulpit, though Dollman considered it to be c. 1 500. 
 The remarkable stone pulpit of Dartmouth is peculiar in several 
 respects ; it is of exceptional design, being heptagonal in plan ; 
 the coarse size of the foliage in the upper part and on the 
 pilasters between the panels is anything but effective ; the small 
 leaf work round the top, and the ornaments round each of the 
 crocketed niches, are of wood, and were placed here in the 
 Laudian days of Charles I., the initials C. R. being in one of the 
 panels. These ornaments represent respectively the portcullis, 
 lion, rose, thistle, fleur-de-lis, and harp,and are each surmounted by 
 a crown. 1 The sculpture of the pulpit is c. 1530 (Frontispiece). 
 Pilton has a well-carved stone pulpit ; each panel has double 
 niches and a row of quatrefoils below ; it is c. 1450 ; there is a 
 Jacobean canopy affixed to the piers above (13). 
 
 Witheridge has a fine stone pulpit richly carved ; the squared 
 panels have crocketed canopies over small figures ; one of these 
 is the Rood, with St Mary and St John. The stone pulpit of 
 Chittlehampton is very similar, and almost as good ; it must 
 
 1 See Dollman, PL xxvii.
 
 MEDIAEVAL STONE PULPITS
 
 42 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 have come from the same craftsman's hands. Harberton is one 
 of the richest sculptured stone pulpits in the county, though the 
 foliage is coarse (15). Swimbridge is another rich example, with 
 figures of the Evangelists in the niches. Dittisham has a 
 chalice-shaped pulpit of late Perpendicular design, with statuettes 
 beneath canopies (37). 
 
 DORSET possesses a remarkable example of an old stone 
 pulpit at Frampton-on-the-Frome. The present church was 
 built about 1460-70, in the days of Edward IV., and the pulpit 
 is coeval. It is of octagonal plan. 1 The panels have crocketed 
 ogee canopies, and three of them retain figures beneath them, 
 two of which are usually ignorantly described as " monks." The 
 knotted cords show clearly that they are intended for friars. In 
 the centre is a friar holding a monstrance in his right hand and 
 a book in his left, intended for the great Franciscan, St Bona- 
 venture ; on the one side is another friar with a long-stemmed 
 cross in his right hand and a book in his left, probably intended 
 for another Franciscan, St Peter of Alcantara ; on the other side 
 is the Blessed Virgin (the church is dedicated to St Mary), with 
 two figures, male and female, kneeling before her, which were 
 probably intended for the donors of the pulpit. 
 
 Another old stone pulpit in this county, at Okeford 
 Fitzpaine, met with an unparalleled adventure. A muddle- 
 headed rector, about one hundred and twenty years ago, took it 
 into his head to remove the upper part, and to change it into a 
 font ! Common sense and decorum came to the rescue in 1865, 
 when it reverted to its original use. 
 
 Here, too, it may be mentioned that the stone pulpit of 
 Fordington is dated 1592, the only known instance of an 
 Elizabethan pulpit in that material. 
 
 It is not surprising to find that GLOUCESTERSHIRE possesses 
 a considerable number of old stone pulpits, for right through the 
 Cotswold range and its offshoots there is a continuous run of 
 oolite limestone near to the surface and easily worked. The 
 cruciform church of Staunton, near Coleford, of late Norman 
 foundation, shows that the chancel was widened, and rood-stairs 
 inserted in the angle to the north-west of the chancel arch during 
 the fifteenth century. The stone stairway, which gave access 
 to the rood-loft, and above that to the belfry, was also so con- 
 structed that it served as an entrance to the simple corbel-shaped 
 stone pulpit shown in the illustration (29). The magnificent 
 church of Cirencester has a remarkable and graceful stone pulpit 
 affixed to a north pier of the nave at the entrance to the chancel. 
 
 1 See Dollman, PI. xvi
 
 MEDI/KVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 43
 
 44 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Its five richly crocketed compartments are perforated, thus 
 giving a singular lightness to the whole. When Dollman, 
 who dates it c. 1450, wrote about it in 1849, it was obscured 
 by " an unsightly mass of masonry " which had been added at 
 the top, and formed the then existing pulpit, but this disfigure- 
 ment has long ago been removed (39). 
 
 At North Cerney there is a delightful and interesting stone 
 pulpit now standing in the north transept. When Dollman 
 wrote about it (PI. xi.) seventy-five years ago, this pulpit was 
 affixed to the north jamb of the chancel arch. The graceful 
 stem (now replaced) had been removed owing to its supposed 
 insecurity ; happily, however, it had not been destroyed, but 
 was resting in a corner of the chancel. Dollman is approxi- 
 mately right in assigning to it the date c. 1460. The details of 
 the five compartments are exceedingly good. The most remark- 
 able features are the two flowing bands of the lily ornament the 
 one under the cornice and the other at the base which have a 
 striking resemblance to the like ornament which is of frequent 
 occurrence at Magdalen College, Oxford. A third stone pulpit 
 of this county is also figured by Dollman (PI. xiii.), which 
 occurs in the large late parish church of Winchcombe. This 
 church was begun to be built in 1490. The octagonal pulpit 
 is of plain panelled design with an embattled top. 
 
 Other fifteenth-century designs are extant at Ampney 
 Crucis, St Briavels, Chedworth, Chipping Sudbury, Coin Rogers, 
 Cowley, Elmstone, Hawkesbury, Naunton, Northleach, and 
 Thornbury. The best of these are the richly crocketed example 
 at Chedworth, the larger one at Northleach, and the later 
 instance at Ampney Crucis. 
 
 HAMPSHIRE, including the Isle of Wight, possesses two 
 mediaeval stone pulpits and the remains of a third, but of no 
 special merit. The stone pulpit of East Meon is of fifteenth- 
 century style. The pulpit of the interesting church of Shor- 
 well (Isle of Wight) is of stone, and quite obviously of the 
 same date as the fifteenth-century (c. 1440) north arcade of 
 the nave ; the pier immediately behind it is built in two sections, 
 with a space between for the entrance steps to the pulpit from 
 the aisle. To this pulpit was added a good Jacobean canopy, 
 dated 1620; it corresponds in style with the pyramidal font- 
 cover ; both were probably the gifts of Sir John Leigh (41). 
 
 Mr Percy Stone, in his noble volumes on the Architectural 
 Antiquities of the Isle of Wight, pointed out that in the rectory 
 garden of Chale lies a carved block of stone, which in 1845 stood 
 in the church against the north wall of the nave, evidently 
 forming at one time the corbelling of a stone pulpit similar to
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 45 
 
 
 d 
 
 U 
 
 
 

 
 46 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 the one at Shorwell. It is somewhat highly ornamented with 
 panel work, and belongs to the latter part of the fifteenth century. 
 
 OXFORDSHIRE has two examples of mediaeval pulpits of stone, 
 in addition to the external pulpit of Magdalen College, to which 
 allusion has already been made, namely, in the parish churches 
 of Coombe and Black Bourton. Coombe church was begun to be 
 rebuilt on a higher site in the year 1395 ; the pulpit appears to 
 be of that period it is of hexagonal plan and the panels have 
 rich crocketed moulding, and the cornice is embattled. Black 
 Bourton has good panels of Perpendicular tracery, c. I45O. 1 
 
 The county of SOMERSET can boast of at least a score of late 
 mediaeval stone pulpits. Shepton Mallet, both from its beauty 
 and its date, deserves to be mentioned first Mr Hutton, in his 
 recently issued Highways and Byways of this county, does right 
 in describing it as " very lovely." Its unique design, sculptured 
 with a number of niches with crocketed canopies covering 
 alternate designs of fruit and foliage, rising from an octagonal 
 band of quatrefoils, can best be studied from Dr Allen's excellent 
 photograph. The date appears to be c. 1460, or at all events of 
 the third quarter of the fifteenth century (7). About the same 
 date is the handsome octagonal pulpit of Loxton, with each 
 of its divisions divided into two traceried panels beneath an 
 ogee crocketed canopy ; it rests upon a corbel in the form of a 
 man (43). 
 
 In the north-west of the county, within a circle of some ten 
 or twelve miles of Banwell, as Mr Dollman points out, there are 
 many churches where the stone pulpits are almost similar in 
 design and execution, and date about 1480. He instances those 
 of Banwell, Compton Bishop, Kewstoke, Worle, Wick St 
 Lawrence, Brockley, Hutton, Locking, and Loxton ; but he 
 only gives plates of Banwell (PI. xxii., xxiii.). All of these are 
 elaborate examples of good Perpendicular stonework, and of 
 octagonal plan. The five which are almost identical with 
 Banwell, and must have been executed by the same craftsman, 
 are those of Bleadon, Compton Bishop, Hutton, Locking, and 
 Wick St Lawrence. In each of these six instances the panels 
 are divided into two-light blind windows, with a quatrefoil head 
 and carved spandrels on either side ; immediately above is a 
 band of quatrefoil, whilst the cornice is of two members, the one a 
 curious kind of four-leafed ornament, and the other a more usual 
 leaf terminal. Immediately below is a well-executed vine and 
 
 1 The stone pulpit of St Peter in the East, Oxford, has been more than 
 once described as mediaeval, but it was designed by Mr Jackson, R.A., in 
 1882.
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 47 
 
 Worcester Cathedral
 
 48 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 grape trail, exactly like what is usually found in screen woodwork 
 of this period. Worle pulpit has the lower vine and grape trail, 
 but lacks the upper quatrefoil band. The fine pulpit of Locking 
 is of the same general character, but in this instance the grape 
 and vine trail forms the cornice, with the quatrefoil band 
 immediately below it. The brightly coloured fine pulpit of 
 Cheddar differs much in design, as will be seen from the illustra- 
 tion ; above the slender octagonal stem or shaft are eight shields 
 bearing demi-angels, supporting, as it were, the spring of the 
 pulpit (9, 43, 45, 43, 45). 
 
 The stone pulpits of Nailsea and of St Benedict, Glastonbury, 
 are plainer Perpendicular examples, c. 1500; they are both 
 figured by Dollman (PI. xiv., xviii.). 
 
 Other old stone pulpits in Somerset can be found at 
 Charlecombe (massive), Kingsbury Episcopi, Meare (very fine), 
 Stogumber (five-sided), and Wrington. 
 
 The pulpit of Wells Cathedral is due to Bishop Knight 
 
 (1541-47). 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE has only one mediaeval pulpit, but the one 
 that it possesses is the most notable stone example throughout the 
 kingdom. This elaborately enriched pulpit, sometimes falsely 
 stated to be constructed out of a single huge block of stone, is 
 attached to the pier nearest to east on the south side of the nave 
 of the great church of St Peter, Wolverhampton. 1 It is of the 
 same date as the central tower and the font, c. 1475. The plan is 
 octagonal, and it includes the panelled enclosure of the stairs, 
 twelve in number, on the west side. Across the coping at the 
 foot of the staircase is the large seated figure of a somewhat 
 grotesque lion with a speaking countenance. Each face is 
 divided into two panels, having cinquefoiled crested heads. 
 Below them, at the crown of the shafted pedestal, is a boldly 
 sculptured vine trail. Above them are quatrefoils with cinque- 
 foil central flowers ; immediately under the cornice is a foliage 
 trail of ivy-like leaves and small cinquefoil flowers (27).'- 
 
 SUSSEX retains two stone mediaeval pulpits, both of late 
 fourteenth-century date, at Arundel and Climping ; the former 
 is of much grace and has a good stone canopy (21). 
 
 1 Dollman, PI. xix., xx. 
 
 ' 2 Preaching from this pulpit one Lent evening in the eighties, when it 
 was the use to bring the choir-boys into the nave nearly facing the pulpit, 
 I noticed a youthful pair of choristers, as my sermon drew to a close, leaning 
 forward and staring most earnestly at the lion on the stairway below me. 
 On subsequent inquiry I was told that it was the custom of the senior 
 choristers to "green" the novices by assuring them that the lion opened its 
 mouth and yawned if the preacher exceeded half-an-hour !
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 49 
 
 Halberton, Devon
 
 50 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 WARWICKSHIRE. Attached to the south-east pier of the 
 central tower of Holy Trinity, Coventry, is the singularly fine 
 stone pulpit, c. 1470. Up to 1833, when restored by Rickman, it 
 had been hidden from sight by certain obtrusive woodwork, 
 including the clerk's seat. The lower part is boldly corbelled 
 out, and the junction of the octagon with the pier shafts is 
 well managed, but the upper open-panelled part is rather too 
 definitely cut off from the lower by the battlemented cornice. 1 
 
 In the church of Brough there is a stone pulpit dated 1624 ; 
 but this date must denote repair or reconstruction ; the lower 
 part is at least a century older. 
 
 WILTSHIRE has two examples of stone pulpits, both of the 
 fifteenth century. The stone pulpit of Limpley Stoke is attached 
 to an arched recess in the wall, and has only two projecting 
 sides of Perpendicular work ; when visited in 1905 it had not 
 been used for some considerable time. The other stone pulpit 
 is at Bewick St James. 
 
 At WORCESTER there was formerly a stone cross in the church- 
 yard, which was a usual preaching place, as at St Paul's, London. 
 In 1458 Bishop Carpenter granted to the Prior and Convent 
 of Worcester certain premises for the use of the sacrist, who 
 was to provide a chaplain to read a public moral lecture from 
 the Old or New Testament once or twice a week, and to preach 
 in the cathedral or at the cross in the churchyard on Easter 
 Eve, and on other special festivals. During the civil wars the 
 cross was demolished, and after the Restoration the preaching 
 of the city sermons was transferred to the nave. The old stone 
 pulpit of fifteenth-century date then stood on the north side of 
 the nave against the second pillar from the west. During con- 
 siderable alterations in 1748 this pulpit was transferred to its 
 present position on the north side of the choir (47). 
 
 The great county of YORK has but one single old pulpit of 
 stone extant. It stands in the north transept of Ripon Minster, 
 and is of good Perpendicular design ; it is a pentagon with 
 richly panelled sides ; there is a base but no stem, and only 
 three steps. 
 
 1 Woodhouse's Churches of Coventry (1909), p. 73.
 
 MEDIEVAL STONE PULPITS 
 
 c/:
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 As will be seen from the following county lists, the pre- 
 Reformation pulpits of oak number a hundred, or two-thirds 
 more than those of stone. But it must be remembered that 
 this total includes about a score of cases in which old panelling 
 has been used in the repair or reconstruction of pulpits. Such 
 instances chiefly occur in Devon and Cornwall. Norfolk is the 
 county which has the greatest number of bona fide mediaeval 
 pulpits ; it is followed fairly closely by Devon. The great 
 majority of these oak pulpits are fifteenth-century, but in six 
 cases the date is unmistakably fourteenth -century. The ones 
 of early date occur at Mellor, Derbyshire ; Fulbourn, Cambs. ; 
 Upper Winchendon, Bucks. ; Stanton, Gloucestershire; Dummer, 
 Hants ; and Hannington, Northants. 
 
 BEDFORDSHIRE has a few pulpits that date from late 
 mediaeval days. Hampsford has an effectively carved and well- 
 preserved example of a fifteenth-century octagonal pulpit 
 The nature of the tracery work, with double quatrefoils at the 
 base of each panel, seems to point to c. 1430. Yeldon is in part 
 late fifteenth-century, having traceried heads to the panels. 
 Shelton has a late fifteenth or early sixteenth century pulpit. 
 The small church of Lower Gravenhurst has a composite pulpit 
 made up of some fifteenth-century panels. 
 
 BERKSHIRE. The strikingly handsome church of East 
 Hagbourne has a good Perpendicular pulpit, c. 1425 (31). It is of 
 pentagonal plan, attached to the south jamb of the chancel arch ; 
 the panels have cinquefoiled heads with wide tracery above, 
 whilst there is a row of small quatrefoils at the base ; the shallow 
 buttresses between the panels have crocketed summits, and there 
 is an elaborately carved band below the cornice. The peculiarity 
 of this pulpit is the five steps by which it is approached ; they 
 have no protecting rail, but between the three posts, by which 
 they are supported, are heads of pierced tracery. Aston Tirrold 
 also claims to have a Perpendicular pulpit. 1 Finchampstead 
 
 1 Brabant's Little Guide to Berkshire^ p. 64.
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 53 
 
 has part of a fifteenth-century screen worked up into the pulpit. 
 Charney Bassett has a good little pulpit with three panels of 
 undoubted Perpendicular tracery, a fifteenth-century moulding 
 above and below ; it stands on a small base and is ascended by 
 three steps. Mr Brabant says that "some authorities consider 
 it Jacobean !" 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE has some interesting remnants of 
 
 j. F. H. 
 
 Edlesborough, Bucks. 
 
 mediaeval pulpits. At Upper Winchendon there is a half-hexagon 
 pulpit carved in three panels out of a single block of oak. The 
 tracery on the squared panels, in two stages, is undoubtedly of 
 the second quarter of the fourteenth century, c. 1340. The 
 upper edge or rim is somewhat rudely embattled, and is destitute 
 of any cornice. 
 
 The richly carved oak pulpit of Ibstone forms four sides 
 of a hexagon ; on each side are double traceried panels with
 
 54 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 cinquefoil - headed, ogee - crocketed canopies ; it is of early 
 fifteenth-century date, but the top and base are modern. The 
 pulpit of Bow Brickhill is also fifteenth-century, but it has been 
 considerably restored and repainted ; it is hexagonal in plan, 
 and the crocketed heads of the double panels much resemble 
 those of Ibstone. The arched opening of the rood-loft stairway 
 at the east end of the nave of Chilton church may very possibly 
 have led to a pulpit. At Edlesborough there is a much restored 
 fifteenth-century pulpit to the north of the chancel arch, of 
 " wine-glass shape." The elaborate tabernacled canopy is fourteen 
 feet high. 
 
 CAMBRIDGESHIRE has several good mediaeval pulpits of 
 wood. Marston has a plain panelled octagonal pulpit on a 
 shaft ; it appears to be towards the close of the fourteenth 
 century. Elsworth, Fen Ditton, and Hannington are good 
 examples of Perpendicular work ; Haslingfield is late in the 
 style, c. 1 500. The pentagonal pulpit of Willingham is a 
 beautiful piece of work, about the middle of the fifteenth century ; 
 the panels are finely carved ; it stands on an octagonal shaft. 
 But there are two other pulpits which call for more particular 
 description. Landbeach has a striking-looking Perpendicular 
 pulpit rising from a graceful corbelled pedestal ; the panels 
 have finely carved tracery work with crocketed finials. This 
 pulpit is, however, a clever make-up ; the panels came from 
 Jesus College chapel, Cambridge. The pulpit of Fulbourn 
 retains its long-asserted claim to be the oldest of our wooden 
 pulpits, and is probably earlier than the rude one at Mellor, 
 Derbyshire. It is most likely immediately prior to the Black 
 Death of 1348-49. The plan used to be rather curious, having 
 two panels almost level on each side, and three projecting in an 
 oriel in front. A mischievous restoration has much spoilt this 
 pulpit ; the panels have been taken out, but the curious spandrel 
 carvings at the sides of the crocketed heads remain, and also the 
 buttresses. The spandrels are all different and delightfully 
 natural in treatment, such as a pair of birds and hairbells. 1 
 
 There is a fair abundance of old wooden pulpits, or pulpits con- 
 structed of old materials, left in CORNWALL. The pulpit of Bodmin 
 was contracted for by the wardens of the rebuilt church in 1491 ; 
 it was to follow the pattern of one in the church of Morton 
 Hampstead ; its six panels are beautifully carved with crocketed 
 and cusped ogee tracery ; the square base is made up of eight 
 interesting old panels robbed from different parts of the church 
 during a blundering restoration. At Camborne, Laneast, 
 
 1 See plan and two plates in Bury's Eccl. Woodwork (1847).
 
 MEDIAEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 55 
 
 Kenton, Devon
 
 56 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 and Launceston St Thomas are plain late fifteenth-century 
 pulpits. The early sixteenth-century pulpit of Padstow is 
 richly carved with emblems of the Passion. The church of St 
 Mary Magdalene, Launceston, which was consecrated in 1524, 
 has been ruthlessly stripped of all its old woodwork, with the 
 exception of the very richly carved octagonal pulpit. At the 
 little church or chapel of St Michael, Porthilly, there is a pulpit, 
 c. 1525, with linen-fold panels. The octagonal pulpit of St Ives 
 is a remarkable piece of carving, c. 1540, wherein late Gothic 
 and Renaissance work are curiously blended (51). 
 
 The grievous mischief done to the beautiful and most 
 interesting woodwork of the large majority of Cornish churches 
 by the " restorers " of the Victorian age, especially by one architect 
 who bore the name of an old family of the duchy, cannot be 
 exaggerated. It is, however, some slight mitigation of these 
 offences that certain portions of this late mediaeval carving were 
 worked up again into pulpits. The pulpit of St Cuby is made 
 up of bench-ends and fragments of the old rood-screen. The 
 Parochial History of Cornwall (1870) says of St Stephen-in- 
 Brannel that, "The pulpit and desk are tastefully panelled with 
 a neat carving preserved from the screen and bench-ends." The 
 pulpit of St Ruan-Langhorne is formed of late fifteenth-century 
 panelling from the backs of old seats. Five bench-ends have been 
 worked up into the pulpitof StGwinear, including a double-necked 
 swan on a wreath and a merman. The pulpit of Phillack is partly 
 constructed of fragments of a destroyed rood-screen. Old bench- 
 ends have also been used in the reconstruction of the pulpits of St 
 Cubert, St Sampson, and Jacobstow. The Falmouth church of 
 King Charles the Martyr, built in 1662-63, has a pulpit constructed 
 of old pieces of carving chiefly brought from the Continent 
 about 1860, but including pieces of English screen cornices, 
 which had doubtlessly been ejected from certain Cornish 
 churches. 
 
 DERBYSHIRE possesses a single mediaeval wooden pulpit. 
 It is of a remarkable character and one of the oldest in Chris- 
 tendom (17). The ancient pulpit of Mellor is a unique example 
 of an ancient pulpit hewn out of a solid block of oak or section 
 of a great tree. It is 4 ft. 8^ in. high, and 7 ft. 8 in. in diameter 
 at the top. The plan is hexagonal, with one side cut out to 
 form a narrow entrance. One of the five panels is plain and 
 smooth, showing where it stood against the wall, but the other 
 four have tracery carved at the top and foliage work at the 
 base which assign it to the middle of the fourteenth century"(r. 
 1 3 50-60). The central band has the appearance of being fifteenth- 
 century work, but it at one time showed traces of having been
 
 MEDIAEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 57 
 
 Ipplepen, Devon
 
 58 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 clumsily recut. When I first saw this church as a young man 
 the whole building was in a scandalous and filthy state this 
 pulpit stood under the tower, and formed the receptacle for the 
 grave-diggers' tools, and the sexton said he had leave to chop 
 " the old thing up, but it were too hard." Some years later 
 leave was granted me to scrub and clean it before it was 
 photographed and drawn. It was then found to have remains 
 of two coats of paint and gilding, one fourteenth-century, and 
 the other late fifteenth. When at last restored to use, it was 
 unfortunately repaired with poor, soft wood, and an unsightly 
 and unsuitable cornice added at the top. 
 
 At Breadsall a pulpit was of recent years constructed out 
 of early sixteenth-century bench-ends ; but it fell a victim, 
 with the rest of the church, to the criminal lunacy of militant 
 suffragists in June 1914. 
 
 DEVONSHIRE, which shows so much beauty and variety in 
 the carving of its rich rood-screens, is also well to the front 
 in the woodwork of its fifteenth and early sixteenth century 
 pulpits. Halberton claims first notice both in date and in 
 perfection of treatment. The different and effective designs of 
 the two tiers of recessed panels are shown clearly in the illustra- 
 tion (49). This pulpit is obviously coeval with the screen ; they 
 are both c. 1420. The painted and gilded pulpit of Tor Bryan 
 is also coeval with its screen ; they may both be c. 1420. 
 Second only in importance and richness of carving to the famed 
 rood-screen of Kenton is the coloured and gilded pulpit, with 
 its vine trails in cornice and base. It stands close in front of 
 the screen on the north side. Their date is about 1430 ; it is 
 quite unnecessary to suppose Flemish treatment in either of 
 them. The pulpit, as well as the screen, has painted panels of 
 saints. Of this striking piece of church furniture, Mr Baring- 
 Gould has a sorry tale to tell : " It was wantonly ejected by 
 the architect who 'restored' (1866) the church; but happily 
 the greater part of the ornamentation was preserved in a cup- 
 board of the school, among dusters, chalk, and slates. Its 
 place was supplied by a bit of trumpery machine made carving 
 now gone to limbo as it deserved. Happily, of late years, 
 this superb pulpit, so ignominiously treated, has been replaced 
 and restored." The paintings on the panels represent Saints 
 Boniface, Walburga, Aldhelm, Sidwell, and Petrock, all specially 
 connected with Devon (55). 
 
 At Coleridge there is an octagonal pulpit of early fifteenth- 
 century design, with singularly beautiful tracery work at the head 
 of the canopies in each panel ; but it has suffered from restoration, 
 being removed from its former shaft, and is shut in by pillars (3).
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 K. R. P. S. 
 
 Chivelstone, Devon
 
 60 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Bigbury has a finely carved late fifteenth-century pulpit to 
 which a story is attached. The authorities of Ashburton church 
 sold their old pulpit and eagle to Bigsbury in 1777 for eleven 
 guineas ; the curious tale with regard to the " eagle " is told in 
 the subsequent account of lecterns. 
 
 Ipplepen is a further example of a fine and somewhat 
 elaborate piece of carving of bold fifteenth-century work, as will 
 be seen from the illustration ; it has four small canopied niches, 
 but the figures are gone (57). Nor must Chivelstone be over- 
 looked, which retains a fair amount of the old colouring ; it 
 is remarkable for being hollowed out of a single block of oak. 
 It affords yet another instance of a well-carved desk pulpit 
 contemporary with the screen ; they were reconstructed between 
 the years 1504 and 1514. It is of octagonal plan ; each panel 
 has elaborately crocketed ogee canopies, and beneath them 
 large heraldic shields. The arms include those of Buckfast 
 Abbey, Lacy, and Bourchier impaling Hanford. William 
 Bourchier married Thomasin, daughter and heiress of Sir 
 Richard Hanford (59). North Molton has an interesting old 
 pulpit with canopied niches containing painted saints beneath 
 them, and Cockington, as will be seen from the illustration, has 
 a curiously panelled pulpit of late design ; it has been over- 
 restored, and seems to be formed from various fifteenth and 
 early sixteenth century fragments. This pulpit was brought 
 here in 1837 from Tor Mahon, the old parish church of Torquay. 
 The carved oak screen and pulpit of East Allington are of 
 historical interest, as they mark the revival of the unreformed 
 faith in Queen Mary's days ; they were completed in 1557 (61). 
 
 There are other post-Reformation oak pulpits at Bridford, 
 Cornwood, Dartington, Pinhoe, Thurlestone, Holne, and St 
 Sidwell, Exeter (63, 65). 
 
 The pulpit and prayer desk of Kingsbridge are made up 
 out of the lower panels of a fifteenth-century rood-screen. The 
 pulpits of Buckland Brewer, Lancross, and Newton St Petrock 
 are constructed out of old bench-ends. At Monkleigh the 
 pulpit is a reconstruction from parts of an old one of fifteenth- 
 century date. 
 
 There are a few instances in DORSET of the survival of 
 pre-Reformation oak pulpits. At Little Cheney the pulpit is 
 formed of panels with Perpendicular tracery. At Winterborne 
 Whitchurch there is a fine pulpit which was removed here 
 from the old parish church of Milton Abbas. The old carved 
 pulpit of Cranborne bears the initials of Thomas Parker, abbot 
 of Tewkesbury, who died in 1421 ; there was here a small 
 Benedictine priory, which was a cell of Tewkesbury.
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 6l 
 
 East Allington, Devon
 
 62 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 The pulpit of Affpuddle may be mentioned here, for it was 
 erected just about the time of Henry VIII.'s death, 28th 
 January 1546-47. Both manor and church formerly belonged 
 to Cerne Abbey. At the Dissolution, one Thomas Lyllyngton, 
 a monk of Cerne, who was "honest and conformable," obtained 
 this vicarage. In 1547 he erected this fine oak pulpit after a 
 Renaissance style ; it has curiously carved figures in mediaeval 
 costumes, which are supposed to be intended for St John Baptist 
 and the evangelists. 
 
 DURHAM county possesses a single mediaeval pulpit of oak 
 at Heighington ; it is of early fifteenth-century date, is a fine 
 example, and bears the inscription " Orate pro animabus Alex- 
 andri Flettcher et Agnetis uxors ejus." 
 
 At Witton Gilbert there is the shaft of the mediaeval pulpit. 
 
 ESSEX possesses six pulpits of the Perpendicular period ; 
 they used to number seven, but the parish of Heydon was 
 transferred to Cambridgeshire in 1895. 
 
 The remarkable pulpit of Wendens Ambo cannot be later 
 than 1450, and is probably a decade or two earlier (34). It is 
 of octagonal plan, and without a base, whilst the buttresses, 
 prolonged by about a foot, have square posts to raise it 
 slightly from the floor. No great elevation was required, for 
 the church (formerly that of Great Ambo) is quite small. The 
 pulpit slightly tapers in shape, obviously following the lines of 
 the great oak from which it was cut. The panels are carved 
 with cinquefoil heads, and have tall crocketed finials to quasi 
 canopies, which terminate in cinquefoil roundels. The two 
 panels forming the door differ from the rest in having two of 
 these cinquefoils at the base, one below the other. Rickling 
 is a fairly early Perpendicular example, but not fourteenth- 
 century as sometimes stated ; Leaden Roothing is later. Sandon 
 has a good octagonal pulpit with linen-fold panels, temp. 
 Henry VII. Layer Marney church was rebuilt in 1520. The 
 finely carved pulpit is of that date, or slightly later ; it is of 
 hexagonal plan, with two tiers of linen-fold panels on each face ; 
 the cornice is enriched Renaissance ; the hexagonal canopy, etc., 
 with pendants, is elaborately treated, and is of much beauty. 
 
 GLOUCESTERSHIRE has a few interesting mediaeval pulpits of 
 oak. The fourth extant example of a fourteenth-century pulpit 
 is the little known instance at Stan ton in this county. In this 
 church there is a fairly good late seventeenth-century panelled 
 pulpit, with a canopy affixed to the wall high above it. Strange 
 to say, within this pulpit stands another one of some three 
 centuries older date ; it came to light when the church was being 
 restored about 1900. The tracery of the panelling and the lines
 
 MEDIAEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 Darlington, Devon
 
 64 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 of quatrefoils show it to be of the close of the Decorated period, 
 c - ! 375 or > at an 7 rate > of the reign of Richard II. This highly 
 interesting relic of mediaeval preaching, so remarkably preserved, 
 is 4 ft. 9 in. in height. 1 
 
 St Mary de Lode, Gloucester, the old mother-church of the 
 city, retains some carved benches and a pulpit as survivals of the 
 Perpendicular period. It is of hexagonal plan and effective 
 design. The squared panels have trefoiled heads, and the 
 carvings of the spandrels are varied in each case ; superimposed 
 on the panels are richly crocketed ogee designs of two divisions ; 
 at the base is a band of slight carving with diminutive quatre- 
 foils. The date is about 1475. Cold Ashton has a wooden pulpit 
 with four panels of somewhat similar design ; it stands on a 
 stone base, and has over it a stone groined canopy with crocketed 
 finials. It was for some time disused in favour of a modern 
 substitute, but was considerably restored in 1848. The entrance 
 into it, as at Staunton, is by the rood-loft stairs. Its date is 
 c. 1500. Bishop Latimer is said to have occupied this pulpit on 
 several occasions, but this is only a matter of conjecture, based 
 on the idea that he would pass through Cold Ashton on his way 
 to Bristol from the benefice which he sometime held at West 
 Kingston, Wilts. At Brockworth, halfway between Gloucester 
 and Cheltenham, occurs a third pre- Reformation wooden pulpit, 
 though it is probably of early sixteenth-century date. It is of 
 hexagonal plan, and the five panels are well covered with late 
 tracery ; the base and the lowest divisions of the panels are 
 modern. 2 The pulpit of Micheldean is also good Perpendicular, 
 and has been richly painted, whilst Elmstone pulpit has four 
 good panels with later Perpendicular tracery. At Didhurst the 
 lectern is constructed out of an old fifteenth-century pulpit. 
 
 At Taynton there is an amalgam pulpit which came here 
 from Holy Trinity, Gloucester, when that church was demolished. 
 It is partly fourteenth-century, and has a panel temp. Henry VII., 
 whilst the front and cornice are Jacobean, with an iron hour- 
 glass frame. 
 
 HAMPSHIRE possesses a good instance of a mediaeval pulpit 
 in the little but highly interesting church of Dummer. It is of 
 half-octagon form, and stands in the north-east angle of the nave 
 on a plain low base. The cinquefoil-headed tracery of the 
 four panels plainly points to the latter part of the fourteenth 
 century, c. 1380. The oak pulpit at Hambledon has some 
 good Perpendicular work of the fifteenth century. Prior 
 
 1 Illustrated and described in Reliq. and Illust. Arch. (1907), vol. xiii. 60. 
 
 2 Those pulpits are illustrated by Dollman, PI. xvii., xxiv., xxx.
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 Holne, Devon
 
 66 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Silkstead (1498-1522) is responsible for the beautiful pulpit of 
 Winchester Cathedral (5). 
 
 The pre- Reformation pulpits of HERTFORDSHIRE are of no 
 great importance. Graveley is modern, but it incorporates some 
 fourteenth-century tracery. The pulpit of Hitchin is early 
 sixteenth-century, but it has been much restored. Much 
 Hadham is partly made up of fifteenth-century panelling. 
 Lilley has a pulpit made up of old linen-fold panels with traceried 
 heads, but they have been brought here from St John's College, 
 Cambridge. Royston pulpit is a curious amalgam. It has a 
 stone base constructed out of an old table-tomb ; the pulpit itself, 
 as well as two reading seats, is made up from a fine fifteenth- 
 century parclose screen on the south side, which was mutilated 
 for the purpose last century. The pulpit of Bygrave is of 
 modern construction, but has some fifteenth-century traceried 
 panels incorporated with it. The octagonal pulpit of Walkern 
 has plain panelling of early sixteenth-century date. 
 
 HUNTINGDONSHIRE has two fifteenth-century pulpits, 
 namely, at Cotworth and Fenstanton. The former is described 
 by Parker, in 1851,35 "a tolerable Perpendicular pulpit," but 
 it merits kinder words ; it is of octagonal plan, with plain but 
 vigorous tracery, and is embattled at the base ; until its restora- 
 tion by a later rector, it showed considerable traces of fairly vivid 
 colouring. Fenstanton pulpit, described by Parker as " rather 
 late," has some fifteenth-century work in its construction, but 
 has been made up at a subsequent date. 
 
 KENT, notwithstanding its large number of old parish 
 churches, is but little distinguished for the age or beauty of its 
 pulpits. There are hardly any of pre- Reformation date. 
 
 Hollingbourne is a good example of the earlier half of the 
 sixteenth century. It was for this pulpit and the altar table 
 that velvet hangings, still extant, were embroidered by the 
 Ladies Culpepper during the Commonwealth, and presented to 
 the church at the Restoration. The pulpits of Boyton Malherbe 
 and Sutton-at-Hone have linen-fold panels. 
 
 So far as we know, there is only one pulpit in LANCASHIRE 
 prior to the Reformation. Bolton-le-Moors pulpit is a good 
 sixteenth-century pre -Reformation example, with linen-fold 
 panels, and an embattled cornice ; it stands upon a stem, and 
 is semi-octagonal in plan. 
 
 LEICESTERSHIRE is not rich in mediaeval pulpits. There are 
 none of stone. The one to which most interest attaches is that 
 of Lutterworth (25). It was for a long time claimed to be that 
 from which the reformer Wycliff had preached, but on exami- 
 nation this statement proves to be an equal blunder with the
 
 MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 u
 
 68 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 rest of his so-called relics in this church. Wycliff was rector 
 here from 1374 until his death in 1384. This pulpit is of 
 advanced Perpendicular style ; it cannot be earlier than 1450, 
 and is quite possibly a whole century later than the reformer's 
 days. It is of hexagonal plan, and has been restored of recent 
 years. The panels, which have ogee-crocketed heads, are filled 
 with tracery ; the embattled transom across the centre of each 
 panel, and the nature of the filling-in of the spandrels of the 
 head, make it impossible that it is otherwise than late fifteenth- 
 century carving. Other panelled examples of fifteenth-century 
 pulpits within the county include the well- wrought hexagonal 
 example of All Saints, Leicester, and those of Saxelby Thorpe 
 Langton, and Tugby. 
 
 There is not much left in LINCOLNSHIRE in the way of 
 mediaeval pulpits. At Claypole, however, there is a very good 
 example of Perpendicular carving in the pulpit closely adjoining 
 the rood-screen against the north jamb of the chancel arch, 
 with which it is probably coeval, c. 1430. At a later period, 
 after about a century had elapsed, a hexagonal canopy was 
 made for the pulpit, together with a book-desk, from parts of 
 the pulled-down rood-loft, and the desk, strange to say, is sup- 
 ported by the stem of a late processional cross, as shown in the 
 illustration (67). At Cotes-by-Stow the Perpendicular panels 
 were rescued from a barn in 1884 and restored to the church. 
 The pulpit at Tattershall is early sixteenth-century ; it is 
 enriched with good carving at the base. 
 
 The panels of the pulpit of Lea came from Stixwold Priory 
 church. 
 
 At Ingoldmells there used to be two good Decorated 
 parclose screens at the east ends of the aisles. A scandalous 
 "restoration" of 1865 swept these two fine screens away. 
 However, the restorers had the decency to work up some parts 
 of this screen work into a fairly comely pulpit. What was our 
 disgust when visiting this church in 1910 to find that this pulpit, 
 which told of the past, had been ejected to a dark corner under 
 the tower, to make way for one of cold freestone, cheaply 
 modelled after the fashion appropriately known as "wine-coolers." 
 There used to be a traceried Perpendicular pulpit at Partney, 
 but, unfortunately, it gave way to a new stone successor in 1862. 
 
 MIDDLESEX. Not only did London lose some eighty 
 churches in the Great Fire, but so many of the county churches 
 have been rebuilt, that we believe there is only one pre- 
 Reformation pulpit within the bounds of Middlesex. In the 
 nave of Westminster Abbey is a good oak pulpit with linen- 
 fold panels (c, 1507), removed here from Henry VI I. 's chapel.
 
 MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 6 9 
 
 c
 
 70 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 NORFOLK, with its vast number of old churches (upwards 
 of six hundred and fifty), retains twenty-four instances of pre- 
 Reformation pulpits, all of timber. They occur at Beeston, 
 Bessingham, Brisley, Burlingham St Edmund, Burnham Norton, 
 Castleacre, Catton, Cawston, South Creyke, Dersingham, Filby, 
 Horsham, Irstead, Litcham, Neatishead, Norwich (St Mary 
 Coslany), Seaming, Snettisham, West Somerton, Great Spar- 
 ham, Thorning, North Walsham, and New Walsingham. 
 
 Four of these retain much of their original painting. The 
 one that deserves the first place is the notable example in the 
 small church of Burlingham St Edmund. It is of early fifteenth 
 century, and delicately painted. The eight panels, alternately 
 red and green, are powdered with stars and flowers. The panels 
 are set in crocketed tracery work. The top of the pulpit is 
 embattled, and round the base is a series of quatrefoils. The 
 upper part has the following legend in black letters : " Inter natos 
 mulierum non surrexit major Jo/ianne Baptista" The pulpit 
 is not improved by the addition of a seventeenth-century canopy 
 or sounding-board ; another addition of the same century is an 
 iron hour-glass stand. The special feature of the church of Burn- 
 ham Norton is the beautifully painted but small pulpit, c. 1475 ; 
 it has been restored, but after a most careful and limited fashion 
 (23). The panels bear the four Latin doctors of the Church, 
 and also the kneeling figures of John Goldale and Catherine 
 his wife, the donors, for whose souls the prayers of the faithful 
 are invited. This highly interesting mediaeval pulpit has also 
 been marred by the introduction of an early seventeenth-century 
 tester or backpiece. The pulpit of Castleacre has also painted 
 panels of the four Latin doctors, but these panels and others 
 of the reading desk have been taken from discarded parcloses of 
 the aisles. The fourth painted pulpit is that of Horsham. The 
 panels are painted with figures of the Blessed Virgin and Child, 
 and of Saints John Baptist, John, Andrew, Stephen, Christopher, 
 Benedict, Thomas of Canterbury, and Faith. There is also 
 a shield of arms of Fordley impaling Bradley. Round the base 
 is an inscription, but it is illegible with the exception of the date, 
 which is 1480. Snettisham pre-Reformation pulpit has been 
 repainted. 
 
 Of the remainder, the pulpit of St Mary Coslany, Norwich, 
 appears to be of the same date (1477) as the rebuilding of the 
 church. The hexagonal pulpits of Bressingham, Brisley, Filby, 
 and Litcham are c. 1500. Breston, Irstead, and Neatishead 
 have linen-fold panels. The panels of the Seaming pulpit 
 exactly correspond with the base panels of the fine early 
 sixteenth-century screen.
 
 MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 o. <:. n. 
 
 Fotheringay
 
 72 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE has a fair number of pre- Reformation 
 pulpits of oak still extant. The oldest of these is at Hannington, 
 where the small but well-carved pulpit appears to be coeval 
 with the screen, and is of advanced Decorated work of the latter 
 half of the fourteenth century (67). 
 
 The hexagonal pulpit in the nave of the former collegiate 
 church of Fotheringay is of beautiful detail. It is set against a 
 pier of the north arcade, and has a small canopy of fan-vaulting, 
 also hexagonal. The panelled back or standard bears the royal 
 arms of Edward IV., with a lion and bull as supporters, and a 
 bull and a boar in panels on either side. The body of the pulpit 
 has two tiers of panels, the upper tier having cinquefoiled heads 
 with carved spandrels, but the lower ones are of plain linen-fold 
 design. By a curious conceit, a second seventeenth-century 
 canopy has been placed above the older one, carved with 
 arabesques and having pendants of acorn shape 1 (71). 
 
 Both in the pulpit and reading desk of King's Cliff are some 
 fifteenth-century traceried panels, but they were brought here, 
 with other woodwork, from Fotheringay. At King's Sutton 
 the pulpit panels have Perpendicular tracery. The old collegiate 
 church of Irthlingborough has a pulpit dating c. 1485. There is 
 also fifteenth-century work in the pulpits of Brigstock, Middleton 
 Cheney, Rushden, Warmington, and YVoodford. 
 
 The only complete pre -Reformation pulpit extant in NOT- 
 TINGHAMSHIRE is a panelled one of oak, c. 1400, in the church 
 ofWysall. An egregious restoration of 1873 discarded this pulpit 
 to be used as a clerk's desk, its place being taken by a common- 
 place modern stone tub. The old pulpit was, however, happily 
 again honoured in 1909 ; when cleaned it was found to have had 
 painted figures on the panels, but they could not be preserved. 
 The pulpit of Strelley bears tracery similar to that of the fifteenth- 
 century rood-screen, but the base and canopy are Jacobean. 
 
 OXFORDSHIRE supplies one or two instances of good 
 mediaeval pulpits of oak. The magnificent church of Burford 
 has a delightful octagonal pulpit, c. 1425 ; it has the elaborately 
 traceried panels divided by slight crocketed buttresses ; it has 
 been somewhat, but carefully, restored and repaired ; it now stands 
 on a stone base. The well-carved pulpit of Handborough has 
 also elaborate Perpendicular tracery, c. 1460. The little 
 Decorated church of Widford, fast going to ruin, possessed a 
 pulpit with Perpendicular panels when last we saw it (1904). 
 
 Wolyercot, until comparatively recent years, had a wonder- 
 fully good fifteenth-century pulpit with beautiful traceried 
 
 1 See plates 9 and 10, Uollman's Pulpits.
 
 MEDL-EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 73 
 
 Monksilver, Somerset 
 
 10
 
 74 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 panels and vine-trail cornice ; but a restoration swept it away, 
 substituting a commonplace modern one of stone. 1 Three or 
 four other Oxfordshire pulpits lay doubtful claim, in whole or 
 in part, to old Perpendicular panelling, but there is much doubt 
 about them, for one of the chief objects of Victorian restorers 
 in this county seems to have been to reduce ancient and modern 
 work to a common level. 
 
 The only mediaeval church pulpit of SHROPSHIRE is the 
 oak example at Onibury, which is clearly of Perpendicular 
 origin, but it has been a good deal spoilt by Jacobean additions. 
 
 The pulpits of Eaton-under-Heywood (erected in 1670), as 
 well as the more modern one of Llan-y-blodwell, Middleton 
 Scriven, and Quatford have mediaeval carving incorporated in 
 their construction. 
 
 SOMERSETSHIRE is not so renowned for old pulpits of wood 
 as it is for those of stone. It possesses, however, one superbly 
 carved fifteenth-century oak pulpit, which is superior in design 
 and interest to any other throughout the kingdom. We allude 
 to the fascinating pulpit of Trull, near Taunton. It can boast 
 of five large statuettes, representing St John with chalice and 
 dove, and the four Latin doctors : Pope Gregory the Great, St 
 Jerome in cardinal's robes, St Ambrose of Milan, and St 
 Augustine of Hippo. These figures stand on pedestals beneath 
 crocketed canopies, and behind each of the pinnacles of the 
 canopies stands an angel, holding the top pair of crockets in 
 his hands. On each of the pilasters or buttresses, between the 
 large figures, are two other tiny niches all supplied with minute 
 figures of other saints. In the days of church spoliation, under 
 the boy king, Edward VI., the larger statues were taken down, 
 and underwent temporary burial for safety's sake. The church 
 is dedicated to All Saints, and this was probably the motive of 
 this craftsman in oak (75). 
 
 Another county pulpit, which may fairly be described as 
 magnificent, as restored in 1868, is that of Long Sutton. It is 
 of late date, c. 1530. The plan below is an octagon, but the 
 upper part forms a sixteen-sided figure. An unusual peculiarity 
 is that the interior of the pulpit is panelled with trefoil-headed 
 tracery. The crockets of the canopies of the small panels are of 
 an unusual diameter. The initial letters, W., S., and M., are 
 among the corbel mouldings which support the pulpit. A good 
 deal of the original colouring and gilding remained when Mr 
 Dollman made his drawings (PI. xxv., xxvi.). Dollman 
 
 1 So perfect was this pulpit that it was selected as the one illustration of 
 an oak pulpit in Packer's three-vol. ed. of Glossary of Gothic Architecture.
 
 MEDIEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 75 
 
 Trull, Somerset
 
 76 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 (PL xxx.) also supplies drawings of the good Perpendicular 
 pulpit of North Petherton, c. 1 500 ; the elaborate traceried 
 panels are divided into two parts by embattled transoms. The 
 little church of Withycombe, near Dunster, has a pulpit panelled 
 with curious tracery designs of early sixteenth-century date. 1 
 Monksilver has an interesting pulpit ; the tall, squared panels are 
 filled with exceptional tracery (73). The churches of Castle 
 Gary and Queen's Camel have good pulpits of about the time 
 of Henry VII. To the same period belong the seven panels of 
 the pulpit of Sehvorthy. The four panels of the small church 
 of Treborough with cinquefoil heads are late fifteenth-century. 
 Notes of the present writer on Combe Flory church, taken 
 hurriedly in 1903, assign that pulpit to c. 1450, or at all events 
 older than the benches. Bridgwater has a fine example of a 
 pulpit in black oak, usually considered to date from 1480. 
 
 Though on the verge of the Reformation, the highly interest- 
 ing pulpit of Wells Cathedral may find a place, though of stone. 
 In the ninth bay of the nave on the south side, gained by steps 
 from the west side of Hugh Sugar's chantry, is the stone pulpit 
 built by Bishop Knight (1541-47). It is of low construction, 
 and fronted with panelled pilasters, and is surmounted by an 
 entablature. In front are the bishop's arms, and on the frieze 
 is the inscription : " Preach thou the worde be farvent in season and 
 ovt of season reprove, rebvke, exhorte w' all longe sufferyng of 
 doctryne (Tim. 2)." 
 
 SUFFOLK has three wooden pre-Reformation pulpits of some 
 celebrity, namely, those of Southwold, Sudbury, and Hawstead, 
 as well as various other fifteenth-century examples. The 
 octagonal pulpit of Southwold is coeval with the present fine 
 church, which was rebuilt between 1470 and 1490 (25). It is an 
 excellent piece of work, each panel enriched with cusped tracery ; 
 it is handsomely painted : the colour and diapering are said to 
 be reproductions of the original colouring. The fine old oak 
 pulpit of All Saints, Sudbury, came to light in 1847, having 
 been concealed for centuries by deal boards and a superfluity 
 of paint. 2 It is octagonal in form, beautifully proportioned, 
 richly carved in the upper parts of the panels, and of late 
 fifteenth-century date. When discovered the tracery was as 
 perfect as on the day when it was cut, and it underwent but 
 slight restoration. This pulpit, c. 1500, forms the subject of one 
 of Dollman's plates (PI. xxviii.). 
 
 1 See plate, p. 134, of English Church Furniture. The tracery of one bay 
 of the fine rood-screen of this church was removed in order to enable a recent 
 stout incumbent to proceed straight to this pulpit from his stall in the choir, 
 - Journal Arch. Assoc., iv. 69,
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 77 
 
 Ivinghoe, Bucks.
 
 78 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 The third of these good pulpits is that of Hawstead ; it is 
 distinctly late in the Perpendicular style, and is considered by 
 Dollman (PI. xxix.) to date c. 1540. Each of the eight panels 
 is divided into three squared compartments ; the lowest has the 
 linen-fold design, the centre one rather clumsily cusped tracery, 
 whilst the uppermost has the Tudor badges of the pomegranate, 
 portcullis, and rose, and the arms of Drury impaling Calthorpe. 
 Sir Robert Drury (pb. 1535) married for his first wife Anne, 
 daughter of Sir William Calthorpe; she died in 1513, and was 
 buried at St Mary's, Bury St Edmunds, where there is a table- 
 tomb with effigies to her and her husband. Other pre-Reforma- 
 tion Perpendicular pulpits are Tuddenham St Martin (early), 
 Gazeley, Horham, and the later hexagonal one of Theberton. 
 The pulpit of Thwaite is considered almost exactly like the 
 so-called "Wycliffe" pulpit at Lutterworth, and is therefore 
 popularly assigned to the fourteenth century. It has, however, 
 been long ago admitted that the Lutterworth pulpit actually 
 dates a full century after the reformer's days. Lakenheath, 
 Monks Eleigh, and Walberswick have also pulpits of Perpen- 
 dicular work. Cockfield has a fifteenth-century base, but is 
 otherwise Jacobean. 
 
 The Benedictine priory of Stoke-by-Clare was turned into 
 a collegiate church in 1415. Matthew Parker (Archbishop of 
 Canterbury under Elizabeth) was the last dean of this college 
 at the time of its dissolution in 1553. He restored the nave and 
 erected the present pulpit, which usually goes by his name. 
 
 SURREY has two or three pulpits which may possibly date 
 from the days of the dawn of the Reformation movement, but 
 they will be found mentioned in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 If the Reformation date is held to begin with Edward VI., 
 SUSSEX can claim to have two pulpits which date near the dawn 
 of that event (c. 1 540) at Goring and Rye ; they both have linen- 
 fold panels. There is, however, a true late mediaeval pulpit at 
 Midhurst, where there is a beautiful example of delicate pierced 
 tracery (c. 1 500). 
 
 There are four WARWICKSHIRE wooden pulpits of mediaeval 
 date, Aston Cantlow, Wootton Wawen, Henley-in-Arden, and 
 Southam. They all show fifteenth-century panelling, but are in 
 no way remarkable ; the two last are probably reconstructions 
 of old material. 
 
 WILTSHIRE. A particular interest is attached to the 
 oak pulpit of West Kingston. Bishop Latimer held this rectory 
 from 1530 to 1535, and the present old oak pulpit is said to have 
 been the one from which he preached. 
 
 Potterne, whose church is so celebrated for its inscribed Saxon
 
 MEDIAEVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 79 
 
 Over, Cambridgeshire
 
 So PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 font, also possesses an ancient hexagonal pulpit, which displays 
 some good Perpendicular carving. 
 
 The few WORCESTERSHIRE pre-Reformation pulpits are 
 not of much importance, but there is a good one of early 
 Perpendicular date (c. 1400) at Evenlode, a parish almost 
 surrounded by Gloucestershire. The next most interesting is at 
 Wickhamford. " The pulpit is octagonal, and appears to retain, 
 within a later casing, a fifteenth or sixteenth century pulpit of 
 which the inside only can now be seen ; of very solid con- 
 struction, with panels framed into arch posts. The outer casing 
 has carving in high relief in panels of cherub's heads and standing 
 figures of saints, seventeenth -century work, and perhaps Flemish. 
 The clerk's desk has six panels of sixteenth-century English 
 work." 1 
 
 The pulpit of Middle Littleton is a half octagon with 
 fifteenth-century panels, and the like is the case with the pulpit 
 of South Littleton. The Badsey pulpit is octagonal on a stone 
 base ; the linen-fold panels are of early sixteenth-century work. 
 The date is suggested by an entry in the churchwardens' accounts 
 for 1529: " Resuyd for y e old pylpet iiijd." Overbury has a 
 sixteenth-century pulpit with linen-fold panels. 
 
 The pulpits of Grafton Flyford and Lutley also show certain 
 pre-Reformation work. 
 
 YORKSHIRE, notwithstanding its great extent, and its famed 
 multiplicity of woodland, has, so far as we know, but a single 
 surviving instance of a pre-Reformation pulpit of oak. Ros- 
 sington (W.R.) is the possessor of one of the finest examples 
 of a fifteenth-century pulpit ; it is supposed to have come from 
 the destroyed church of St Mary Magdalene, Doncaster. Round 
 the top is the inscription : " Orate pro aia Ricardi Stansall et 
 uxoris ejus" Perhaps, however, the Tudor pulpit of Sprot- 
 borough (W.R.) should be added, for it has been recently 
 almost conclusively proved that it was erected in Queen Mary's 
 reign (c. 1555). 
 
 1 Viet. Co. Hist. Worcestershire, ii. 429.
 
 MEDI/EVAL WOODEN PULPITS 
 
 Daresbury, Cheshire
 
 82 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 POST-REFORMATION PREACHING 
 
 THE popular notion that with the Reformation came a flood of 
 preaching is a complete fallacy. The exact contrary is the case. 
 In the later mediaeval days it is true that preachers, preaching 
 elsewhere than in their own parish, required a licence, but the 
 beneficed parish priest was at all times permitted, nay, expected, 
 to preach to his own people. Edward VI.'s Council enjoined a 
 strict system of licensing, but ordered that eight sermons a year 
 were to be preached in every parish church, but four of these 
 were to be against Papacy, and in support of the royal 
 supremacy. The licences of that reign were almost purely 
 political. 
 
 The Princess Elizabeth, in 1550, wrote to William Cecil, 
 when attending upon Protector Somerset, commending the 
 bearer, Hugh Goodacar, in strong terms for a preacher's licence, 
 a favour which Cecil had obtained at her request " for dyverse 
 other honest men." l 
 
 This Goodacar was afterwards chaplain, together with John 
 Bale, to Poynet, Bishop of Winchester, and then transferred to 
 the Archbishopric of Armagh. 
 
 The Elizabethan injunctions of 1559 imply that a licensed 
 preacher should preach in every parish church four times a year, 
 and that on other Sundays a homily should be read. One of 
 the immediate effects of the Reformation was to materially 
 lower the learning of the secular clergy, as is conclusively shown 
 by a variety of archidiaconal records. Thus in the year 1563, 
 out of the 116 priests of the archdeaconry of London, 42 were 
 ignorant of Latin, 13 had received no classical learning whatever, 
 and 4 were in every way indocti. Thirty-one of the remaining 
 57 were classed in the archdeacon's register as latine mediocriter 
 intell, and only 3 had any knowledge of the Greek tongue. 
 
 1 Hist. MSS. Com., xiii. 2, 7.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PREACHING 
 
 Cockington, Devon
 
 4 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Strype, in his Annals of the Reformation, states that the 
 custom of ordaining unscholarly candidates speedily passed away 
 as soon as the urgent necessity had come to an end, and implies 
 that the choice of graduates only was the rule after 1575. But 
 this statement can be flatly disproved by various documents, 
 more especially by a complete clergy list of 1602, at the very 
 close of Elizabeth's reign, in the possession of the Lichfield 
 chapter. 1 
 
 In this valuable Lichfield diocesan list there is one column 
 for the degree, and another for entry if a preacher, and by whom 
 licensed. 
 
 The total number of benefices and chapelries enumerated in 
 this list is 461, and the total of clergy 433. Out of this total of 
 the clergy, only about one-fourth were graduates viz., 1 10, and 
 those who were licensed to preach were less than a fifth, viz., 82. 
 The rest are emphatically entered as " no preacher," and one is 
 rebuked for preaching in his own cure though he held no licence. 
 Fifty-one of the clergy held a licence direct from their own 
 bishop, 17 from the Archbishop of Canterbury, 6 from the 
 Archbishop of York, I each from the Bishops of Lincoln, Ely, 
 and Norwich, and I from two doctors during the vacancy of 
 the Lichfield See. One held a preacher's licence from the 
 University of Oxford, and 2 from the University of Cambridge. 
 
 There can be no doubt that there was far less preaching 
 during Elizabeth's long reign than during any other reign from 
 the Conqueror down to the present day. The Government were 
 so nervous as to the assaults of Rome on the one hand, and 
 Geneva on the other, that the vast majority of the clergy were 
 sternly prohibited from preaching. Never, too, has there been 
 a period when the pulpit was prostituted to such avowedly 
 political use, and that of the worst type, as in the reign of the 
 Virgin Queen. Thus in 1585, when William Parry, who had 
 acted for some time as a Government spy, was executed for 
 high treason and an alleged attempt to assassinate the queen, an 
 order of prayer and thanksgiving was issued for the preservation 
 of her life. This order is prefaced by an extract from Parry's 
 " voluntary confession," written to the queen from the Tower, and 
 the minister is commanded, in the directions preceding the order, 
 at the end of the sermon or homily on the next Sunday, to read 
 this confession, and how he was "animated thereto by the Pope 
 and his Cardinals." It is eminently discreditable to Burghley 
 and the rest of Elizabeth's Council that they spread this " con- 
 
 1 The present writer printed a complete annotated copy of this document 
 in 1884. See vol. vi. of D:rbyshir^ Archceological Journal, pp. 157-180.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PREACHING 
 
 Brancepeth, Devon
 
 86 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 fession," under the guise of religion, from every pulpit in the 
 land, when they knew perfectly well that Parry had deliberately 
 retracted this confession on his trial, asserting it was altogether 
 untrue, and extorted from him by threats and bribes, a declara- 
 tion in which he persisted when on the scaffold. Again in 
 1 598, when the Government had obtained from one Edward 
 Squire, a private soldier, after five hours on the rack, an ex- 
 travagant confession, subsequently denied in every detail, and 
 now universally admitted to be apocryphal, the Council adopted 
 the policy of preparing a form of prayer, with a long and 
 elaborate statement, to be read from the pulpits, which they 
 must surely at that time have known to be untrue, and the 
 main assertions of which have long ago been laughed out of 
 court. This was the fable of the subtle poison obtained from a 
 Jesuit, wherewith Squire was to rub the pommel of the queen's 
 saddle and the seat of the Earl of Essex's chair "a confection 
 so strong," says the Admonition to this Form, " that the very 
 smell thereof did presently strike dead a dog upon which he 
 first tried it." 
 
 This paucity of sermons helps to explain the expression 
 " sermon bell " often found in parish accounts and inventories of 
 this period ; it was the custom on those rare occasions to ring 
 one of the smaller bells when a sermon was about to be preached. 
 
 A change came about soon after the accession of James I. 
 The number of licensed preachers was greatly increased. 
 According to the Canons of 1603, every beneficed preacher was 
 to preach in his own cure or in some other adjoining church 
 " one sermon every Sunday of the year"; every beneficed minister 
 not licensed was to procure sermons to be preached, "one in 
 every month at the least"; and the churchwardens, at the 
 common charge of the parish, were to provide in every church 
 " a comely and decent pulpit to be set in a convenient place 
 within the same." 
 
 It is usually supposed that with the Restoration the habit of 
 preaching extemporarily died out, but Anthony Wood tells us 
 that both Universities forbade the use of written sermons in 
 the very days in question. 
 
 " Nathaniel Vincent of Cambridge, preached before the 
 King at Newmarkett with a long periwige and Holland sleeve as 
 the fashion is. Which giving great distast to the King, told the 
 Duke of Monmouth, Chancellor of Cambridge, that he caused 
 it to be remedied. Wherefor he sent his letter to Cambridge 
 that they put the statute in execution concerning decency in 
 habit, and that they have their sermons menioriter. This being 
 done, the like order was put in execution at Oxford by the
 
 POST-REFORMATION PREACHING 
 
 Newport, Isle of Wight
 
 88 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Vice-Chancellor, 24 Nov. 1674, and his proclamatyn stuck up 
 in all colleges and halls." 1 
 
 Nathaniel Vincent, D.D., was a chaplain-in-ordinary to 
 Charles II., and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. The 
 Oxford order insisted on all sermons before the University, 
 whether in Latin or English, being delivered memoriter and not 
 from manuscript. 
 
 1 Wood's Life and Times, ii. 297. 
 
 East Brent, Somerset
 
 8 9 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 THERE are very few pulpits of the reign of Edward VI. The 
 pulpit of Affpuddle, Dorset, is dated 1547, and that of Chedzoy, 
 Somerset, 1551 (103). 
 
 The number of Elizabethan pulpits is not large. The 
 following are some of the dated examples : Bungay, Suffolk, 
 1558; Knebworth, Herts., 1567; Lenham, Kent, 1574; Worth, 
 Sussex, 1577 ; and Rothersthorpe, Northants, 1579. At 
 Fordington, Dorset, the stone pulpit is dated 1 592. 
 
 It is best to confine the term Jacobean, as applied to pulpits, 
 to the reign of James I., and to use the term Carolean for the 
 reign of Charles I. The Laudian revival of comeliness of worship 
 brought about a variety of well-carved handsome pulpits ; both 
 in number as well as in beauty of detail the Carolean examples 
 generally surpass the Jacobean. It will be seen from the 
 following county lists that a great many pulpits of both these 
 periods are to be found in certain counties, such as Northants and 
 Notts., whilst several northern shires are nearly destitute of 
 pulpits of these reigns. 
 
 The material used for our seventeenth-century pulpits is 
 almost exclusively oak, but stone examples are to be found at 
 Dinder (1621), Somerset, Yaxley, Suffolk, and Swarby, Lincoln- 
 shire. The mediaeval stone pulpit of Brough, Westmoreland, 
 was considerably restored in 1634. 
 
 Parish accounts yield occasional particulars as to these later 
 pulpits. Here are just a few entries relative to the repair or 
 purchase of pulpits during the long reign of Elizabeth : 
 
 1578-79 (St Thomas, Sarum). Mychell Joynes for a cover 
 
 over the powlpete 10 10 
 
 1583-84 (St Matthew, Friday Street}. To the joiner for 
 
 makinge the pulpitt iij li. xv s. 
 
 To the carpenter for a planck and for makinge the 
 
 way to the pulpitt viij s. iij d. 
 
 To the Smyth for Iron Work about the pulpitt vj s. 
 
 12
 
 90 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 1584-85. For a candelstyck for the pullpyt - viij s. 
 
 1578 (Mortlake, Surrey}. Payd for the pulpet to the 
 
 joiners xxxiij s. iiij d. 
 
 Payd to the waterman for the carriage of the same xij d. 
 
 The references to pulpit constructions and repairs during the 
 seventeenth century are so numerous, that it must suffice to cite 
 a single case. An order was given in 1631 to Hugh ap Robert of 
 Rythin, joiner, " to make and set up in the cathedral church of 
 St Asaph, a pulpit of wainscot of 4 ft. in height and breadth, with 
 a desk on three sides and a botom of boards upon 4 ft. in 
 heighth." 
 
 The Puritan element which objected so strongly to bright 
 colours in vestments, altar cloths, and even to painted glass, and 
 desired to reduce the House of God to a dreary greyness, 
 apparently found it impossible to reduce everything to neutral 
 tints, and gave way in the case of pulpit hangings and cushions. 
 It was the easier to do this as the pulpit exalted preaching, 
 the most human part of the service. Bishop Stubbs, when 
 writing about seventeenth-century pulpits, says, with satirical 
 humour, " the cushion of which seems to have been an object of 
 special devotion." The most absurd sums were not infrequently 
 paid for this decking of the pulpit, and matters even went so 
 far as to make the neglect of this adornment an ecclesiastical 
 offence. 
 
 1593 (St Martins-in-the Fields). P d for the olde Church- 
 wardenbeinge presented before M r DoctorStanhope 
 for not having a pulpett cloth - x s. 
 
 1594. P d for iij yardes and iij q' ths of blacke velvett for a 
 
 cloth for y e pulpett and for frindge and Buckeram iiij li. 
 For y e flowres theron ymbrodered xxiiij s. 
 
 1603 04 (St Martin, Leicester). Payd to Coldwest for Worke 
 
 abowte the pulpitt vj s. 
 
 Item for paintinge of it v s. 
 
 1605-06. For halfe a yarde and a reale of grene carsie for a 
 
 cushione for the pulpitt - iij s. 
 
 For j read skyne and white skyne for the same xvij d. 
 
 For vij and a halfe of fether fringe and Crewell for 
 
 the same - iiij s. iiij d. 
 
 1634-35 (St Oswald, Durham}. For 5 yeardes of Padua Serge 
 togither with Silke for making the pulpitt cloth and 
 cushion - -321 
 
 For making the pulpitt cloth and cushion 7 o 
 
 For workinge the fringe for the pulpitt cloth and 
 
 cushion and for fethers and a ledd 1 1 o 
 
 1635-36 (St Edmund, Sarnm). Stufle and fringe for y e Pulpit 
 
 Cusheon - - - - - - i T, o
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 Abbey Dore, Herefordshire
 
 92 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 1646-47. Eleven yardes and a quarter of velvett at i5d. the 
 
 yard for the Pulpitt cloth and Pulpitt Cusheon - 3 8 9 
 Eleven ounces of fringe ingraine and 3 quarters at 
 
 2s. 6d. per ounce - -191 
 
 Foure Tassells for the Cusheon 8 o 
 
 Embroydering the figures on y e Cloth 12 o 
 
 Buckrum and silke and making up the Pulpitt Cloth 
 
 and Cusheon -140 
 
 More to B. Beckham for woorke don, as by his bill -210 o 
 
 No wonder that the more sober-minded of Salisbury became 
 disturbed at the gaudiness of the pulpit as testified by the next 
 entry : 
 
 1652. The pulpit Cloth bee forborne to bee layd because 
 the Color is offensive to the sight of some of the 
 parish. . . . The laying of the Pulpit cloth to be 
 left to the discrecion of the C.W. 
 
 Heavy payments continued elsewhere for smart pulpits during 
 the Commonwealth. Thus at Bishop Stortford, in 1658, when 
 a new pulpit cost $, the cushion for the same amounted to 
 i. 1 8s. 6d. 
 
 At Prestbury, Cheshire, pulpit adornments formed a serious 
 charge on the accounts throughout the century : 
 
 1625. Paid for the Communion Tablecloth fringe and 
 
 furnishinge the pulpitt -iiij. iiij s. xj d. 
 
 1660. Paid for the pullpitt cloth and furniture - ^8 o o 
 
 1660. Pd for a new Pulpit Clothe Cushion and 
 
 vallence - 15 05 oo 
 
 1660. Pd for the 'Carriage of these from London to 
 
 Prestbury - 10 06 06 
 
 Out of a large number of post-Restoration entries relative to 
 the gorgeous and expensive characters of those cushions, St 
 Martin's, Leicester, may claim to hold the record, for in 1678-79 
 occur these entries in the parish books : 
 
 For a new cover for the pullpit and the coveringe 
 
 it - - xxj s. vj d. 
 
 For a pullpitt cloth of velvet and a cushion of 
 
 the same - - xvjli xviij s. viij d. 
 
 For two yardes of fine cotton at xvj d. the yard 
 
 for a case for the velvet cushion - ij s. viij d. 
 
 It will be seen from the following county lists that a fair 
 number of the seventeenth-century pulpits retain their well- 
 carved testers or canopies, and those of later date the flat 
 sounding-boards ; others have been stupidly despoiled of these
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 93 
 
 All Saints, Hereford
 
 94 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 accompaniments ; and some appear never to have possessed 
 them. When complete pulpit, tester, and pedestal they often 
 form an imposing ensemble. In nearly all cases they were 
 designed as a single composition. Many a foolish parson has 
 pulled down the sounding-board to use it as a vestry table. We 
 have noticed this use in about a score of vestries up and down 
 the country ; in one case we have seen it serve as a table in the 
 vicarage stud}' ; and still worse is the instance in which this portion 
 of a pulpit, beautifully inlaid and cunningly wrought, has been 
 pulled out of the church to which it was given, and now does 
 duty as the rectory dinner table ! Parsons and architects have 
 also frequently combined to ruin the effect of an old Jacobean 
 or Carolean pulpit by placing it on a white stone base. 
 
 Mahogany hardly came into general use in England till well 
 on in the eighteenth century. St Margaret's, Lynn, possesses 
 a fine classical mahogany pulpit of 1742, but the base and 
 stairs are new (142). Another mahogany pulpit occurs at 
 Kinoulton, Notts., erected in 1793. At Hucknall, Bucks., both 
 pulpit and reading desk are of finely carved mahogany. But 
 the most striking pulpit in this wood is the well-carved nave 
 pulpit of Lincoln Cathedral, of the end of the eighteenth century. 
 
 " THREE-DECKERS" 
 
 The church of Morden, Surrey, retains a good example of 
 early eighteenth century ; it bears the date 1720, and the initials 
 of the donor, Elizabeth Gardiner. This lady also gave the 
 altar cloth of crimson velvet with a border of gold braid. She 
 was the daughter of George Garth, a lady of the manor, and 
 founder of a free school. 
 
 Sail, Norfolk, is a good early example of a three-decker, with 
 canopy and standard. The old-fashioned little church of Min- 
 stead, Hants, has a genuine three-decker with hexagonal canopy, 
 but it has been somewhat rebuilt ; and Newton St Cyres, Devon, 
 is another canopied example. Others can be noted at Downham 
 St Leonard, Lancashire, Icklingham, Suffolk, and Ronald kirk, 
 Teesdale. At the last of these there is a curious little churching 
 pew below. At Thornaby, Yorks., and Brancaster, Norfolk, good 
 three-deckers have of late years disappeared (99, 97). 
 
 Nearly all churches built or rebuilt between about 1700 and 
 1830 had their pulpits placed centrally, obscuring or completely 
 hiding the altar. Sir Stephen Glynne, writing in 1845 f 
 Weaverharn church, Cheshire, says : " The pulpit bestrides the 
 avenue of the nave, and hides the view of the altar." This
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 95 
 
 Sefton, Lancashire
 
 96 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 odious arrangement disappeared almost everywhere before the 
 advance of the Catholic revival of last century. 
 
 BEDFORDSHIRE. The church of Cockayne - Hatley is 
 elaborately furnished with old woodwork of different periods, 
 brought here from the Continent. The pulpit was obtained from 
 St Andrew's church, Antwerp, and is dated 1559. It is of 
 hexagonal shape, and on each side is a carved panel, four of 
 which bear figures of the Evangelists. 
 
 Wymington is a good example of a true Jacobean pulpit ; 
 it is hexagonal with squared panels, well carved in the upper 
 part ; there is a hexagonal table with pendants, supported by 
 a standard. Coulton and Caddington also possess good plain 
 Jacobean pulpits. The pulpit of Sutton is dated 1628 ; it is a 
 good Carolean specimen. Bolnhurst, Chellington, Stadden, 
 Odell, and Whipsnade are further instances of seventeenth- 
 century date. Astwick church retains an eighteenth-century 
 pulpit, with reading desk and clerk's seat. 
 
 BERKSHIRE is well supplied with pulpits of post-Reformation 
 date. Those of Shallingford, Stanford-in-the-Vale, and Sunning- 
 well are Elizabethan. The last of these, though suffering from 
 modern repairs, is of interest as having been frequently occupied 
 by Bishop Jewel (Salisbury, 1559-71), who was rector here about 
 1551, until he had to flee in Queen Mary's time. 
 
 The pulpit of Newbury, with two tiers of arcaded panels, is 
 early Jacobean, dated 1607; when last seen by the writer (1899) 
 it was painted dark green, relieved by gold ; it now stands on a 
 stone base. The pulpit of Boxford, finely carved, is dated 1618, 
 and that of Waltham St Lawrence, 1619. The following pulpits 
 of this county are conventionally termed Jacobean, though 
 probably fully half are Carolean : Ardington, Baulking, Great 
 Coxwell, Drayton, East Garston, East Isley, East Lockinge, 
 Longcot, Lyford, Pangbourne (beautiful arabesque carving), 
 Ruscombe, Steventon, Wargrave, Long Wittenham, and 
 Yettendon. East Lockinge is, however, distinctly early 
 Jacobean ; the panels are divided into three, the centre having 
 arcaded work ; it is one of those numerous instances in which 
 its effect has been spoilt by being placed on a modern stone 
 base. The hexagonal Jacobean pulpit of Cumnor, which stands 
 against the south jamb of the chancel arch, has a large coeval 
 reading pew, handsomely panelled ; close at hand, whilst im- 
 mediately to the south of the pulpit, is a desk bearing a fine 
 example of a chained Bible of much interest. This Bible, dated 
 1611 (probable date of the pulpit or pew), was used by the 
 Oxford University Press in 1832-33 for producing an exact 
 reprint of the authorised version (196).
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 97 
 
 Brancaster, Norfolk
 
 98 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 There are several dated Carolean pulpits (153). The one at 
 Binfield, with good sounding-board, bears the year 1635, whilst 
 the well-carved pulpit of Hurst is about the same date. 1 
 Archbishop Laud, as we gather from his diary, preached more 
 than once at Hurst, when he was the guest of Sir Francis 
 Windebank, Secretary of State, at Haines Hill. The pulpit of 
 St Helen, Abingdon, is dated 1634, and bears on its panels the 
 appropriate motto, "Ad haec idoneus quis." At St Lawrence, 
 Reading, a large sum was given for a new pulpit of good 
 Renaissance design in 1639 ; it was sold in 1741 for four guineas 
 to Aldworth in this county, where it may now be seen. 2 The 
 handsome pulpit of East Hendred, with sounding-board, has the 
 carved head of Charles I. The West Hanney pulpit is dated 
 1649. At Bucklebury there is a three-decker from which Dean 
 Swift is said to have preached. 
 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE has a considerable number of seven- 
 teenth-century pulpits for so small a county ; they number 
 about forty. The octagonal plan is usual for pulpits of this 
 period in most parts of the country, but in Buckinghamshire 
 they are generally hexagonal. The pulpits of Boveney, 
 Cheddington, Chesham, Dinton, Dorton, Grendon Underwood, 
 Ivinghoe, Langley Marish, Lavendon, Lillingstone Lovell, 
 Middle Clayden, Pitstone, Stantonbury, Towersey, and Twyford 
 appear to be true Jacobean, that is of James I. days. Ivinghoe 
 is a notable and beautiful example ; it is of hexagonal plan, 
 with elaborate mitred panels and richly carved cornice ; the 
 standard at the back is carved in relief with the Resurrection ; 
 the pierced hexagonal canopy, with its pinnacles and pendants, 
 is well shown in the illustration (77). Langley Marish is an early 
 example; it was given by Sir John Kidderminster in 1609. 
 Lavendon and Lillingstone Lovell are both panelled in two 
 tiers of round-headed arches. Pitstone has elaborately moulded, 
 mitred panels, with egg-shaped bosses ; the standard is panelled, 
 and the sounding-board has turned pendants. Towersey, of 
 hexagonal plan, has each panel in two tiers, the upper one of 
 conventional foliage, and the lower arcaded. 
 
 Carolean instances occur at Dorney, Hitcham, Lower 
 Winchendon, Shabbington (dated 1626), Steeple Clayden, 
 Weston Turville, Wing, and Winslow. Dorney has two tiers of 
 panelling in inlaid work, c. 1630; this pulpit was placed here of 
 late years it is said to have come from Somerset. Hitcham 
 
 1 As to the very remarkable hour-glass stands of these two churches, the 
 later dated 1636, see p. 155. 
 
 2 See illustration in Cox's Churchwardens' Accotmts, p. 157.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 99 
 
 Thornaby, Yorkshire
 
 !06 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 and Lower Winchendon have both good canopies. Winslow is 
 richly carved ; the bookshelf is supported by bird brackets. 
 
 Post-Restoration instances occur at Bearstall, Ickford, Iver, 
 Princes Risborough, Radnage, Ravenstone, Wavendon, Willen, 
 and Wraysbury. Ickford has a canopy enriched with guilloche 
 ornament. Ravenstone has moulded panels and a flat sounding 
 board. Wavendon, of hexagonal plan, is of classical design, 
 with cherubs' heads, fruit, and flowers in high relief; it is said to 
 be the work of Grinling Gibbons, and was brought here from the 
 city church of St Dunstan-in-the-West. The sounding-board of 
 Iver church is in the vestry ; that of Wraysbury is in use at the 
 vicarage as a dining-table. 
 
 As to the CAMBRIDGESHIRE post-Reformation pulpits, the 
 one at Chattisham is probably Elizabethan. The church of 
 Over has a most effective Jacobean pulpit, with tall single 
 arcades on the panels ; a similarly arcaded panel of a larger 
 size serves as standard or backpiece to a beautiful octagonal 
 canopy, with lofty pyramidal cover. The pedestal, which is 
 good late fourteenth century, doubtless served for a former 
 mediaeval pulpit (79). The pulpits of Barrington, Brinkley, Croy- 
 don, Great Eversden, Grantchester, Harlton, Kingston (a fine 
 example), Newton, Rampton (good with sounding-board), and 
 Trumpington are all usually called, with customary vagueness, 
 " Jacobean," 1 though two or three are Carolean, and at least one 
 Commonwealth. Dated Carolean instances occur at Little 
 Shelford (1633), Barton (1635), and Great Shelford (1636). 
 With consummate bad taste, Cherry Hinton turned out its good 
 seventeenth-century pulpit ; it was given shelter at Taversham. 
 The pulpit of Brinkley is possessed of an absurdly foolish 
 adjunct. " At the back is placed, resplendent in gold and 
 colours, a constable's staff, dated 1734." 
 
 So many of the churches of CHESHIRE have been entirely 
 rebuilt or modernised that there are but few remains of 
 seventeenth-century pulpits. The octagonal pulpit of Prestbury 
 is dated 1607; it bears the Latin legend " Attendite Dominus 
 Allog'tfr." At Daresbury there is a remarkable but distinctly 
 unattractive hexagonal pulpit, which appears to be quite early 
 Jacobean (81). The panels are in two tiers; the upper one 
 arched, the arch being formed by cherubs' wings ; the lower ones 
 have strapwork and a central boss ; the large brackets to support 
 the cornice are repulsive human grotesques. The pulpit of the 
 timber church of Marton is c. 1620. Siddington pulpit bears 
 E.M. 1633. At the third timber church of Warburton the plain 
 
 1 As in Rev. Evelyn White's Churches of Cambridgeshire.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 101
 
 IO2 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 pulpit is usually considered early Jacobean, but it may be late 
 Elizabethan and coeval with the font cover, which is dated 1595. 
 At Shotwick there is a canopied churchwardens' pew with the 
 date 1673 ; this may also be the year of a quaint high pulpit. 
 
 CORNWALL affords various good examples of post-Reforma- 
 tion pulpits. The one in the beautiful and picturesquely- 
 situated church of Mavvgan-in-Pyder is of special interest, 
 for it is known to have been constructed in 1553 during the 
 Marian revival ; the six panels bear emblems of the Passion. 
 Five pulpits, namely, those of Fowey, Lanreath, St Kew, St 
 Mylor, and St Winnow,can be identified with the later Elizabethan 
 days. Of these Lanreath is specially well carved ; the central 
 panel bears a double-headed eagle ; St Winnow and St Kew 
 have good arabesque designs ; and the hexagonal pulpit of 
 Fowey is dated 1601. The pulpits of Boconnoc, St Mellion, 
 and Stratton are Jacobean. Those of Blisland, St Teath, South 
 Petherwin (1631) and Liskeard (1636) are Carolean. In the 
 churchwardens' accounts of Liskeard for 1636 occur the follow- 
 ing entries : " Pd Peter Shorte the joyner for makinge the New 
 Pulpitt, 10.00.10 ; For making the Pulpitt stayres for borde and 
 nayles, 00.09.06." The pulpit of St Teath, dated 1630, is of 
 singular interest. It displays the arms, crest, and supporters of 
 the family of Carminow ; a younger branch of this most ancient 
 Cornish family held the manor of Trehannick in this parish ; the 
 family became extinct in 1645. The arms are : Az., a bend or, 
 a label of three points gu. ; the crest, a dolphin embowed or ; the 
 supporters griffins. As the label has been left gules (red), it seems 
 a pity that the other colours of this well-carved coat have not 
 been reproduced. As it is, the pulpit presents a patchy appear- 
 ance, a good deal of new work of a poor kind having been 
 introduced at a comparatively recent restoration. But by far 
 the most interesting feature of the pulpit remains to be noted. 
 The motto below the arms is in the old Cornish tongue " Cala : 
 rag : whetlow" " a straw for a talebearer." We are inclined to 
 think this is the only church in the county where the old Celtic 
 language appears. The language was rapidly decaying at the 
 time when this pulpit was set up; but in 1640 the vicar of St 
 Feock was obliged to administer the Blessed Sacrament in Cornish 
 to his older parishioners. The last sermon in Cornish was preached 
 in Landewednack church in 1678. Lawhitton pulpit is dated 
 1655, and Marham church is about the same period. The pulpit 
 of St Ive is 1700; it is covered with debased carvings (51). 
 The church of St Mary, Truro, now encompassed by the new 
 cathedral church, has a polygonal inlaid pulpit of Chippendale 
 work.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 103 
 
 o 
 I*
 
 104 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 We have during different years, now rather remote, visited 
 every old church or chapel in CUMBERLAND, and have no 
 recollection of any old pulpit of either mediaeval or post-Refor- 
 
 C. G. B. 
 
 All Saints, Pavement, York 
 
 Abbotsbury, Dorset 
 
 mation date, save for one unimportant exception. At St John- 
 the-Vale, a chapelry of Crosthwaite, which was rebuilt in 1546, 
 the old oak pulpit, with sounding-board from the former chapel, 
 
 was in use.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS IO5 
 
 DERBYSHIRE has but few old post-Reformation pulpits. 
 At Weston-on-Trent there is a good Jacobean example dated 
 i6ii,and bearing the initials C.T., I.R. The parish church of 
 Chesterfield possesses an exceptionally good Jacobean pulpit, 
 with small classical columns at the angles, but it has been con- 
 siderably repaired. 1 An entry in the registers under 1788 states 
 that " the pulpit and desk were decorated anew, the old ornaments 
 having been up thirty-seven years." 
 
 There are Carolean pulpits at Breaston and Sawley, 2 the 
 former dated 1625, and the latter 1636. 
 
 Considering the size of DEVON, the number of post-Reforma- 
 tion pulpits of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is not 
 large. The elaborate carving, heraldic and symbolic, of the 
 pulpit at Alvington, has not at present been satisfactorily 
 dated, but it is somewhere near the centre of the sixteenth 
 century. The pulpit in the little church of Welcombe is clearly 
 Elizabethan, and so too is the discarded one of Renaissance 
 design at Sutcombe. 
 
 The fine church of Hartland has a pretentiously carved but 
 ineffective modern pulpit in the nave ; this replaced a really 
 fine Jacobean pulpit at the time of its restoration, about 1830. 
 Five well-carved panels of this pulpit can still be seen behind 
 the organ, bearing the words, " God save King James Fines." 
 What the word on the last panel means is a puzzle. It is 
 possibly some forgotten family name, perhaps that of the donor 
 of the pulpit. Ines is a surname not unknown in the West ; 
 the carved letters are all capitals ; could they have meant 
 Frederick] Ines? 
 
 Some old churchwarden accounts of this parish contain the 
 following entries. James I. died 2/th March 1625. Can it be 
 that the word Fines, by mistake for Finis, was added after his 
 death ? 
 
 1609-10. Paid for a new pulpite - - xxxiij s. iiij d. 
 
 For bringing the same pulpit from Bideford - xv d. 
 
 1624-25. Paid William Maze for setting up the King's 
 
 name on the pulpit - ij s. vj d. 
 
 Ashton, a square pulpit, with standard and square tester, is 
 probably early Jacobean : and so too are those of Stockleigh, 
 Pomeroy, and Bradworthy. The fine pulpit of Bradworthy was 
 for a time occupied by a marvellous scamp of a vicar, William 
 Lang, in the days of Charles I. According to Mr Baring-Gould, 
 
 1 Described and illustrated in Gotch's Early Renaissance in England, 
 p. 221. 
 
 2 Illustrated in Building News, I2th June 1885. 
 
 14
 
 IO6 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 this man, who began life as a sand-carrier, was vicar of this 
 parish, and sheriff's bailiff at the same time. After forging 
 several warrants, he fled to Ireland, but on obtaining the bishop's 
 forgiveness he returned to Bradworthy, became a solicitor, and 
 alarmed his flock by threats of action. The next step was to 
 turn the vicarage into a public house, and worse than that, " he 
 sent his daughter into the pulpit to catechise the children ! " 
 This is said to be the only Church of England pulpit that has 
 ever been occupied by a woman. Eventually Lang found his 
 way to prison in London. 
 
 There are three instances of dated pulpits of the Carolean 
 period, namely Axminster (1633), Clovelly (1634), and Braunton 
 (1636). Both Axminster and Braunton are good specimens of 
 fine carving ; the panels have double tiers of round-headed 
 arcading. 
 
 The pulpit of South Tawton is exceptional ; the dark oak 
 has inlaid figures of lighter wood within the square panels. The 
 coeval stairs are guarded by twisted balustrades, pointing to 
 the pulpit being of post-Restoration date. 
 
 DORSETSHIRE has various good pulpits of the seventeenth 
 century. Abbotsbury has a very good Jacobean hexagonal 
 pulpit with double tiers of arcading on the panels ; it has been 
 unhappily and ignorantly disfigured by the removal of its effective 
 canopy or sounding-board. Two small holes in this pulpit are 
 said to have been caused by Parliamentarian soldiers firing 
 through the windows (104). At Upwey there is a good Jacobean 
 pulpit ; for a long time there were affixed to the base of this 
 pulpit three large oak figures of the Apostles St Peter, St Philip, 
 and St James, which were supposed to have been taken down 
 from the old rood-loft ; however, in 1891 they were removed from 
 their unwarrantable position and transferred to the chancel. The 
 Jacobean pulpit of Broadwinsor is the one which was used for 
 some years by Fuller ; he was presented to this living in 1634, 
 suspended during the Civil Wars, but returned with the Re- 
 storation. The pulpit is polygonal, with rows of panels divided 
 by Gothic buttresses. The pulpits of Dorchester St Peter, 
 Netherbury, Portisham, and Frome Vauchurch are usually 
 described as Jacobean without knowing their precise date. 
 Of these the good octagonal pulpit of Dorchester is undoubtedly 
 early Jacobean ; it stands on an octagonal panelled shaft ; the 
 pulpit panels have two tiers of arcaded work (107). Lyme Regis 
 has a fine Jacobean pulpit with sounding-board, on the soffit of 
 which is inscribed " To God's Glory, Richard Harvey of London 
 mercer and merchant Adventurer built this anno 1613. Faith is 
 by hearing!'
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 107
 
 108 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 The simple but elegant pulpit of Todbere is of the days of 
 Charles I., and so also is that of West Chickerell, dated 1630. 
 The pulpit of Cerne Abbas is a really beautiful example of 
 Carolean work ; it is of octagonal plan, and the two tiers of 
 panels are both arcaded ; the fine octagonal canopy bears the 
 date 1640, and the supporting standard has an arcaded panel 
 over a conventional thistle. At Cheriton Marshall there is an 
 unusually lofty pulpit, with canopy over it, crowned by a gilded 
 pelican ; it is probably of the same date as the rebuilding of the 
 church, namely 1718. 
 
 DURHAM. Brancepeth is celebrated for the singularly fine 
 woodwork bestowed upon this church by the great Bishop 
 Cosin, who was rector from 1626 to 1644 (85). The pulpit is a 
 noble piece of craftsmanship. It is of oblong plan, with circular- 
 headed classical panelling and elaborately carved cornice. The 
 noble standard, panelled with a lozenge moulding, supports a fine 
 but possibly overwrought canopy or tester, with pendants at the 
 angles and a profusion of towering pinnacle work above. The 
 pulpit, together with the reading desk and oak stalls, of 
 Haughton-le-Skerne, are all about the end of the seventeenth 
 century. At Egglescliffe there is a somewhat curious eighteenth- 
 century pulpit with sounding-board. 
 
 ESSEX. In the fine church of Thaxted, on the south side of 
 the nave, is a dignified seventeenth-century pulpit of hexagonal 
 plan, with a corresponding sounding-board ; it stands on a tall 
 central shaft. The Jacobean pulpits of Aveley and Matching are 
 dated respectively 1621 and 1624. The former is well carved 
 and has a sounding-board. Parts of the pulpit of Woodham 
 Mortimer are Jacobean. 
 
 There are two dated Carolean pulpits the one (1630) is at 
 Stondon Massey, and the other (1639) at Great Baddow ; the 
 latter is a fine example with a tester. At Peering the pulpit 
 has well-carved scenes from the Passion ; it is of modern con- 
 struction, but the figures are old. 
 
 GLOUCESTERSHIRE has a fair share of interesting post- 
 Reformation pulpits. The one at Winchurch is undoubtedly 
 late Elizabethan. The imposing church of Chipping Campden 
 has a finely carved Jacobean pulpit, dated 1612, the gift of the 
 munificent Sir Baptist Hicks, who died as Viscount Campden 
 in 1639. This pulpit is figured in the Architectural Sketch Book, 
 vol. x., 3rd series (169). At Elkstone there is an earlier and good 
 example dated 1604. The carefully repaired and most interest- 
 ing church of Oddington has a beautiful instance of Jacobean 
 work with a fine canopy. Iron Acton has also a canopy. The 
 Jacobean panels of an old pulpit behind the poor modern sub-
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 109
 
 IIO PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 stitute might easily escape attention. The pulpits of Stoke 
 Orchard and Duntsbourne Rous are either late Jacobean or 
 early Carolean. The well-carved pulpit of Rodborough was the 
 gift and bears the arms of Jasper Escourte ; the donor died in 
 1624. Maismore has a good Carolean pulpit dated 1636. The 
 church of Taynton was burnt down by the Royalists in 1643, and 
 rebuilt by order of Parliament in 1648 ; the well-carved oak 
 pulpit came from Holy Trinity, Gloucester, on its demolition ; 
 it retains an hour-glass frame. The Brimpsfield pulpit is one 
 of the few Commonwealth examples ; it is dated 1659. At 
 Farmington there is an early eighteenth-century pulpit. 
 
 The Bristol churches retain several pulpits of Renaissance 
 style and date, but in no case do they remain in an unaltered 
 condition. They are to be found at St Stephen, St Mary-le 
 Port, Christchurch, and St Thomas. The pulpit at St Thomas's 
 is noteworthy, as it is a most unusual combination of two woods, 
 walnut and oak ; in this case the base of the pulpit appears to 
 have been utilised as a reading desk. 1 
 
 There are a number of well-carved pulpits of different periods 
 of the seventeenth century here and there throughout HAMP- 
 SHIRE. The church of Bishop's Waltham has been so 
 extensively and frequently restored that it has lost almost 
 all antiquarian interest, but it still retains an exceptionally 
 handsome panelled pulpit with enriched tester of late 
 Elizabethan, or possibly early seventeenth-century date. 
 
 The hexagonal pulpit of Kingsclere is an elaborate example 
 of early Jacobean work ; it has two tiers of panels, which are 
 crowned with shallow arabesque patterns. Fawley has an 
 octagonal early Jacobean pulpit, with arcaded panels and 
 a projecting book-board. The pulpit of Basing is hexagonal, 
 dated 1622, and of good workmanship ; the panels, both arched 
 and square, are elaborately carved with strap ornaments and 
 other designs. It was brought here from the church of 
 Basingstoke. At Sopley there is an early Jacobean pulpit with 
 strapwork carving ; it is probably of the same year as a chair 
 dated 1604. The Dursley pulpit is a good Carolean example ; 
 it has two tiers of panelling, the upper with arabesque designs, 
 and the lower arcaded ; the octagonal tester is inscribed " A.W., 
 E.D., T.C., 1630." 
 
 Odiham has an elaborately carved pulpit ; it closely resembles 
 that of Winchfield, which is dated 1634. The latter has panels 
 in two ranges ; the upper contains small grotesques and the 
 lower palms in pots and other floral designs. At Silchester 
 
 1 See Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch. Trans., vol. xxxii.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 III
 
 112 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 the pulpit is hexagonal, and over it is an octagonal canopy 
 inscribed " The guift of James Hore, gent, 1639." This effective 
 canopy has a domed top surmounted by a dove, whilst the 
 cornice, enriched with carving, has similar arches and pendant 
 fleurs-de-lis. Durley pulpit is a good octagonal specimen with 
 two tiers of panels, the upper with arabesque ornament, and the 
 lower arcaded ; the octagonal tester bears on its panelled soffit 
 " A.W., E.D., T.C., 1630." At Finsbury there is a seventeenth- 
 century pulpit and clerk's desk with arcaded panels, and the 
 inscription " Wo is unto me if I preach not y e Gospel, I Cor, 
 ix, 1 6." Alton has a particularly fine pulpit of late Carolean 
 work, but undated, with detached pillars at the angles. There 
 are two in the county erected in the Commonwealth period. 
 .The pulpit at Tadley, with a panelled sounding-board, is dated 
 1658. The pulpit of Monk Sherborne has panels of flat arabesque 
 work, and was set up by William Dobson, rector, ob. 1654. 
 There is a decidedly good pulpit at North Badderley, with 
 inlaid panels and an octagonal tester. It is probably late 
 Elizabethan, for the adjacent screen is dated 1682. The plain 
 octagonal late seventeenth-century pulpit of Upper Clatford has 
 an octagonal sounding-board. On the pulpit of the parish 
 church of Portsmouth there is a hanging of red velvet, with a 
 silver fringe, and the date 1694. Finally, some notice must be 
 taken of the Jacobean pulpit in the nave of Winchester Cathedral, 
 a good example of its kind. It was ejected from New College 
 chapel, Oxford, and given to Dr Mayo, a former fellow, and 
 presented by his family to the cathedral in memory of his sister, 
 who died in 1884. 
 
 The ISLE OF WIGHT has, for its size, so many good seven- 
 teenth-century pulpits that it is as well to group them together. 
 At Whitwell there is a well-carved, arcaded Jacobean pulpit, 
 dated 1623, which only cost the churchwardens \. The 
 church of Wootton has a good pulpit much earlier in the reign 
 of James I. The gracefully wrought tester added to the stone 
 pulpit of Shorwell has been already named ; it was doubtless 
 among the benefactions of Sir James Leigh, and is probably of 
 the year 1617, which is the date piercing the tail of the weather- 
 cock surmounting the spire of his reconstruction. Shalfleet 
 pulpit is a rather good example of early Jacobean work, though 
 of simple design. There is a fairly good Jacobean pulpit at the 
 drastically restored old church of Mottiston, but its effect is 
 considerably damaged by a new stone base. In the much- 
 falsified church of Brightstone there is yet another good Jacobean 
 pulpit, which cost the churchwardens 5 ; it was, however, a 
 good deal spoilt during restoration in the middle of last century.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 Oxford Cathedral
 
 114 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Northwood supplies an example of an excellent seventeenth- 
 century pulpit, with tester and canopy over it, which we believe 
 to be of Carolean date. Yarmouth used to possess a singularly 
 effective Carolean pulpit, dated 1636 (which the writer more 
 than once admired in bygone years), but the Goths of 1875 
 ejected it in favour of a poor modern "Gothic" substitute of 
 stone ; this discarded pulpit has now found a home on the other 
 side of the Atlantic. 
 
 Newport rejoices in by far the most beautiful pulpit of the 
 seventeenth century throughout the kingdom. The fine old 
 church, though in substantial repair, was destroyed in favour of 
 a showy successor in 1854. Fortunately the singularly good 
 Carolean pulpit, with its wealth of carving and its noble tester, 
 escaped destruction when the fabric was swept away. It was 
 the gift of one Stephen Marsh in 1636; his crest (an arm 
 couped grasping a battleaxe) is on a panel at the back. The 
 elaborate carving with which the whole structure was enriched 
 was the work of Thomas Caper, whose family device, a goat, 
 may also be seen at the back. The cresting of the tester 
 includes figures of Justice and Mercy, supported by trumpet- 
 bearing angels, whilst below on the soffit is inscribed : " Cry aloud 
 and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet'' The pulpit itself 
 is divided into fourteen panels in two tiers. The upper row 
 has carved figures of the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, 
 and Charity, and of the four cardinal virtues, Justice, Prudence, 
 Temperance, and Fortitude. In the lower row are the seven 
 liberal sciences, with their names on scrolls beneath Grammatica, 
 Dialectica, Rhetorica, Musica, Arithmetica, Geometria, and 
 Astronomia (87). 
 
 The panelled pulpit of the mutilated church of Carisbrooke, 
 with tester or sounding-board, is a good Commonwealth example, 
 dated 1659. 
 
 The pulpit of Newchurch, with a great clumsy canopy 
 surmounted by a figure, probably dates from 1725. 
 
 HEREFORDSHIRE has some good examples of seventeenth- 
 century pulpits. The pulpit of All Saints, Hereford, is a striking 
 instance of late Jacobean, dated 1621 (109). It is of hexagonal 
 plan and is full of details, as will be seen from the illustration. 
 The panels, divided by classical pilasters, are arcaded below, but 
 are squared with mouldings. Below the cornice is a strip of strap- 
 work, and in the centre of each panel is a short piece of vine 
 trail. The handsome hexagonal tester is not supported by any 
 backpiece or standard connected with the pulpit, but is simply 
 attached to the wall ; its soffit bears the following in plain 
 lettering " Howe beautyful are the feete of them that bring glad
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 Croscombe, Somerset
 
 Il6 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 tidings of peace'' It adds to the interest of this pulpit to find 
 that the churchwarden accounts supply the price : 
 
 1621. Item payed the Asyners for their Tymber and 
 
 workmen their labour the Pulpit vii 
 
 There is another good hexagonal pulpit of almost like date 
 at Abbey Dore, close to the bold Jacobean screen with which 
 it harmonises (91). There is considerable resemblance in this 
 to the much larger and more remarkable display at Croscombe, 
 Somerset. The tester in this case, with its elaborate cresting, 
 is supported by a standard with a double arcaded panel like 
 those of the pulpit itself (115, 117). Winforton has a Jacobean 
 pulpit with the date 1613, and the name of the donor, Thomas 
 Higgins, on the panels. 
 
 The Carolean pulpit and reading desk of Stoke Bliss, dated 
 1635, strictly speaking, comes under Worcestershire, as the parish 
 was transferred to that county in 1897. 
 
 The panels of the pulpit of Bosbury have four remarkable 
 sacred carvings, which are doubtless of Flemish origin : (r) The 
 Virgin and Child, (2) the Offering of the Wise Men, (3) the 
 Agony in the Garden, and (4) the Crucifixion. The third of 
 these crowds together a variety of incidents. 
 
 HERTFORDSHIRE is well supplied with pulpits of the seven- 
 teenth century. The pulpit of Knebworth is of richly carved 
 Flemish panelling, made up in the sixteenth century. One of 
 the panels is dated 1567. Stanstead Abbotts has a Jacobean 
 pulpit ; a sixteenth-century tester, formerly over the pulpit, has 
 been made up into a tower-arch screen. Great Munden has a 
 hexagonal early Jacobean pulpit, with two tiers of arcading, and 
 Sandon is another good example. 
 
 There is a distinctly good early Jacobean pulpit at Bushey ; 
 it is of octagonal design, surmounted by a tester ; the projecting 
 book-rest is supported by scrolled brackets. The hexagonal 
 pulpit of King's Langley is an interesting example, with tester, of 
 early Jacobean work, though repaired in modern days. Still 
 better workmanship is shown in the hexagonal pulpit of North 
 Mimms, which is usually spoken of as "early Jacobean," but 
 the squared design of the panelling is more likely to be late 
 Elizabethan, c. 1590; there is a deep band of carving above the 
 panels ; both cornice and base are modern. There can be no 
 mistake about the hexagonal Puttenham pulpit being early 
 seventeenth-century ; it has the two characteristic tiers of panels, 
 the upper carved with scaly, fish-like figures, and the latter with 
 a lozenge pattern. The pulpit of Long Marston is also Jacobean, 
 with two tiers of panels, but of simpler character than the last
 
 POST- REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 117 
 
 Croscombe, Somerset
 
 Il8 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 named. Codicote also is distinctly plain Jacobean ; the upper 
 tier of panels is arcaded, whilst the lower have lozenges in the 
 centre. Moreton hexagonal pulpit is another instance with back- 
 piece and tester ; the moulded panels show it to be quite early 
 in the seventeenth century. Bishop Latimer is said to have 
 preached "several times " in the pulpit of Hunsdon, and another 
 account asserts that it was Bishop Ridley ; this is curious, for 
 it is dated 1620, and both bishops died in 1555! This pulpit 
 has two tiers of plainly-modelled panels and a canopy. 
 
 Two of the most exceptional of Hertfordshire pulpits of this 
 century yet remain to be briefly noted, namely those of Sarratt 
 and St Michael, St Albans. The former is hexagonal, with a 
 square tester supported by a standard or backpiece ; there are 
 two tiers of square panels, with curious perpendicular lines of 
 mouldings, which almost give the effect of the linen-fold pattern ; 
 they are divided at the angles by double slender shafts turned 
 like balusters ; the whole speaks of the dawn of the seventeenth 
 century, almost Elizabethan. It is said that Richard Baxter 
 used this pulpit on several occasions. The octagonal pulpit of 
 St Michael's church is a singularly fine specimen of quite early 
 Jacobean, with a good tester and headpiece ; the central squared 
 panels of formal moulding have richly carved bands above and 
 below ; the widely projected book-board is supported by pierced 
 brackets. To the west side is fastened a tall iron hour-glass 
 stand (158). 
 
 There are two dated pulpits of Carolean work, namely 
 Ashwell, dated 1627, which is a really fine piece of work, and 
 Aston Bury, with octagonal panelling, which is dated 1634. 
 
 Bishop's Stortford retains a panelled Commonwealth pulpit 
 dated 1658 ; it is of hexagonal plan, and stands on a hexagonal 
 shaft supported by carved brackets. 
 
 Watford parish church possesses a good pulpit of post- 
 Restoration date, c. 1675 ; it is hexagonal, with a carved cornice, 
 inlaid panels, and garlands at the angles in single relief. The 
 pulpit of Ware is of late seventeenth-century date ; it is hex- 
 agonal, with raised lozenge-shaped panels. Great Anwell has 
 an octagonal pulpit with lozenge-shaped panels ; the cornice 
 is dated 1696; it came originally from the archiepiscopal 
 chapel at Croydon. 
 
 There are also seventeenth-century pulpits to be seen at 
 the churches of Albury, Little Hadham, Puttenham, Ridge, 
 Sawbridgeworth, Totteridge, Wheathampstead, and Wormley. 
 
 HUNTINGDONSHIRE has a finely carved octagonal 
 Elizabethan pulpit with canopy at Orton Waterville ; the panels 
 are bordered with foliage.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 St Decuman's, Somerset
 
 I2O PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 In 1625, when the church of Little Gidding was put in order 
 throughout, " the pulpit was fixed on the north, and the reading 
 desk over against it on the south side of the church, and both 
 on the same level, it being thought improper that a higher place 
 should be appointed for preaching than that which was allotted 
 for prayer." l 
 
 With regard to KENT, the pulpit at Smeeth is probably 
 Elizabethan, and the one at Lenham, which has a canopy, is 
 dated 1574. St Nicholas-at-Wade, in the Isle of Thanet, has 
 an exceptionally good pulpit of early Jacobean date ; it is most 
 likely one of those which were ordered in obedience to the 
 Canon of 1603. The five panels have three divisions, the central 
 one carved with a round-headed arch ; the rail to the stairs is 
 coeval. Cowden has a good pulpit, dated 1620. The pulpits of 
 Lower Halstead (with a canopy), Sutton-by-Dover, Monkton, 
 Seal, Dartford, Teynham, and TJpchurch are all either Jacobean 
 or Carolean. 2 Sevenoaks is certainly Carolean, and is dated 
 1636. This good pulpit is said to have come here from Wrotham. 
 Cliffe-at-Hoo is another well-carved example of that reign, 
 standing on a modern stone pedestal ; it is dated 1634, and has 
 an hour glass as well as stand attached. The pulpit of St 
 Nicholas, Deptford, is of the year 1697 ; it is good for the date. 3 
 
 LANCASHIRE retains a single Elizabethan pulpit and a few 
 of the seventeenth century. The pulpit of Deane is of black 
 oak ; it is of late Elizabethan date, with much Renaissance 
 detail ; there is also a backpiece or standard supporting a tester, 
 
 Standish possesses a beautifully enriched Jacobean pulpit. 
 It is octagonal, and each panel is divided into three divisions. 
 It stands on a low, well-moulded stem, and under the cornice 
 is this inscription on six sides : "Necessitas mihi incumbit vae 
 mi hi si non evangelizavero, exsumptibus W. Leigh Rec. 1616." 
 On the remaining side, one being open, is " VV. Leigh Reef. 
 Donum Ded. Deo. 1616." The pulpit of St Mary, Lancaster, is 
 dated 1619. 
 
 At Radcliffe, in Salford Hundred, there are two seats at the 
 west end composed of portions of the seventeenth-century 
 pulpit and reading desk. The seat on the south side of the 
 tower arch has the date 1606, the Assheton crest, and various 
 initials. On the seat on the north side are the initials of Charles 
 Beswick, rector, the date 1665, and the inscription: "All my 
 
 1 M.S. of Nicholas Ferrar, cited in Hierurgia Anglicana, i. 72. 
 
 2 In Dr Grayling's two little volumes on Kent Churches, they are all 
 somewhat vaguely termed " seventeenth-century." 
 
 3 Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1898.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 121 
 
 F. H. C. 
 
 Bishop's Lydeard, Somerset 
 
 16
 
 122 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 ivords that I speak unto thee, receive into thy heart with tliine ears. 
 Ezekiel tit'., chap, x." 
 
 The Jacobean pulpit of Hoole was much spoilt in the last 
 century, when some small Gothic panels were introduced ; the 
 backpiece and canopy are original ; they were taken down and 
 cleaned in 1859. 
 
 There is a somewhat fine example of a Carolean pulpit, dated 
 1635, in the Lancashire church of Sefton. It is octagonal, with 
 pilasters at the angles, and has two tiers of panels worked in 
 arabesque in low relief. It rests on a tall octagonal shaft, and is 
 crowned with an octagonal tester with a panelled soffit and 
 pendants at the angles. Round the tester is the inscription : 
 " My sonne feare thou the Lorde and the Kinge and medle not with 
 them that are given to change " ; there is another incomplete 
 inscription round the cornice of the body of the pulpit : " He 
 that covereth his sinne shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and 
 forsaketh them shall have mercie ; happy is tlie m . . ." This 
 pulpit has of late years been moved from the middle pier on the 
 north side, and, with singularly bad taste, been set against the 
 wood screen on the north side of the entrance to the chapel (95). 
 
 The oak pulpit of Garstang is a good piece of late Carolean 
 work, dated 1646, with square moulded panels; the stem and 
 top moulding are new. 
 
 The old church of Walton-le-Dale was pulled down in 1905 
 to make way for a successor. Sir Stephen Glynne tells us that 
 the old church was remarkable for its two lofty pulpits, one on 
 each side of the chancel arch, each with a conspicuous iron 
 staircase. 
 
 LEICESTERSHIRE has two good pulpits, c. 1600, which are 
 possibly Elizabethan, but more probably Jacobean, namely 
 those of Bottesford and Loddington. The latter is sometimes 
 said to have come from Launde Abbey, but this is, of course, 
 a blunder. Peatling Magna pulpit is Jacobean, with an elaborate 
 and unusual canopy. The seventeenth-century enriched pulpit 
 of Shepsted now stands in the vestry. Another example is to 
 be noted at Great Easton. 
 
 An interesting Carolean pulpit occurs at Muston. This 
 pulpit, together with the screen, was erected in 1640 by the 
 then rector, Robert Saunderson, who was afterwards Bishop 
 of Lincoln from 1660 to 1663. 
 
 At Thornton there is an early Renaissance pulpit. Long 
 Whatton gives shelter to the old pulpit of Colston Bassett, 
 Notts., when that highly interesting old church was so 
 scandalously gutted and left to go to ruin in 1892. 
 
 The great county of LINCOLN has a fair number of post-
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 123 
 
 Rodney Stoke, Somerset
 
 124 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Reformation pulpits extant of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries. The pulpits of Navenby and Wrangle are clearly of 
 Elizabethan days. The good Elizabethan pulpit of Skirbeck 
 has a desk supported by three birds. Of the Jacobean pulpits, 
 one of the best is at Alford ; other undated examples occur at 
 the churches of Hanningham, Kirkby Underwood, Knaith, 
 Saltfleetby All Saints, Silk Willoughby, and Wigtoft. The 
 most interesting and best example, with a tester over it, is 
 the pulpit erected at Croft in 1615, by Dr Worship, vicar there 
 from 1599 to 1625, to the memory of his wife. A brass to her 
 memory in the south aisle is thus inscribed : 
 
 " Here lyeth the bodie of Agnes Worship, a woman machles 
 both for wisdom and godlynes. She was the wife of William 
 Worship, Doctor of Divinitie and minister of Croft, and departed 
 this life the 6th daie of Maye, Ano. 1615." 
 
 Another dated Jacobean example occurs in the grand church 
 of Boston ; it bears the year 1620. The Jacobean pulpit at 
 Frampton came from Bourne Abbey church. The fine pulpit of 
 Burgh is dated 1623. 
 
 Helpringham pulpit is undoubtedly somewhat later, and 
 entitled to be called Carolean. Another interesting and excep- 
 tional Carolean pulpit occurs at Skidbrook ; it has a tester and 
 supporting backpiece or standard ; on the latter is carved. " R. 
 1628," and the lion and unicorn facing each other, but lacking 
 the royal arms. Surely this is a unique arrangement (109). 
 
 At Friskney there is also a well-carved seventeenth-century 
 pulpit with a tester, but this is a Commonwealth example. It 
 bears the date 1659, and the initials, " W. P., W. C." At Whaplode 
 a Carolean pulpit has been pulled to pieces to form a small 
 screen in the transept. 
 
 The seventeenth-century pulpit at Utterby bears the inscrip- 
 tion of a man of reverent and humble mind : " Quoties conscendo, 
 aninw contimesco" 
 
 At Swarby the pulpit bears the following couplet : 
 
 " O God my Saviour be my sped 
 To preach thy word men's soulls to fed." 
 
 Lutton has an inlaid pulpit and canopy dated 1702. They 
 were provided by a bequest from the celebrated Dr Busby of 
 Westminster School, who was born in this parish. 
 
 MIDDLESEX. Only seven London churches are now left of 
 those that were standing before the Great Fire of 1666. Of 
 these All Hallows, Barking, has a handsomely carved pulpit 
 given by John Burnell in 1613. In 1638 the vestry requested 
 the wardens to " take care that a new pulpitt hedde be made in
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 125 
 
 Stoke St Gregory Somerset
 
 126 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 regard the old one is too small " ; the new head bears the motto 
 " Xpm pudicum Crucifixum." St Giles, Cripplegate, has a beauti- 
 fully carved pulpit of the year 1704; it had originally a sounding- 
 board. St Helen's, Bishopsgate, pulpit is a fine piece of seven- 
 teenth-century carving. St Katherine Cree has a well-carved 
 pulpit of cedar, the gift of John Dyke, as mentioned by Strype. 
 The church of St Olave, Hart Street, was demolished in 1568 ; 
 the handsome pulpit, assigned to Grinling Gibbons, was moved 
 to St Benet, Gracechurch Street, but has been much spoilt by 
 being mounted on an incongruous white stone base. 
 
 Of the fifty and odd new churches designed by Wren, 
 less than a score retain the generally fine and richly carved 
 pulpits with which they were originally furnished. Nine pre- 
 serve the canopies or sounding-boards with which they were 
 invariably supplied. Several of these sounding-boards have 
 been foolishly removed during recent years, and this was also 
 done at St Katherine Cree, in 1874, where the sounding-board 
 now serves as a vestry table. The best examples of Wren's 
 pulpits are to be seen at St Mildred, Bread Street, and at 
 Christ Church, Newgate Street. 
 
 MONMOUTH. The pulpit at Caervvent bears the date 1632 ; 
 a rough representation of Llandafif Cathedral on the central 
 panel ; the arms of Sir Charles Williams of Llangibby, and the 
 inscription : " Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel" At 
 Trelleck the reading desk is dated 1634, and the pulpit 1640. 
 The pulpit of Llangibby is early Hanoverian, and has a 
 sounding-board. 
 
 Considering the vast number of its churches, the old post- 
 Reformation pulpits of NORFOLK are not numerous. The carved 
 work of the Wickhampton pulpit proves it to be Elixabethan, 
 and this is also the case with that at Ranworth. 
 
 The sounding-board of the old pulpit of Fincham, now a 
 vestry table, bears this inscription : " Gregory Watson servant to 
 the Right Worshipful Sir Francis Gawdy, Knight, made this at Jiis 
 own charge. Anno Dni. 1604." The well-carved pulpit at Cley 
 is dated 161 1. The undated pulpits of Caston, Merton, Tacolnes- 
 ton (unusually large), Tibenham, and Griston, the last two with 
 testers, are usually styled Jacobean, but are quite as likely 
 Carolean. 
 
 North Elmham pulpit, dated 1626, is inscribed " Verbum Dei 
 tnanetin aeternum." Other dated Carolean pulpits are Thornham 
 and Wiggenhall St Germans (1631), Tuttington (1639), and 
 Necton (1636). The old pulpit of Kingham bore the text, 
 " Necessity is laid upon me, yea ^voe is me if I speak not the Gospel" 
 It was of interest as having been used by Robert Peck, rector,
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 127 
 
 F. H. C. 
 
 St Cuthbert, Wells
 
 128 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 " a man of very violent schismatical spirit." In 1636 he plucked 
 up the altar rails, levelled the altar, and lowered the chancel 
 by a foot. For this he was prosecuted by Bishop Wren, when 
 he fled the country with some of his parishioners, and founded 
 the town of Kingham in New England. Ten years later, when 
 bishops were abolished by Parliament, Peck returned, regained 
 the living, and died here in 1656. 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE possesses, for its size, an unusual 
 number of old post-Reformation pulpits, several of them of 
 considerable merit. Possibly this may have arisen from the 
 fact that Northamptonshire was essentially the home among 
 all other shires where Puritanism of an extreme type and of 
 foreign origin took root, and several of whose ministers made 
 not the slightest scruple in receiving episcopal ordination and 
 accepting Church benefices, whilst they deliberately repudiated 
 the main episcopal doctrines and practices. Among such as 
 these the exaltation of preaching at the expense of the sacra- 
 ments was the very essence of their creed. 1 
 
 There used to be an Elizabethan pulpit at Kelmarsh ; in 
 1559 William Humphrey bequeathed I2d. "towards the making 
 of the pulpitt" in this church. Rothersthorpe pulpit is Eliza- 
 bethan, inscribed " 1 579 F. S." ; Francis Somervell was at that 
 time patron of the living. 
 
 It is rather difficult to decide, even after repeated examina- 
 tion, the true date of the fine painted pulpit of Oundle, with 
 traceried panels curiously bedecked with gilded leaden stars. So 
 good an authority as the late Mr Brereton considered it fifteenth- 
 century ; but Whellan and others state that it is of the year 
 1554, and that it used to be known as "the Reformation pulpit." 
 This was probably the date of its reconstruction, mainly from 
 old material. Upton, near Peterborough, has the best of the 
 early Jacobean pulpits, with canopy and panelled standard. 
 Castor has also a good pulpit with arcaded panels, and a tester 
 or canopy over it. At Nassington the pulpit is Jacobean, with 
 the base of an hour-glass stand attached. Barnwell St Andrew 
 and Kingsthorpe have good arcaded panels of this style. The 
 pulpits at Chelveston, Creaton, Polebrook, Pytchley, Tansor, and 
 Wilbarston may be pronounced, with a certain vagueness, as 
 Jacobean. Glapthorne, Towcester, and Warmington are made 
 up of Jacobean panelling. It is almost incredible to have to 
 chronicle the sacrilegious maltreatment of the once fine Jacobean 
 pulpit of Marholm, noticed by Paley in 1859. A recent rector, 
 
 1 See Viet. County Hist, of Northants, vol. ii. pp. 43-83 ; and Rev. R. M. 
 Serjeantson's All Saints, Northampton, pp. 101-121, and St Giles, North- 
 ampton, pp. 37-61.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 129
 
 130 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 a canon of the Church, had the audacity to cut it up into a 
 sideboard for the rectory dining-room, and there it is, we are 
 assured, at the present day ! 
 
 Ashby St Ledgers pulpit was put up by Mr Janson, who 
 purchased the property in 1612; it is exactly similar in style 
 to the woodwork in the Hall. Earl's Barton has a remarkably 
 good early Jacobean pulpit ; the panels are of two tiers ; the 
 lower ones are arcaded, enclosing a conventional rose of ten 
 petals ; the imitation Gothic vine trail on the cornice is note- 
 worthy. Dallington is another example of double-tiered 
 panelling ; the upper row is arcaded and the lower one bears 
 roses. 
 
 The Carolean pulpit of Alderton is dated 163 1. It is inscribed : 
 " / the Lord will meet thee in this place and tell thee what thou 
 shalt say to the people, Ex. xxv. 22." It has arcaded work 
 in the lower panels and strapwork above. On the lower 
 side of the sounding-board most stupidly removed during 
 recent years but still in the church are cherubs' heads. 
 Pakenham pulpit is Carolean ; the panels bear rose, thistle, 
 fleur-de-lis, and harp. It is inscribed: "Despise not prophesyng. 
 Crie aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet!' The 
 pulpits of St Giles, Northampton, and Catesby are also Carolean. 
 At Harringworth is a seventeenth-century pulpit, which was 
 given shelter there when ejected from Barrowden, Rutland, as 
 a consequence of an 1875 restoration. The very beautifully 
 carved pulpit of Abington was given to the church c, 1700. 
 
 The following extract occurs in the parish register of 
 Denford : 
 
 " A parochial visitation was held in Dentford church June ye 3 d 1718. 
 Wherein according to order of court y r is to be a new pulpit w ch they 
 thought they should have sliped, but they could not, for w ch I'm glad off." 
 
 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE has a variety of old post-Reformation 
 pulpits. The church of Markham Clinton, in an odious and 
 scandalous condition (191 1 ), contains a noteworthy Elizabethan 
 pulpit fast going to decay. There are two Jacobean pulpits 
 with inscriptions Laneham, " Soli Deo honor et gloria" and 
 Wheatley (1604), " Wo unto me except I preach the Gospel'' 
 Eakring has a small good Jacobean pulpit with tester and 
 backpiece. Headon is also early Jacobean with a tester. 
 Egmanton, Weston-on-Trent, and Winkburn seem also to 
 be true Jacobean. Barton-in-Fabis has a Jacobean framework, 
 but the panels have been renewed. There are two of Carolean 
 date, namely Granby, 1627, and Syerston, 1636 ; the latter is 
 an exceptionally good and perfect example with a tester.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 Stntfford-sub-Castle, Wiltshire
 
 132 TULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Walkingham and Maplebeck are later in the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 OXFORDSHIRE. There are a fair number of seventeenth- 
 century pulpits in Oxfordshire. Two of these, usually termed 
 Jacobean, are more likely late Elizabethan, namely Bucknell 
 and Kidlington. Two can be proved genuine Jacobean, as 
 they are dated, namely Stadhampton 1611, and Charlton-on- 
 Otmoor, 1616. The pulpit of Christ Church Cathedral is a fine 
 and beautiful piece of workmanship ; it is of pentagonal plan, 
 and the centre of each panel has double arcading ; the standard, 
 of unusual width, and also doubly arcaded, supports an elaborate 
 pentagonal canopy, crowned by curved ribs carrying a pelican. 
 But the illustration conveys a far better idea of its construction 
 than any description in words (113). The work is known to 
 be Carolean, of Dean Duppa's days (1629-38). 
 
 A great contrast to this elaborate piece of work, but equally 
 Carolean, is the small village pulpit of Merton (101), with 
 its simple pedestal and four unrailed steps. The pulpits of 
 Chalgrove, Chastleton, Cropredy, Great Milton, Stonisfield, 
 Stratton Audley, and Water Eaton are usually described by 
 the generic term " Jacobean," but two or three of them are 
 probably Carolean, and were erected under Laudian influence. 
 At Fringford some old panels from a house at Hardwicke have 
 been used in the forming of a pulpit. 
 
 In the church of All Saints, Oxford, which was reconstructed 
 throughout on classical lines 1706-8, there is a good pulpit 
 with sounding-board. 
 
 The little county of RUTLAND has nothing to offer us in 
 the way of mediaeval pulpits, and but little of the seventeenth 
 century. Under a disastrous restoration of 1875, Barrowden 
 turned out its Jacobean pulpit ; it is now to be found at 
 Harringworth, Northamptonshire. But some few remnants of 
 it were left behind ; these were put together to help to form 
 another pulpit, during a much happier restoration of 1885. The 
 pulpit of North Luffenham is either Jacobean or Carolean. The 
 pulpit of Uffingham is of repute, though unhappily somewhat 
 spoilt by alterations, for there is no doubt that it was frequently 
 occupied by Jeremy Taylor, who was instituted to this rectory 
 in 1638. 
 
 Perhaps the exceedingly curious church of Teigh, the whole 
 of which was rebuilt, except the tower, in 1781, should be 
 named. " The seats," writes Mr Crowther-Beynon, " for the 
 congregation are arranged in ascending tiers, facing north 
 and south, like those of a college chapel. At the west end of 
 the nave, against a kind of screen, are three boxes serving for
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 133 
 
 Wilby, Suffolk
 
 134 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 the pulpit (centre) and desk for parson and clerk, these being 
 approached by a staircase behind the screen." 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE possesses no instance of Elizabethan pulpits, 
 but there are several good examples of the seventeenth century. 
 
 The earliest is the excellent one at Wednesbury, dated 161 1 ; 
 but probably that of Bitley is about the same year, for the 
 chancel of the church was rebuilt by Sir Ralph Egerton in 
 1610-1 1, and the pulpit appears to have been of like date. The 
 splendidly carved pulpit and sounding-board at Sandon, the 
 simpler one at Aldridge, as well as the good seventeenth-century 
 example at the interesting old timber church of Rushton, are 
 probably all strictly Jacobean. Staffordshire, however, has some 
 notable Carolean woodwork indicative of the genuine church 
 revival of Laudian days. At Mayfield the altar rails of the 
 chancel are really beautiful work of 1633. The pews, pulpit, and 
 reading desk are thoroughly good, and dated 1637 and 1639; 
 the pulpit bears a quaintly abbreviated inscription : " Be faithful, 
 &c. y and I will give thee a crown, &c." The good pulpit of 
 Alrewas bears the date 1639, and the inscription, "Jesus Christ 
 and Him Crucified'' 
 
 There is a Commonwealth pulpit at King's Bromley dated 
 1659. The pulpit and sounding-board, excellent for their date, 
 bear the year 1702. 
 
 There are a large number of so-called "Jacobean " pulpits in 
 SHROPSHIRE, but a fair number are modern make-ups of panels 
 intended for other purposes. As a single set-off against this, it 
 may be mentioned that at Church Stretton the panelling near 
 the font forms part of a discarded pulpit. 
 
 At the disused church of Sutton, the Elizabethan pulpit is 
 of the year 1588. The chancel of Shipton was "re-edified and 
 builded of newe at the charges of John Lutwick" in 1589, and 
 there is no reason to doubt that that is the age of the pulpit. 
 Shawbury is the earliest of the dated Jacobean examples, where 
 the pulpit and reading desk are of the year 1612. At Easthope 
 there is good carving on the oak pews, with this inscription : 
 " Edward Ball of London gave this pulpit andpewes to this parish 
 wheare he was borne June 28 Anno Domini 1623." Lydbury 
 North is dated 1634. 
 
 The dated Carolean pulpits are more numerous ; they include 
 Tasley (1628), Tong and Quatt (1629), Bitterley (1630), Ashley 
 Abbots (1633), Cressage and Petton (1635), Wroxeter (1637), 
 Hope-Bowdler and Clee St Margaret (1639), and Church Preen, 
 with reading desk (1646). The octagonal panelled pulpit of 
 Cressage is inscribed along the base, " Houmfry Dalle the elder 
 made this for John Dalle, which I fray God bles unto his en.d.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 135 
 
 Amen: 1635." Petton pulpit, of the same year, was brought 
 there from \Vrexham. Albrighton-by-Shifnal, Kenley, and 
 Pitchford have seventeenth-century pulpits with canopies. 
 
 The pulpit of Clun is c. 1650. At Easton-under-Heywood 
 the richly carved pulpit has a canopy dated 1670. Minsterley, 
 with a sounding-board, is c. 1689. At Halston there is an inlaid 
 sounding-board of the year 1719. The sounding-boards of both 
 Hordley and VVhitchurch have been turned into vestry tables. 
 
 At Stapleton there is a pulpit antependium, "said" to have 
 been worked by Mary Queen of Scots. 
 
 Oswestry possesses the pulpit once occupied by John Howe, 
 the friend of Milton, and chaplain of Oliver Cromwell. It now 
 stands in the vestry of the Congregational church. 
 
 The extensive county of SOMERSET has a large number of 
 post- Reformation pulpits, but there are only one or two of 
 Elizabethan date. Chedzoy, with long linen-fold panels, is early 
 in the queen's reign, and it is probable that Rimpton is about 
 the close of the same reign (103). The true Jacobean, i.e., of 
 the reign of James I., are numerous ; among them may be 
 named those of Barwick, Charlton Adam, Luccombe, Lydiard 
 St Laurence, Tintinhull, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, and Weston-in- 
 Gordano. Three pulpits bear the rose and the thistle con- 
 ventionally treated under arcading, namely those of Bishop's 
 Lydiard, Tintinhull, and Wedmore ; the last of these, together 
 with the reading desk, shows some of the finest Jacobean 
 carving in Somerset. Of dated examples the pulpit of Hill 
 Farrance bears the date 1611, Somerton 1615, whilst the three 
 pulpits of Kittisford, West Pennard, and Pilton are all dated 
 1618. The grand pulpit of Croscombe, in harmony with the 
 magnificent Jacobean screen, is known to have been the gift 
 of Bishop Lake in 1616, the first year of his episcopate ; it bears 
 the arms of the see and of two other benefactors, Sir William 
 Pal ton and Hugh Fortiscue, then lord of the manor ; beneath 
 the cornice run the words : " Blessed are they that hear the Word 
 of God and keep it" l (117). The lovely little church of Brean has 
 an effectively carved pulpit, which bears, at the top of the central 
 panel, " George Gvdrid gave this, 1620." Rodney Stoke possesses 
 an interesting screen and pulpit, both of which were given to 
 
 1 It is curious how differently educated people regard this fine display 
 of Jacobean carving. The Rev. G. W. Wade, D.D., and the Rev. J. H. 
 Wade, M.A., who recently wrote a Little Guide to Somerset, were so steeped 
 in Gothicism that they style this pulpit " barbaric," and the screen " fearful 
 and wonderful :> ! Whilst Mr Hutton, himself a Roman Catholic, in High- 
 ways and Byways, considers them both " very lovely."
 
 136 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 the church by Sir Edward Rodney in 1624 ; the pulpit has 
 two tiers of arcading on the panels (123). 
 
 There are also a number of Carolean pulpits. The earliest 
 of these which are dated is that of Huish Episcopi, 1625. 
 Elworthy pulpit is of the same date as the screen, 1632 ; it is 
 approached by the rood staircase. St James's, Taunton, has a 
 pulpit dated 1633, East Brent 1634, and Ubley 1637 (107). The 
 pulpits of Stoke St Gregory, Thurleston (1634), and North 
 Newton (1637) are remarkable, as they all bear figures under 
 the arcading : Stoke St Gregory has five figures in relief, namely 
 the Blessed Virgin and Child, Faith, Hope, Charity, and Time ; 
 Thurleston has Faith, Hope, Charity, and a fourth figure ; and the 
 same is the case at North Newton (125). The striking Renais- 
 sance pulpit of St Cuthbert, Wells, was erected in 1636. It is of 
 hexagonal plan, and is frankly pagan throughout, as will be seen 
 from the illustration. The panels are separated by double 
 columns ; perhaps the best features are the bird brackets sup- 
 porting the cornice (127). 
 
 SUFFOLK is well supplied with a considerable number of 
 good seventeenth-century pulpits. The earliest dated example 
 occurs at Monk Soham, where the pulpit bears the year 1604. 
 Other dated instances of the reign of James I. are Stonham 
 Aspall 1616, Great Ashfield 1619, and Occold, with a sounding- 
 board, 1620. Great Ashfield, which is four-sided, is an excep- 
 tionally beautiful example with tester and back panelling. 
 Laxfield pulpit (see illustration) is of a singularly tasteful but 
 simple design ; it is raised on a series of turned shafts (129). 
 Kelsale is undoubtedly early Jacobean, and a good example ; the 
 panels are divided into three, the central ones are arcaded, those 
 at the top are carved with grotesque animals, whilst the lower 
 ones have intricate strapwork. The peculiar feature is that 
 the pilasters between the panels have a touch of Gothic in their 
 crocketed finials. Halesworth, which is said to be 1611, offers 
 a distinct contrast to Kelsale (129). Others which are more or 
 less vaguely termed Jacobean, include Little Bealings, Great 
 Blakenham, Burgh St Andrew, Felixstowe, Plympton, Hadleigh, 
 Knoddishall, Rattlesden, Somerton, Little Waldingfield, Wen- 
 haston, Westhall, Witnesham, Worlingworth, and Yoxford. 1 
 Of dated Carolean examples the county possesses four of 
 unusual merit. The pulpits of Chediston and Rumburgh are 
 dated 1637; they both are of an exceptionally refined pattern, 
 and are clearly the work of the same craftsman. By an egregious 
 display of bad taste, a restoration of the church of Cookley in 
 
 1 See Bryant's County Churches of Suffolk, 1912.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 137 
 
 M. J. 
 
 Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey 
 
 18
 
 138 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 1894 brought about the ejection of the 1637 pulpit, when it was 
 happily saved by the church authorities of Chediston. Another 
 Carolean pulpit is to be found at Aldeburgh, dated 1638. 
 This octagonal pulpit has a wide bookshelf, rising from a slight, 
 well-carved cornice, resting on elaborate pierced brackets. It has 
 the panels carved in three-squared divisions, with arcades in the 
 central compartments. Blythburgh has a handsome octagonal 
 pulpit of the year 1670; each division has two squared panels 
 carved with bold designs ; the brackets supporting the wide 
 book-rest are unusually large (in). 
 
 The pulpit and reading desk of Wangford afford fine 
 examples of Flemish inlaid work of the seventeenth century. 
 These two pieces of church furniture are constructed out of 
 the large pulpit which used to stand in the private chapel of 
 Henham Hall ; it was burnt down in 1773. 
 
 The lack of good pre-Reformation pulpits in the SURREY 
 churches is somewhat remarkable, as the supply of timber was 
 abundant in most parts of the county. Possibly two or three 
 of these mentioned below are of Henry VIII. days. 
 
 At Crowhurst the pulpit is formed of linen-fold panels of 
 fairly early sixteenth-century date. The same is the case with 
 the pulpit of Beddington and the hexagonal pulpit of Nutfield, 
 where the panels are in a double tier. The octagonal pulpit 
 of Charlvvood is a curious amalgam of sixteenth-century linen- 
 fold panels and of other carved cartouche panels with painted 
 texts of late Jacobean date. The large square pulpit of Tatsfield 
 is made up of traceried panels taken from a rood-screen, which 
 was destroyed in the first half of the nineteenth century. The 
 pulpit of Cranleigh, during an egregious restoration of 1845, 
 was made up out of some rich traceried panels and parts of 
 a cornice pertaining to a fifteenth -century parclose screen 
 then destroyed. Woking is more likely late Elizabethan 
 than early Jacobean ; the panels have tall, simple arcades. 
 
 The pulpit of Godalming parish church has certain features 
 in the handsome panels which enable us to describe it as 
 Elizabethan rather than Jacobean. Banstead is Elizabethan 
 with linen-fold panels. The pulpit and reading desk of Chipstead 
 are of late Elizabethan date with moulded panels and pilasters. 
 Alfold pulpit is quite early Jacobean, with a sound-board held up 
 by a scrolled iron rod. Stoke D'Abernon pulpit is a handsome 
 and remarkable example of early Jacobean date (136). It is seven - 
 sided, and supported by a central shaft with elaborately carved 
 brackets. At the angles are fantastic Ionic pilasters surmounted 
 by grotesques. The faces have carved and inlaid panels with 
 enriched mouldings, and the crown mould and book-rest are
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 139 
 
 Holy Trinity, Guildford
 
 140 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 elaborately ornamented. At the back is a carved standard of 
 similar detail, with an heraldic shjeld charged with the Vincent 
 arms and quarterings. Above is a large sounding-board or tester, 
 with a carved central panel of grotesque design, angle pendants, 
 and carved cornice, held up by a pair of elaborately scrolled 
 wrought-iron stays. 1 The pulpit bears the words : " Hides ex 
 auditu!' 
 
 Compton has an elaborately carved early Jacobean pulpit 
 with tester, as well as various other fittings of the same date, 
 including a screen now foolishly moved to the west end. The 
 octagonal pulpit of Ewhurst is a good example of early Jacobean 
 with two stages of panelling. Woking has a good pulpit dated 
 1673. The Newdigate example is of Charles I.'s reign, and is 
 dated 1637. The upper part of the hexagonal pulpit of St 
 Leonard, Streatham, is Carolean (c. 1640), and is richly carved 
 after a classical fashion. In the upper panel on the south-west 
 side are the arms of Rowland impaling Suzan, and above the 
 shield are two crests and mantling. Sir John Rowland, of the 
 manor of Tooting Bee, in this parish, married Cecily Suzan ; they 
 sold the manor in 1648. The Commonwealth pulpit of Chaldon 
 is a good piece of work, inscribed "Patience Lambert, 1657." 
 Patience was the widow of William Lambert, of Tollesworth 
 Manor, whose grave slab is in the nave ; he died in 1656. The 
 cornice shelf is supported by iron brackets. 
 
 Gatton church has a certain celebrity on account of the 
 considerable amount of continental woodwork gathered together 
 and placed here about 1834. The pulpit came from Nuremberg, 
 and is boldly carved with the Descent from the Cross in three 
 panels. 
 
 SUSSEX possesses two examples of Elizabethan date, namely, 
 at Worth and Newtimber, the latter late in the sixteenth 
 century. The elaborate pulpit at Worth, dated 1577, has 
 classical columns at the angles of both pulpit and its base, 
 whilst the panels have niched figures of the Evangelists, and 
 the frieze above has a Dutch inscription. Kington-on-Sea is 
 early Jacobean, dated 1608, and Wilmington is of much the 
 same date. Arlington, Botolphs, Buxted, West Chiltington, 
 Poynings, Rotherfield, Southwick, Tortington, and Twineham 
 are all undated oak pulpits of the seventeenth century, more 
 or less vaguely termed Jacobean. The pulpit of St Anne, 
 Lewes, is handsomely carved, and bears this inscription : 
 " Harbar Springat Gentelman made this pulpit in the yeare 
 of our Lord 1620." Herbert Springett, the younger brother of 
 
 1 Viet. County Hist, of Surrey, iii. 460.
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 141 
 
 Sir Thomas Springett, was a lawyer of some eminence ; he died 
 in 1621. The East Dean pulpit is dated 1624. Lamberhurst 
 is undoubtedly Carolean, for it bears the year 1630. 
 
 WARWICKSHIRE has two dated Jacobean pulpits, namely 
 Bourton-on-Dunsmore, 1607, and Salford Priors, 1616. There 
 are also two of the Carolean period, namely Butlers Marston, 
 
 1632, and Willoughby. 
 
 WESTMORELAND. At Burton-in-Kendal both pulpit and 
 reading board are well carved and bear the date 1607. The 
 pulpit at Kirkby Lonsdale is dated 1612. The little church of 
 Martindale was rebuilt on the site of a much older fabric in 
 
 1633. The well carved but simple pulpit is dated 1634, and 
 other Carolean fittings remain. 
 
 WILTSHIRE has a few good pulpits of sixteenth and 
 seventeenth century date. 
 
 Odstock has a famous if not notorious Elizabethan pulpit, 
 on which appears the equivocal distich : 
 
 " God bless our royal Queen, 
 The lyke on earth was never seen." 
 
 Another pulpit of some celebrity is in the small church of 
 Monkton Farleigh ; it is of either late Elizabethan or quite 
 early Jacobean date. The manor used to pertain to the 
 bishopric of Sarum, and here Bishop Jewel not infrequently 
 retired, where he doubtless made use of this pulpit. He 
 died here in 1571, shortly after preaching his last sermon in the 
 neighbouring church of Lacock. The pulpit is inscribed with 
 the following text : " Blessed are tJiey yt heare ye word of God 
 and kepe it." 
 
 Edington has an exceptional pulpit, which Mr Gotch aptly 
 describes as " simple and elegant " ; it stands on a stout post, 
 from the upper part of which supporting brackets project. 1 
 
 The finest example of a Jacobean pulpit in the county 
 occurs at Stratford-sub-Castle. It is of hexagonal plan, and 
 delicately carved throughout ; the panels have upper square 
 compartments filled with conventional designs, whilst below 
 them are larger round-headed arcades, with jambs formed of 
 a series of bosses ; the standard or backpiece is of similar 
 designs to the panels, and carries a hexagonal canopy delight- 
 fully carved, and having a large centre pendant, and smaller 
 ones at the angles. Close at hand, affixed to the wall-plate of 
 the chancel, is the hour glass and stand (131). There is a good 
 Jacobean pulpit at Durnford, dated 1619. At Brinkworth is 
 
 1 Early Renaissance in England, p. 221, with plate of measured drawings.
 
 142 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 another of these pulpits with a sounding-board, and a further 
 example at Paulshot. At Winterbourne Basset there are 
 fifteen good Jacobean pews, and a pulpit which is a striking 
 example of what Mr Ponting terms the " Anglo-Italian Re- 
 naissance " ; it has large panels with carved borders, and the 
 
 F. B. 
 
 Lynn St Margaret 
 
 door remains ; there are two similar panels on the reading desk. 
 The work might almost be taken for Elizabethan, but on part 
 of the tracery of one panel is the date 1611, with the initials 
 " G. A." 
 
 Clyffe Pypard has an exceptionally fine instance of a pulpit 
 of the time of the Laudian revival, with sounding-board ; it is 
 inscribed: "Ex dono Joanis Kingston Gen, Anno Dot, 1627";
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 143 
 
 attached to it is a projecting gridiron desk with two iron 
 brackets, a most exceptional feature. 1 At Boscombe there is 
 another Carolean pulpit dated 1633 ; the sounding-board is 
 later. 
 
 Monkton Devcrill pulpit has four panels quaintly carved 
 with (i) Adam in deep sleep; (2) the Woman formed from his 
 rib ; (3) the Temptation at the Tree of Knowledge ; and (4) 
 the Expulsion of Adam and Eve out of Eden. They do not 
 seem to have been originally intended for a pulpit ; they appear 
 to be rather late in the seventeenth century. The panels of the 
 pulpit at Bishopstone are of early wood carving, bronzed ; they 
 were brought here from Spain. The church of Furley was 
 rebuilt throughout in 1688. The good coeval fittings of the 
 chancel were of much interest ; but an unhappy restoration of 
 1874 played much mischief, and the pulpit lost its sounding-board. 
 
 WORCESTERSHIRE has several interesting post- Reformation 
 pulpits. There is a fine octagonal Jacobean pulpit at Bel- 
 broughton with arcaded panels ; above these is a cornice of 
 carved dragons, whilst grotesque corbels support the projecting 
 book-board. The Jacobean pulpit of Tredington, with back- 
 piece and tester, is a good example ; the panels have two tiers 
 of arcading. At Suckley the tester of the pulpit bears the text : 
 " Blessed are tliey that hear the Word of God and keepe if." 
 
 Broadwas is a fair instance of an octagonal Carolean pulpit. 
 The two tiers of panels are well carved, and above them is 
 inscribed: "Anno DOJU 1632 William Noxon, Robert Prince, 
 Churchwardens? On the tester is the same text, similarly spelt, 
 which appears at Suckley. Stoke Bliss has a pulpit and sound- 
 ing-board dated 1635. There is a Commonwealth example at 
 Teddington, where the pulpit, with sounding-board, is dated 
 1653. The pulpit of St Swithun, Worcester, is richly carved, 
 and has a sounding-board surmounted by a pelican in her piety. 
 
 YORKSHIRE possesses a good many interesting pulpits of 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 The most interesting of all the Elizabethan pulpits in its 
 associations, though of somewhat clumsy and probably local 
 carving, is that of Marr, near Doncaster. It has a coat of 
 arms and the initials " C.B." These stand for Christopher Barker, 
 printer to Queen Elizabeth. He was born at Marr vicarage in 
 1529, and died in 1599. Dodsworth tells us that he "made the 
 best pewes in the church, pavyd the allyes, and builded the 
 pulpitt." 
 
 1 There are three plates of this pulpit and desk in the Wilts. Arch. Soc. 
 Mag., vol. xxxvii.
 
 144 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 The pulpit of Braithvvell (W.R.) bears the following long 
 inscription in incised letters filled in with some composition ; 
 it is dated 1574 : " Blessed is God in al liis giftes and holy in al 
 his ivorkes. Your helpe is in the name of the Lorde who hath made 
 both heaven and eartli. Blessed be the name of the Lord from 
 henceforth world ivithoiit ende. A men'.' 
 
 At Hutton Rudby (N.R.) there is a most unusual Eli/abethan 
 pulpit, the panels of which are inlaid with English marquetry. 
 It was the gift of Thomas Milner, who died in 1594, and bears 
 his arms. 
 
 There are various dated Jacobean pulpits, three of them in 
 the East Riding, namely Patrington 1612, Rous 1613, and 
 Swine 1619. Swine is an excellent characteristic example, in 
 good preservation. Dent (W.R.) is also dated 1614. Among 
 the undated Jacobean pulpits special mention may be made of 
 Leconfield, Walkington, and Kilnwick-on-the-Wolds of the East 
 Riding, Kirklington, Marrick Priory, Oswaldkirk, and Stonegrave 
 of the North Riding, and of Long Preston, Arksey (with 
 sounding-board), Woodkirk, and Wistow of the West Riding. 
 The Jacobean pulpit in the nave of Ripon has a curious shell 
 sounding-board. The Jacobean pulpit of Bolton Priory has 
 been turned into a reading desk. The fine Perpendicular church 
 of Rotherham has a very handsome Jacobean pulpit, with a 
 later sounding-board. 
 
 The pulpit of Aldborough (W.R.) is a composite affair, but 
 includes several sixteenth -century panels. Surmounting the 
 pulpit is a canopy bearing the words, " Pasce oves pasce agnosT 
 
 There are some remarkably good examples of Carolean date. 
 The justly celebrated and much esteemed church of St John's, 
 Leeds, erected in 1631-34, includes amongst its sumptuous fittings 
 a noble pulpit, with a sounding-board, on the north side of the 
 nave. At Crayke (N.R.) there is a distinctly beautiful pulpit, 
 with sounding-board, dated 1637, and inscribed : " Shew me thy 
 waes, O Lord, and teach me thy paths" At Huntington (N.R.) 
 there is a magnificent old pulpit, probably Carolean, with 
 arabesque work : round the base runs the inscription : " Where 
 there is no vision the people perish, Prov. xix. 18." Alne (W.R.) 
 has the earliest dated pulpit of this reign, 1625. Halsham (E.R.) 
 is dated 1634. This, too, is the date of the remarkable and 
 elaborate pulpit of All Saints, Pavement, York, which was 
 moved here from St Crux on the coalition of that parish with 
 All Saints in 1885. It is hexagonal in plan and has a good 
 canopy, both richly carved ; below the cornice of the pulpit is 
 inscribed part of 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; and on the soffit of the canopy 
 part of I Cor. i. 21. The panels of the pulpit with cinquefoil
 
 POST-REFORMATION PULPITS 
 
 St Clement Danes, London
 
 146 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 tracery heads, and the slight buttresses which divide them, are 
 debased imitation of Gothic treatment (104). The pulpit of 
 St Martin's, Middlegate, is almost identical and bears the same 
 text, but there is no canopy. When Allen wrote his History of 
 York, in 1829, there was a "sounding-board." 
 
 As to post-Restoration pulpits, Giggleswick (W.R.) has a fine 
 example with sounding-board, marked " G.W. 1680." George 
 Winskip was patron of the living. Carlton Husthwaite (E.R.) 
 has a pulpit with sounding-board, dated 1678, and inscribed 
 ' Feed my Lambes." Winestead (E.R.), with a sounding-board, 
 is late seventeenth -century. Wintringham (E.R.) has a re- 
 markably interesting pulpit, with coeval reading desk, pews, alms- 
 box, and old altar table, all probably of the year 1685. 
 Brodsworth (W.R.) pulpit is dated 1696; it is enriched with 
 foliage and cherubs' heads.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 
 THE hour glass, sand glass, or sermon glass came into general 
 use in the Church of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries, for the purpose of regulating the length of the 
 discourse. Hence it was commonly attached to the pulpit or to 
 the adjacent wall, within easy reach of the preacher. A good 
 many hour-glass stands, as well as the glasses themselves, were 
 destroyed during the heedless restoration of the earlier Victorian 
 period. Nevertheless, the subjoined list shows that there are 
 about a hundred stands still surviving, as well as at least a dozen 
 of the actual glasses, though in the latter case two or three of 
 them are modern reproductions. It is a mistake to suppose 
 that their use was brought in by either the Reformers or the 
 Puritans. In Allen's History of Lambeth it is stated that when 
 a new pulpit was introduced into the parish church in 1522 an 
 hour glass was attached. In the churchwardens' accounts of 
 that parish there are two subsequent references to this time 
 measurer; in 1579 is. 4d. was paid "for the frame in which the 
 hower standeth," and in 1615 6s. 8d. was " payd for an iron for 
 the hour glass." 
 
 The frontispiece of the " Bishop's Bible," of 1 569, represents 
 Archbishop Parker with an hour glass on his right hand. 
 Holbein on two occasions introduced pulpit hour glasses into 
 his paintings, and Hogarth, at a much later date, in his " Sleeping 
 Congregation," placed the sand glass on the left-hand side of the 
 preacher. Old parish accounts prove how common was their 
 church use in the days of Elizabeth, and that they prevailed 
 with still greater frequency in the first half of the seventeenth 
 century. With the Restoration the custom began to wane, but 
 as late as the close of the century new hour glasses, or frames 
 for them, were occasionally purchased, especially in town 
 churches. 
 
 An early Elizabethan instance of the purchase of an hour 
 glass occurs in the parish accounts of St Peter Cheap for 1 563,
 
 148 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 s. c. 
 
 NOTE. I. Kirk wall. 2. Creeling All Saints, Suffolk. 3. Odell, Beds. 4. East 
 Stonham, Suffolk. 5. Luther's pocket hour glass. 
 
 when it cost a shilling, which was a stiff price for those days ; 
 a like sum was given for a successor in the following year. The 
 accounts for the same city parish, under 1584, have the following 
 entries : 
 
 Payde for the hower glasse the xxij th of October - xij d. 
 
 Payde the same daie to the Turner for the foote for hower 
 glasse to stand uppon - - xij d.
 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 
 149 
 
 C. F. N. 
 
 Wiggenhall St Mary, Norfolk 
 
 Bloxworth, Dorset 
 
 The following extracts are taken from a score or two of 
 entries elsewhere during the same reign : 
 
 1561 (All Hallows, Staining). An houre glasse xij d. 
 
 A deske to sett the hower glasse on the pulpitt - x d. 
 1572 (Barnstaple). Paid to John Blackmore for hour glass 
 
 for the Preacher 4d. 
 
 1575 (St Martin, Leicester]. Payd for an houre glase iiij d. 
 1598 (Ludloiii]. For makinge of the frame for the houre 
 
 glasse xx d. 
 
 For oyling and coloringe yt ij d. 
 
 The following must serve as specimens of the hundreds that 
 could be supplied from seventeenth-century accounts :
 
 150 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 1612 (St Edmund, Saruni). Makeinge the foote to holde 
 
 the hower glasse standing on the Pulpitt i 2d. 
 
 An Hower glasse and the Cadge to sett him on i4d. 
 
 1622-23. Frame for the Oure glasse standinge uppon the Byble 
 
 deske 35. 2d. 
 
 1648-49. An Houre glasse 8d. 
 
 1611 (^Berkhamp stead]. Payed for an hour glasse x d. 
 
 Payed for the Irone that the houre glasse standeth in xviij d. 
 1629 (St Mary, Devizes}. Pd. to John Bennett, Cutler, 
 for a branch to carry the hour glass in the 
 church - ij s. vj d. 
 
 1673-74. (St Edmund, Saruni). Frame for the Ower glasse 
 
 standinge upon the Byble deske 3s. 2d. 
 
 1672 (Prestbnry, Cheshire). Pd. for the Houre Glasse, 
 Houre Glasse Case, and the guildinge and the 
 setting upp the same - i 70 
 
 A further proof of the more frequent use of church hour 
 glasses in the seventeenth century is the general fall in their 
 price as compared with Elizabethan accounts. An hour glass 
 at Seal cost Sd. in 1639; one a ^ Bletchingley (where the stand 
 is preserved) /d. in 1643 ; one at Chippenham yd. in 1657 ; 
 whilst at Church Pulverbatch the hour glass of 1653 cost I2d., 
 and another in 1683, pd. 
 
 An entry in the parish book of St Katharine, Aldgate, under 
 1564, is worth citing to show that sand glasses to guide the 
 preacher were then a novelty, otherwise the scribe would not 
 have thought it worth while to explain its purpose. 
 
 Payde for an houre glasse that hangeth by the pulpitt 
 where the preacher dothe make a sermon, that 
 he may knowe how the houre passeth awaye xij d 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that their use was confined to 
 Protestants. This is illustrated in a tract called Fatal Vespers 
 relative to an incident that occurred at a gathering of Papists 
 at Blackfriars in 1623: "About three o'clock the expected 
 preacher came in ... attended by a man that brought after 
 him his book and hour glass." 
 
 Regulation of the length of sermons seems sometimes to 
 have been badly needed. The author of a tract of 1648, entitled 
 Independancy stript and whipt, observes that " the Independents 
 could pray, or rather prate by the spirit, two hours at least 
 against the state." In the frontispiece of England s Shame ; 
 or, A Relation of the Life and Death of Hugh Peters, 1663, that 
 worthy is represented holding an hour glass in his left hand,
 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 

 
 152 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 and in the act of saying, " I know you are good fellows ; so let's 
 have another glass." 
 
 Churchmen were no better ; a tall story is told of Dr Isaac 
 Brown to the effect that, when preaching before the Lord 
 Mayor and Corporation on charity, he continued for three hours 
 and a half, and that at the end the congregation had dwindled 
 to a single apprentice ! More credible stories as to long- 
 winded pulpit eloquence could easily be adduced ; it was not, 
 however, very long sermons to which the laity of those days 
 objected, but those that were both long and poor. For instance, 
 Macaulay tells us of Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, that " he was 
 often interrupted by the deep hum of his audience ; and when, 
 after preaching out the hour glass, he held it in his hands, the 
 congregation clamorously encouraged him to go on till the 
 sand had run off once more." 
 
 It need not, however, be supposed from the frequency with 
 which pulpits were supplied with hour glasses, that the sixteenth 
 and seventeenth century sermons were necessarily to be of 
 an hour's duration. It can readily be proved from the length 
 of some of those which have been printed that they could not 
 have lasted longer than half an hour or twenty minutes. The 
 sand glass of sixty minutes was probably regarded as a limit 
 beyond which no self-respecting preacher could expect to retain 
 his hearers' attention. " The parson," says George Herbert, 
 " exceeds not an hour in preaching, because all ages have 
 thought that a competency, and he that profits not in that time 
 will belike afterwards, the same affections which made him not 
 to profit before making him then weary, and so he grows from 
 not relishing to loathing." 
 
 In fact, the church sand glass was not always confined to 
 the orthodox hour. In 1632 the wardens of All Saints, New- 
 castle-on-Tyne, purchased "one whole hour-glasse and one halfe- 
 hour-glasse." At Pleasley, in Derbyshire, a half-hour glass 
 was bought in 1637 for 8d., and a similar one for St John's, 
 Southampton, in 1634. In the parish chest of East Stonham, 
 Suffolk, a case was found containing three sand glasses timed 
 to run respectively for an hour, for thirty minutes, and for 
 fifteen minutes (148). Coming down to modern times, it is 
 stated that an eighteen-minute sand glass was provided for the 
 Chapel Royal in the Savoy, as an expression of Queen Victoria's 
 rooted objection to long sermons. 
 
 The constructors of hour glasses were not always careful in 
 their sand measurements. An old hour glass, which used to be 
 in an East Anglian pulpit, has been repeatedly tested and always 
 chronicles forty-eight minutes.
 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 
 153 
 
 Binfield Berkshire
 
 154 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 The glass is fixed between two thin wooden discs, held 
 together by slender turned shafts, usually four in number, as at 
 Burlingham, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, or Hurst. The average height 
 is nine inches. 
 
 The hour glass was occasionally supported by an upright 
 iron bar affixed to the side of the pulpit, and terminating in 
 a more or less ornamental circular holder with a raised rim of 
 ironwork within which rested the glass and frame (158). At St 
 Michael's, St Albans, there is a beautiful and ornate support 
 of this character, and one of a far simpler nature at Wiggenhall 
 St Mary, Norfolk (149). See also the illustration of the one on 
 the fine early Jacobean pulpit of Wiggenhall St Germans, and 
 the straight iron supports of the one at Bloxworth, Dorset (156, 
 149). The more usual method was to attach an iron bracket to 
 the pulpit, or occasionally to the adjacent wall, and on some of 
 these supports considerable skill in ironwork was sometimes 
 expended. Perhaps the most ingenious of these brackets is the 
 one attached to the pulpit of Compton Bassett, Wilts. ; a large 
 fleur-de-lis rises from the centre of the iron bar, which serves as 
 a handle to enable the preacher to reverse the glass and stand ; 
 it will be noticed in the illustration that each end of the iron- 
 work frame is treated after a similar ornamental fashion (151). 
 
 The most elaborate and intricate ironwork connected with 
 an hour-glass bracket occurs at Binfield, Berks., attached to a 
 pulpit dated 1625 ; it is painted and enriched with numerous 
 small branches of oak leaves and acorns, some of which support 
 the arms of the Farriers and of the Smiths ; there is also the 
 legend, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation" (153). 
 In the same county at Hurst there is another ornate instance 
 of hour-glass ironwork with sprigs of oak leaves and acorns, 
 painted and gilded, with date i6$6. 1 But in this instance the 
 stand, though close to the pulpit, is attached to the adjacent 
 pillar. Affixed to the pillar is also a scroll inscribed : 
 
 " As this glasse runneth, 
 So man's life passe the" 
 
 The ironwork of the bracket at Salhouse, Norfolk, though 
 simpler, is also of considerable grace. 
 
 Pilton, North Devon, has a unique hour-glass support springing 
 out from its fifteenth-century stone pulpit ; it assumes the form of 
 a man's arm cut out of sheet iron and gilded (13). It is said that 
 there used to be a similar arm at Tavistock, North Devon. At 
 Cliffe, on the Kentish coast, there is a pulpit dated 1634, but there 
 
 1 It is engraved in Shaw's work on Dress and Decoration.
 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 
 '55 
 
 $ this lUSSP runner 
 plan's ffifr 
 
 Hurst, Berkshire
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS
 
 HOUR GLASSES 
 
 157 
 
 is attached to it a wooden bracket with low hour-glass, stand which 
 bears upon a shield in front the year 1636. At Stoke D'Abernon, 
 Surrey, there is some fine scrolled ironwork supporting the 
 squared hour-glass stand. The ironwork around the hour 
 glass of St John Baptist, Bristol, is an exceptionally fine bit 
 of smith's craftsmanship (151). Other good work is at Cowden, 
 Kent. 
 
 Edingthorpe, Norfolk, and Chelvey, Somerset, have simple 
 
 Chelvey, Somerset 
 
 Cowden, Kent 
 
 iron brackets attached to the pulpit, whilst those of Chilton, 
 Bucks., and Puxton, Somerset, cling to the walls (158). 
 
 This is not the place wherein to dilate on the history of sand 
 glasses as measurers of time apart from their use in church, but 
 it may be well to briefly chronicle a few facts. The ancient 
 astronomers made use of them in their observations of stars and 
 planets. They are said to have been in use in the days of 
 St Jerome (331-420). A mediaeval time glass is represented in a 
 picture of St Jerome painted by Antonio del Fiore in 1436. The 
 sand glass was frequently used in measuring the " log " or speed 
 of a ship from the early seventeenth century to well on in the
 
 158 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 last century. It was at last abandoned for this purpose on 
 account of its inaccuracy, the sand being much affected by 
 dampness or change of climate. Small sand glasses were 
 frequently carried by Edinburgh doctors late in the eighteenth 
 century for measuring the pulse of their patients. In at least one 
 instance, in Cornwall, the pulpit hour glass was removed to the 
 parsonage kitchen to aid in regulating the baking of meats, and 
 its kitchen use still survives in the three-and-a-half minute glass 
 for the orthodox boiling of eggs. 
 
 Chilton, Bucks. 
 
 St Michael's, St Albans 
 
 By a natural symbolism the hour glass became the symbol 
 of time. Sir Thomas More makes Time declare : " I whom 
 thou seest, with horologe in hand, am named Time, the lord 
 of every hour." The hour glass was a favourite emblem, as is 
 shown by its being sculptured on hundreds of gravestones and 
 monuments of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Strange 
 to say, it appears as the sign of two public houses in Walworth 
 and Upper Thames Street. 
 
 The poets have not failed to add the hour glass to their 
 imagery. It is not only mentioned by Shakespeare in the 
 " Merchant of Venice " and in the prologue to " Henry V.,"
 
 HOUR GLASSES 159 
 
 but Gay's pastoral lover of a much later date prettily 
 sings : 
 
 " He said that heaven would take her soul no doubt, 
 And spoke the hour glass in her praise right out" ; 
 
 whilst Dryden, in striking lines, writes : 
 
 " Shake not his hour glass, when his hasty sand 
 Is ebbing to the last." 
 
 G. c. B. 
 
 Yaxley, Suffolk 
 
 The use of the sand glass in the pulpit and elsewhere was 
 doubtless dispelled by the multiplicity and cheapness of effective 
 watches. As to the measuring of time within churches, prior 
 to the introduction of the hour glass, it should be remembered 
 that the mediaeval use of clocks with dials, inside the churches, 
 can be shown to have been of common and early occurrence ; 
 outer dials on the towers were of later introduction. 1 
 
 1 Cox's Churchwarden? Accounts, pp. 228-31.
 
 i6o 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 A LIST OF EXTANT HOUR-GLASS STANDS 
 
 St Albans, St Michael 
 Alvescote, Oxon. 
 Amberley, Sussex 
 Ashby-Folville, Leicestershire 
 Barnadiston, Suffolk 
 Baltonsborough, Somerset 
 Barningham Norwood, Norfolk 
 Bassenthwaite, Cumberland 
 Beckley, Oxon. 
 Belton, Lincolnshire 
 Billingford, Norfolk 
 Binfield, Berks. 
 Bishampton, Worcestershire 
 Bledington, Gloucestershire 
 Bletchingley, Surrey 
 Bloxvvorth (glass). Dorset 
 Boarhurst, Hants 
 Boultham, Lines, (glass) 
 Bracebridge, Lines. 
 Bradeston, Norfolk 
 Bristol, St John Baptist (glass) 
 Brooke, Norfolk 
 Burlingham St Edmund, Norfolk 
 
 (broken glass) 
 Bygrave, Herts. 
 Capel, Surrey 
 Catfield, Norfolk 
 Chelney, Somerset 
 Chesham Bois, Bucks. 
 Chilton, Bucks. 
 Cliffe, Kent, 1636 
 Cowden, Kent (glass) 
 Compton Bassett, Wilts, (glass) 
 Easthope, Salop (glass) 
 East Langdon, Kent 
 Edingthorpe, Norfolk 
 Edlesborough, Bucks. 
 Grately, Hants 
 
 Great Doddington, Northants 
 Hameringham, Lines. 
 Hammoon, Dorset (glass) 
 Henley, Oxon. 
 Houghton, Sussex 
 Hurst, Bucks., 1636 
 Ingatestone, Essex 
 Inglesham, Wilts 
 
 Ingworth, Norfolk 
 Ivinghoe, Bucks. 
 Kedington, Suffolk 
 Keyingham, East Riding, Yorks. 
 Langley, East, Kent 
 Leasingham, Lines. 
 Leigh, Kent 
 Lessingham, Norfolk 
 Ledham, Norfolk 
 Lezant, Cornwall 
 Loddington, Northants 
 London St Alban's, Wood St. 
 
 (glass) 
 
 Longparish, Hants (glass) 
 Lower Gravenhurst, Beds. 
 Marlingford, Norfolk (glass) 
 Merton, Norfolk 
 Nassington, Northants 
 Noke, Oxon. 
 
 Norton Subcourse, Norfolk 
 Norwich, St Mary Coslaney 
 
 (glass) 
 
 Oddingley, Worcester 
 Odell, Beds. 
 Offenham, Worcester 
 Pilton, Devon (glass) 
 Pitney, Somerset 
 Polebrook, Northants 
 Puxton, Somerset 
 Rudford, Gloucester 
 Rushton, Northants 
 Sacombe, Herts., in vestry 
 Salhouse, Norfolk 
 Sandford St Martin, Oxon. 
 Sapperton, Lines. 
 Scalby, North Riding, Yorks. 
 Selworthy, Somerset 
 Shelsley Beauchamp, Worcester 
 Shorwell, Isle of Wight (glass) 
 Shouldham, Norfolk 
 Stalham, Norfolk 
 Stifford, Essex, 1611 
 Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey 
 Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset 
 
 (glass) 
 Strixton, Northants
 
 HOUR GLASSES l6l 
 
 Button, Norfolk Wiggenhall St Germans (glass) 
 
 Taynton, Gloucester Wiggenhall St Mary, Norfolk 
 
 Thurlton, Norfolk Wisley, Surrey 
 
 Tytherleye, Beds. Wolvercot, Oxon. 
 
 Walpole St Andrew, Norfolk Wyverstone, Suffolk (hour glass 
 
 Warburton, Cheshire only) 
 
 Warnham, Sussex Yarmouth, Isle of Wight (glass) 
 
 Weston Favell, Northants Yaxley, Suffolk (glass) 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Cox, J. CHARLES, Church Furniture (1907), 156-59. 
 
 ,, Churchwardens' Accounts (1913), 132-33. 
 
 CHAMBERS' Book of Days, vol. ii. pp. 713-15. 
 FAIRHOLT, F. W., in British Arch. Assoc., iii. 301. 
 CUMING, H. SYER, in British Arch. Assoc., xxix. 130. 
 ALLEN, J. ROMILLY, in Cults' Dictionary of the Church of England, 
 
 33- 
 
 BLOXAM, M. H., in Gothic Architecture, iii. 132. 
 ANDREWS, W., Curiosities of the Church, 100. 
 PARKER'S Glossary, Text, p. 255. 
 
 21
 
 1 62 
 
 PULPITS, LECTEKNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 F. H. C. 
 
 Monksilver, Somerset
 
 163 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 
 
 IN the Early Christian churches a conspicuous feature of the 
 choir was the marble ambo or ambos ; many ancient examples 
 remain at Rome, Ravenna, and elsewhere. Even in mediaeval 
 churches these ambos or elevated desks were sometimes re- 
 tained ; e.g., in Perugia, Italy ; and in Zamora, Seville, and 
 Toledo, Spain, where they are still used for singing the epistle 
 and gospel. Far more often the big marble ambo dwindled 
 down to a lectern or book-rest of comparatively moderate 
 dimensions, taking the form either of a simple desk or of an 
 eagle or pelican with expanded wings on a pedestal. Till the 
 Reformation, the lectern of English churches retained its 
 original and proper position in the choir. Afterwards, when 
 it was employed to carry a Bible, it was moved in the smaller 
 churches from the choir to the east end of the nave. A curious 
 transitional treatment may be seen in some Devonshire churches, 
 e.g., Lapford and Swim bridge, where the oak eagle lectern 
 remains in the choir, but the mullions of the screen are cut 
 away so as to leave a square aperture through which the reader's 
 voice reaches the congregation in the nave. Careful scrutiny 
 of old rood-screens in village churches will occasionally show 
 that there has been similar treatment up and down the country, 
 whereby the expense of either a reading desk or a lectern was 
 saved, a simple book-rest being attached to the opening in the 
 screen. There are those living who can recollect this being the 
 arrangement on the south side of .the elaborate Elizabethan 
 screen of Holdenby, Northamptonshire, previous to its 
 mutilation. 1 With this may be compared the arrangement at 
 Monksilver, Somerset (162). 
 
 The greater mediaeval churches possessed several lecterns ; 
 
 1 This was first pointed out to me by Mr Micklethwaite, and on inquiry 
 of some of the older inhabitants this surmise was amply confirmed.
 
 164 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 F. H. C. 
 
 Wolborough, Devon
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 165 
 
 those of Durham are fully described in the often cited Rites of 
 
 Durham : 
 
 " At the north end of the High Altar there was a goodly fine Letteron 
 of brass . . . with a gilt pelican on the top of it, finely gilded, pulling 
 her blood out her breast to her young ones, and wings spread abroad, 
 whereon did lie the book that they did sing the epistle and the gospel. 
 It was thought to be the goodliest letteron of brass that was in all this 
 country. . Also there was low down in the quire another Letteron of 
 brass, not so curiously wrought, standing in the midst, against the stalls, 
 a marvellous fair one, with an Eagle on the height of it, and her wings 
 spread abroad, whereon the monks did lay their books, when they sung 
 their legends at mattins or at other times of service." 
 
 The inventories of King's College, Aberdeen, include three 
 brass lecterns ; " unus pro evangelic cantando ; alter pro epistola ; 
 et tertius pro legenda." The inventories of several other large 
 churches, such as Great St Mary, Cambridge, make mention 
 of two or more lecterns, though not so nicely defining their 
 objects as at Aberdeen. 
 
 As formerly at Durham, so still in Norwich Cathedral, the 
 brass lectern, of late Decorated character, c. 1375,1*8 surmounted 
 by a pelican in her piety ; round the shaft which supports it, 
 rising from the base, are three small figures (bishop, priest, and 
 deacon), which by no means improve its appearance ; they were 
 added as recently as 1845. A pelican lectern in oak also occurs 
 at Middleton, Hants. 
 
 The eagle, however, was the favourite choice right through 
 the Middle Ages, as an emblem wherewith to crown the lectern 
 used for gospel-reading purposes. Some of the Fathers regarded 
 it as typical of the resurrection (Ps. ciii. 5) ; but the eagle is 
 the special symbol of St John the Divine, as it soars up heaven- 
 ward to the sun, for the Evangelist dwells specially in his 
 Gospel and the Revelation on the divine discourses and on the 
 glory of the Sun of Righteousness. Strange to say, it did not 
 excite the ire of ignorant vandal Protestants, as did the sight 
 of cross or crucifix, and when the monks flung their valuable 
 brass eagles into the nearest pond, as they did in several 
 instances, it was for the righteous object of cheating the covetous 
 king's looting commissioners of some of their spoil, and not 
 through fear of their being mutilated or destroyed. There was 
 a revival of their use in the seventeenth century, but more 
 especially after the Restoration of Church and king. The 
 extant eagles are chiefly of the fifteenth and early sixteenth 
 centuries ; the earlier ones, except a few of the fourteenth 
 century, whether of metal or wood, seem to have perished. At 
 Salisbury in 1214 there was " tuellia una ad lectricnm aquila"
 
 1 66 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 In the Luttrell Psalter, written c. 1300, an eagle lectern is 
 represented. The third dressing of the Islip Roll, 1366, the 
 eagle lectern, from which the gospel was read, is shown on the 
 north of the altar. 
 
 The finely worked brass eagle at Southwell Minster was 
 presented to the church in 1805 by Sir Richard Kay, Prebendary 
 of Durham, and subsequently Dean of Durham. It is inscribed : 
 
 W. M. 
 
 Oundle 
 
 " Orate pro an'"a Radulphi Savage et pro ' ani m abus Omn ' 
 Fidelium Defunctorutn." It originally belonged to Newstead 
 Priory. At the Dissolution, the canons concealed some 
 documents inside the ball on which the eagle stands, and threw 
 it into the adjacent lake or pool. Thence it was dredged in 
 the eighteenth century, and passed into the hands of a 
 Nottingham dealer. In Washington Irving's account of his visit 
 to Newstead, it is stated that one of the documents was "a 
 plenary pardon assured in advance for all kinds of crimes."
 
 LECtEKNS OF BRASS AND SfONE 167 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that it was nothing of the kind, 
 but was simply a royal general pardon by Henry V. of a usual 
 kind to raise money for the French war. 
 
 Another fine brass eagle which pretty closely resembles the 
 one at Southwell is in the Cambridgeshire church of Isleham. 
 There have been a number of more or less vague stories afloat 
 as to this lectern having been flung into a pond, or swamp of 
 the fens, and thence rescued, but the version given in Highu-ays 
 and Byways of Cambridgeshire (1910) as to its having been dug 
 up " some half-century ago between Isleham and Soham," and 
 that both parishes lay claim to it, can be readily disproved. We 
 see no reason to doubt that this eagle is the " one lecturne of 
 lattyn " entered as part of the church goods of Isleham by 
 Edward VI. 's commissioners, and that it was flung into some 
 adjacent water or swamp to hide it from the avaricious agents 
 of the youthful king's Council. Edward VI. went one better 
 than his father, Henry VIII., who pillaged the monasteries ; it was 
 reserved for his son to pillage the parish churches. The Isleham 
 eagle has, on a moulding of the ball which supports the bird, a 
 diminutive shield of arms, and what looks at first sight like a 
 brief scroll inscription ; but it is far too much rubbed to be easily 
 deciphered. The coat of arms has at present eluded all 
 attempts at identification. It bears that commonest of all charges, 
 a chevron, apparently between three sets of five bezants or 
 roundles, and the apparent "inscription" resolves itself into 
 little groups of tiny roundels. 1 
 
 Peterborough Cathedral has a fine specimen of late fifteenth- 
 century work in the brass eagle lectern given by Abbot William 
 Ramsey (1471-96) and Prior Maiden. There are the remains 
 of an inscription, which when perfect (Gunton's History] ran : 
 
 " Haec tibi lectrina dant petre metallica bina 
 Johes Maldon prior et Wills de Ramiseya. " 
 
 The chief feature of St Gregory's, Norwich, is the fifteenth- 
 century brass eagle which bears the inscription : " Orate pro 
 animabus Williin Welbrok Rose et Johe uxor' ejus, A. Dni. 
 MCCCCLXXXX VI r 
 
 In some other cases inscriptions add to the interest in these 
 imperishable lecterns. The brass eagle of St Stephen's, 
 St Albans, bears the inscription : " Georgius Creightown Episcopus 
 Dunkeldensis" It formed part of the plunder of Holy rood, and 
 was brought here by Sir Richard Lee. George, Bishop of 
 Dunkeld, ruled from 1527-30. 
 
 1 We have to thank the vicar, the Rev. H. Wilson Robinson, for sending 
 us a rubbing of the shield.
 
 1 68 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 At Oxburgh church, Norfolk, is a fine brass eagle, six feet 
 high, with the base supported by the usual three lions. 
 Blomfield gives the inscription: " Orate pro anima Thome Kyppyng 
 quondam rectoris de Narburgh" Thomas Kyppyng was rector of 
 Narburgh from 1461 until his death in 1489; he also held a 
 chantry at Oxburgh. 
 
 The brass eagle of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was 
 presented by John Claymond, who was president from 1516 to 
 1 537. It bears no date, but simply the words, "Joannes Claymond 
 Primus Praeses." This eagle, together with all the other ornaments 
 and vestments of the chapel, was carefully secreted during the 
 
 reign of Edward VI., but was 
 immediately forthcoming on 
 the accession of Queen Mary, 
 and all were in their place 
 when it was visited by Bishop 
 Gardiner. 
 
 One of the most interest- 
 ing survivals from the grievous 
 midnight fire which destroyed 
 the great parish church of 
 Croydon on 5th January 1867, 
 is the fifteenth-century brass 
 lectern eagle. The stem, 
 which has been much but 
 carefully restored, follows the 
 usual plan, being circular with 
 bands of projecting mould- 
 ings, but the lower part is 
 octagonal ; it rests on a 
 widely-spread circular base, 
 Redenhall, Norfolk supported on the backs of 
 
 three lions sejant. The stem 
 
 terminates in a sphere surmounted by an eagle with outspread 
 wings of the usual conventional type. 
 
 Newton Abbot, Devon, has a good brass eagle, which was 
 dug up at Bovey Heathfield, where it had been buried for safety 
 during the Commonwealth wars. 
 
 In the comely decking of the small church of Little Gedding, 
 Hunts., by Nicholas Ferrar in 1625, we read in his own MS. 
 that he provided " a pillar and eagle of brass for the Bible." 
 
 The eagle of the renewed St Paul's is the largest and finest 
 in England ; it measures 8 ft. 6 in. in height, and the breadth 
 across the wings is 3 ft. 3 in. The maker was Jacob Sutton : 
 he was paid for it .241. 155. Four years later 477. 6s. was
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 169 
 
 G. G. B. 
 
 Chipping Campden, Gloucester 
 
 22
 
 I/O PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 paid for the brass fence round it, together with the desk at 
 which two minor canons used to chant the Litany. This great 
 lectern stood in the centre of the choir, but in 1871-72, when the 
 dome was made available for congregational purposes, it was 
 placed to the west of the choir steps, and at a later period 
 again moved to the north-eastern pier. It is not only of fine 
 design, but is so constructed this is often not so as to be at an 
 angle convenient to the reader and not to require a supplementary 
 desk. In the St Paul's eagle the treatment is naturalistic ; the 
 conventional design of the mediaeval eagles was more often 
 followed in later days. In those the plumage was never more 
 than distantly and stiffly indicated, even on the wings and tail : 
 while the surface of the body was simply scored with leaf-shaped 
 lines, to suggest rather than to imitate the small feathers. If 
 regarded closely it will be found that the actual eagles of the 
 fifteenth century differ slightly in the pose of their heads, in the 
 width and outline of their wings, and in the grip and length 
 of their talons. The eagle, indeed, of Redenhall, Norfolk, is 
 unique, for it is double-headed (168). But in the case of the stems 
 or shafts, rising from a circular base supported on three small 
 lions, they all follow a similar scheme, being circular, with bands 
 of widely projecting mouldings. Several of them have been 
 probably cast in the same mould. If the shafts of eagles are 
 compared, the distinctions between them are very slight. Even 
 that of Chipping Campden, a full century later, follows the same 
 plan as that of Bovey Tracey (169). 
 
 St Michael's, Coventry, had a brass eagle sold in 1645 at 
 5d. per Ib. for ^5. 33. 6d. ; it therefore weighed 392 Ibs. The 
 neighbouring eagle, a fine example, at Holy Trinity, Coventry, 
 had a narrow escape from the like fate. In 1560 there was 
 " pd for skouring y d egle & candell stykes lod. & for mending 
 of y d egle's tayle i6d." 
 
 The eagle at Southwell has a sufficiently open beak to admit 
 of a coin being dropped in, and there is a kind of small trap- 
 door under the tail to permit of the withdrawal of the money. 
 This is also the case of the eagle at Woolpit, and, we believe, in 
 one other instance. This curious contrivance was doubtless 
 made for the reception of special offerings, probably on particular 
 occasions. Various remarks might be made with regard to 
 several of the other old brass eagles, but reasons of space prevent 
 any more being given, and we must be content with supplying a 
 list of such eagles, amounting to nearly fifty, 1 which we hope is 
 very nearly complete and correct. 
 
 1 A recently published ecclesiological dictionary has stated that the old 
 brass eagles in English churches are nearly a score in number !
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 
 
 171 
 
 Bovey Tracey, Devon
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 BRASS EAGLE LECTERNS, INCLUDING THOSE OF THE 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Bovey Tracey, Devon 
 
 Bristol, St Mary-le-Port, 1683, 
 from the Cathedral 
 
 Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe 
 St Nicholas 
 
 Canterbury, 1511 
 
 Cavendish, Suffolk 
 
 Chipping Campden, Gloucester- 
 shire, 1618 
 
 Clare, Suffolk 
 
 Coventry, Holy Trinity 
 
 Croft, Lincolnshire 
 
 Cropredy, Oxon. 
 
 Croydon, Surrey 
 
 Edenham, Lincolnshire 
 
 Elm, Cambridgeshire 
 
 Little Gidding, Hunts., 1625 
 
 Huish Champfleurs, Somerset 
 
 Isleham, Cambridgeshire 
 
 Lovvestoft, Suffolk 
 
 Lynn, St Margaret, Suffolk 
 St Nicholas, 
 
 Lincoln Cathedral, 1667 
 
 Newton Abbot, Devon 
 
 Norwich, St Gregory, 1496 
 
 Oxford, Corpus Christi College 
 ,, Wadham College, 1641 
 Oundle, from Fotheringhay 
 
 College 
 
 Oxburgh, Norfolk 
 Peterborough Cathedral, 1472 
 Ramsey, Hunts. 
 Redenhall, Norfolk 
 Salisbury Cathedral, 1719 
 
 St Martin's 
 St Albans, St Peter's 
 
 St Stephen 
 St Paul's, 1 6 
 
 Southampton, St Michael, c. 1450 
 Southwell Cathedral 
 Long Sutton, Lincolnshire 
 Up well, St Peter's, Norfolk, c. 
 
 i 3 8o 2 
 
 Wellington, Salop 
 Wells Cathedral, 1660 
 Wiggenhall St Mary's, Norfolk 
 Wimborne, Dorset, 1633 
 Wolborough, Devon 
 Wool pit, Suffolk 
 York Cathedral, 1686 
 
 There are a few mediaeval brass lecterns, with shafts or 
 stems like the eagles, but surmounted by double sloping desks. 
 
 The double-desked brass lectern of Yeovil bears the following 
 ungrammatical inscription in four lines : 
 
 " Precibus nunc precor cermiis 
 
 hinc eya rogate 
 Prater Martinus Forester 
 vita vigilet que beate" 
 
 The lettering seems to be c. I4OO. 3 On each side is the 
 demi effigy of a man. The lectern in Eton College chapel 
 of latten has a double book -desk with pierced cusped circles 
 containing shields with the arms of Eton ; and it is also engraved 
 
 1 Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1880. 
 
 2 Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1891. 
 
 3 Journ. Arch. Assoc,, ix. 75, 76.
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 
 
 173 
 
 with the Evangelistic symbols. The circular stem, with 
 moulded necking and capital, terminates in a heavily moulded 
 circular base supported on four small lions. The date is 
 c. 1475 (174). 
 
 The beautiful brass lectern in the centre of the choir of 
 
 Eton College Chapel 
 
 King's College chapel, Cambridge, was given by Provost 
 Hacomblen (1509-28); it is surmounted by a brass statuette of 
 King Henry VI., who laid the foundation of the chapel in 1446. 
 In the chapel of Merton College, Oxford, is a beautifully 
 finished double-desked brass lectern, the gift of John Martock, 
 fellow. He formally bequeathed it, with other benefactions, by will 
 of 1503, but it had been in the chapel for many years previously.
 
 174 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 It bears the inscription, " Orate pro anima magistri Johannis 
 Martok." The dolphin of Fitzjames occurs on each side. 
 Richard Fitzjames was warden from 1483 to 1507. Here, as at 
 Yeovil, the widened circular base of the shaft rests on four small 
 lions. 
 
 The lectern of Wells Cathedral, which stands near the pulpit 
 on the north side of the nave, is a massive double desk of brass 
 
 Eton College Chapel 
 
 surmounted by ornamental work, including the arms of the see. 
 It rests upon a ball, and turned stem and base, all of brass. 
 Bishop Creyghton (1670-72), made dean in 1660, inscribed his 
 arms and this legend on each desk : " Dr Robert Creyghton, upon 
 his returne from fifteen years exile, wi th our Sovereigne Lord 
 King Charles f 2 rf , made Dean of Wells in y e year 1660, gave 
 this Brazen Deske, with God's holy worde thereon, to the saide 
 Cathedral Church."
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 
 
 175
 
 176 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 In the choir of St George's, Windsor, stands a beautiful 
 gilt latten lectern of Perpendicular design. The double desks 
 are pierced with a charming pattern, and the ridge is embattled ; 
 candle brackets project from each end. It is now used for 
 reading the lessons, but " anciently by the chanters where the 
 choir was ruled j" 1 as at S. Pietro, Bologna (175). 
 
 In connection with metal lecterns, it may be mentioned 
 that there is a lightly-framed double desk of iron, which seems 
 
 to be mediaeval, at Chippenham, 
 Cambs. In the wardens' accounts of 
 Mortlake, Surrey, there is an entry of 
 43. "payd to the Smithe for the yron 
 desk for the Byble." 
 
 There are also a few examples 
 to be found of lecterns of stone or 
 marble. 
 
 There is a good stone reading 
 desk at Wenlock Priory, which pro- 
 bably came from the Chapter House. 2 
 It is boldly carved with twisted 
 conventional foliage, and is of late 
 twelfth-century or quite early thir- 
 teenth-century date. 3 
 
 The parish church of Crowle, 
 Worcestershire, has a remarkable 
 survival in the old lectern carved out 
 of a block of blue-grey limestone, 
 sunk to receive the book. The front 
 and sides are sculptured with a con- 
 ventional vine springing from inverted 
 lions' heads. In the centre of the 
 front is a beardless figure with bent 
 Chippenham, Cambs. knees, holding on to the vine with 
 
 both hands. Below the desk are a 
 
 central and four angle shafts with foliated capitals, but the 
 actual shafts are modern ; 4 they were supplied during " a 
 judicious restoration" of 1845. Previous to this the stone 
 had lain in the churchyard for many a long year. A possible 
 
 j. F. E. 
 
 1 Sir W. St John Hope's magnificent work on Windsor Castle, p. 448. 
 
 2 The lecterns at Wenlock, Crowle, and Norton are fully described and 
 illustrated by Mr F. T. S. Houghton in the Proceedings of the Midland 
 Institute for I3th January 1913. 
 
 3 Illustrated v&Journ. Arch. Assoc., iii. 130. 
 
 4 Viet. Co. Hist. Wore., iii. 335.
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 177
 
 178 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS AND ORGANS 
 
 tradition says that it was brought here from Pershore Abbey. 
 Its date is after 1200. 
 
 The church of Norton, near Evesham, has a lectern of white 
 limestone of the greatest possible interest. It is in the form of 
 a sloping desk, with a sunk face and projecting rim to hold the 
 book ; it now rests on a modern shaft and capital. The 
 vertical sides are carved with foliage scrolls in high relief ; a 
 beast's head projects from the foliage on the north and south 
 sides, whilst two human heads with close curled hair show on 
 the east side. In the middle of the west face is the figure of 
 a fully vested bishop, or more likely abbot, with crosier in left 
 hand, and right hand raised in benediction. At the upper 
 
 F. T. s. H. 
 
 Norton, Worcester 
 
 angles on the west face are pinholes, probably for candle 
 brackets. This lectern was dug up on the site of Evesham 
 Abbey in 1813, and described and illustrated in the ArcJiceologia^ 
 Mr Rudge, the writer, tried to identify it with lectricium retro- 
 chorum made by Thomas de Marlebenge in 1217-18, when he 
 was sacrist. In this he was clearly wrong, the style of work 
 is fully fifty years earlier. It may very possibly be the lectri- 
 cium capituli made by Abbot Adam (1160-91), provided he 
 accomplished this work near the beginning of his rule. 2 
 
 At Gloucester Cathedral is a stone desk opposite to the 
 tomb of the murdered Edward II.; it is said that it was used 
 for the book from whence addresses were given to the pilgrims 
 to that shrine. 
 
 1 Vol. xvii. 278. 
 
 See Viet. Co. Hist. Wore., vol. ii. 195, 419.
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE 
 
 179 
 
 Etwall, Derbyshire
 
 i8o 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 G. H. W. 
 
 Mickleover 
 
 Spondon 
 
 G. H. w. 
 
 Crich 
 
 Chaddesden
 
 LECTERNS OF BRASS AND STONE l8l 
 
 Occasionally a small stone of a simple character obtrudes 
 from the north chancel wall close to the high altar, where it 
 doubtless served as a gospel lectern. This seems to be to 
 some extent a local custom, as it occurs mostly in Derbyshire, 
 but probably for no better cause than the instinct of similarity. 
 In Derbyshire this gospel lectern is to be found, in the same 
 position, in the six churches of Chaddesden, Crich, Etwall, 
 Mickleover, Taddington, and Spondon. They also occur at 
 Paull (broken), Pocklington, Ottrington, and Rous, East Riding 
 Yorks. ; at Chipping Warden, Northants ; and at Walsoken, 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Stone desks are also recorded at South Burlingham, Norfolk, 
 and Chesterblade, Somerset. 
 
 At the west end of Beckley church, Oxon., there is a curious 
 stone desk attached to one of the piers, near the font, which may 
 have been intended to support the mediaeval Manual during 
 the baptismal office.
 
 182 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 THE emblem of the eagle in wood, in use for lecterns, was 
 probably commoner in England's mediaeval days than those in 
 brass. At the present time the extant number of old wooden 
 eagles is about twenty, as compared with fifty in brass. But it 
 must be remembered how perishable is wood as compared with 
 brass, and how readily the former could be destroyed. In 
 examining wooden eagles, it is readily seen how much easier 
 the plumage can be reproduced in wood than in metal. It 
 would also be a far less expensive material for the ordinary 
 parish church. Although the shafts or stems of the oak eagle 
 lecterns are much more varied than those in brass, it is curious 
 to note how in several of them, as at Redenhall, Norfolk, and 
 Holy Rood, Southampton, some attempt has been made to repro- 
 ducethe stiff circularmouldingsof their fellows in brass. The shafts 
 of St Cross, Winchester, and of Holy Rood, Southampton, are 
 much more in accord with what we should expect in Perpen- 
 dicular woodwork ; the shaft of Leighton Buzzard is remarkably 
 simple and plain, whilst the base of the fine eagle at Astbury, 
 Cheshire, is strange and massive but effective (185). Redenhall 
 church, Norfolk, is as eccentric in its wooden eagle as we have 
 already shown it to be in its double-headed eagle of brass ; the 
 tips of the inner wings rise up, and by joining their tips to the 
 head of the eagle, on a line with its eyes, two almost circular 
 openings are found on each side of the eagle's neck, whether it 
 is regarded from the front or back (184). The worker in wood 
 could far more easily produce unexpected effects than his brother 
 craftsman in metal. At the great church of St Cross, Winchester, 
 there is a somewhat remarkable wooden eagle which has attained 
 the name of " the parrot eagle " from the stunted form of its 
 beak. It is quite obviously intended for an eagle, and the beak 
 and head are about as much like an eagle as a true parrot. The 
 malformation very possibly arose from some flaw in the wood 
 which the sculptor was not able to overcome. But the name
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 I8 3 
 
 clings to it, and on the occasion of two visits we overheard the 
 bedesman verger telling two totally different yarns, both equally 
 untrue, to gaping visitors, in order to account for this pseudo 
 name (195). 
 
 Leighton Buzzard 
 
 Redenhall, Norfolk 
 
 The fine fourteenth-century eagle at Holy Rood, Southampton, 
 holds a dragon with upturned head beneath its claws. 
 
 In the south aisle of Bledlow, Bucks., is a wooden eagle 
 with head looking backwards. The eagle is pre-Reformation, 
 but the shaft and base are modern. The wooden eagle of
 
 1 84 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Monksilver, Somerset, has lost the lower part of its stand, and is 
 attached to the chancel screen (162). 
 
 In Stoke D'Abernon church there is a wooden eagle lectern 
 of foreign design : it is said to have come from Belgium and to 
 have been placed here in the first half of the last century. The 
 lectern at St Thomas's, Exeter, came from the cathedral, and in 
 1847 was supplied with feathers; originally it was featherless, 
 like the eagle at Ottery St Mary. 
 
 Redenhall, Norfolk 
 
 The following is an attempt at 
 old wooden eagles : 
 
 Astbury, Cheshire 
 Bledlow, Bucks. 
 Bigbury, Devon 
 East Brent, Somerset 
 Exeter, St Thomas 
 Keddington, Lincolnshire 
 Lapford, Devon 
 Laughton-en-le-Morthen, West 
 
 Riding, Yorks. 
 Leighton Buzzard, Beds. 
 Leverington, Cambs. 
 Monksilver, Somerset 
 
 a complete list of the surviving 
 
 Ottery St Mary, Devon 
 
 Phillack, Cornwall 
 
 Redenhall, Norfolk 
 
 Southampton, Holy Rood (four- 
 teenth century) 
 
 Sparsholt, Berks, (fourteenth 
 century) 
 
 Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey 
 
 Swimbridge, Devon 
 
 Wheathamstead, Herts. 
 
 Winchester Cathedral Choir 
 St Cross
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 I8 5 
 
 r,. o. B. 
 
 Astbury, Cheshire 
 
 24
 
 1 86 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 T. M. O. I.. 
 
 Detling, Kent
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 187 
 
 More often the wooden lectern is desk-shaped ; it may com- 
 prise only a single desk, as at Bury, Hunts. ; frequently two 
 desks, as at Shipdham, Norfolk ; or even four desks, as at 
 Detling, Kent. Sometimes the desk revolves, as at Wood 
 Newton, Northants. In Bristol Cathedral is a desk on wheels 
 with a cupboard in the middle. Painted lecterns occur at 
 Littlebury, Essex, and Ranworth, Norfolk ; whilst several others 
 of the fifteenth century show traces of former colouring and 
 gilding. Ranworth's plain desk is unique, for it retains painted 
 
 T. M. c;. i.. 
 
 Detling, Kent 
 
 on it a versicle, with the old musical notation ; this desk used 
 to stand on the rood-loft (188). 
 
 Several lecterns have of late years been made up of old 
 fragments of medieval carving or panelling, and are apt to 
 deceive the unwary as to their age, notably at Bodmin, Cornwall, 
 and at Edith Weston, Rutland. 
 
 Bury, 1 Hunts., has the oldest of such lecterns, dating from 
 early in the Decorated period. Not far behind comes the striking 
 four-sided lectern of Detling with beautiful decorated carving, 
 c. 1320. Each of the desks is carved with different geometrical 
 
 1 Engraved in Parker's Glossary, ii. PI. 21.
 
 188 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 traceried designs. There is an effective cresting, in the centre 
 of which is the pedestal intended, we presume, for candlestick 
 arms. This desk would be used for antiphonal singing, and it 
 has been suggested that it may have been brought here from 
 the neighbouring abbey of Leeds or Boxley. 
 
 c. F. N. 
 
 Blythburgh, Suffolk 
 
 Ranworth, Norfolk 
 
 There is an old oak lectern of early fourteenth-century date 
 at Old Shoreham, Sussex. 
 
 At Peakirk, near Peterborough, is an imperfect but highly 
 interesting example of a wooden lectern of the first half of the
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 189 
 
 fourteenth century. It is thus described by Mr Peers in the 
 Victoria History of the county (ii. 521) : " The old revolving desk 
 is unfortunately lost, but the wooden stem, composed of eight 
 slender filleted shafts with moulded capitals and base, is in fairly 
 good condition, and stands on an original moulded stone base, 
 an octagon set diagonally on a square. Traces of red paint 
 remain on the wood." When visiting this church in the 'seventies 
 of last century, the present writer was told by an old man that 
 he well remembered "the swinging top," as he called it ; it was 
 broken off and much damaged by the fall of a ladder during 
 some repairs to the roof. 
 
 Ranworth, Norfolk 
 
 Shipdham, Norfolk, is probably the finest example of wooden 
 lecterns now surviving. It is of fifteenth-century date, c. 1470; 
 the design is of much beauty and merit. This lectern is 
 constructed with a triangular shaft consisting of three but- 
 tresses, the angles between them being ornamented with lines 
 of small quatrefoils from top to bottom. This shaft rests on 
 a base of three members extended in triangular form, and 
 each supported by a lion sejant. At the top there is an 
 embattled capital, which supports a double desk of the usual 
 form ; the sides of the desk are richly carved with circular 
 designs, two on each, of varied tracery. The ends are also
 
 190 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 filled with quatrefoils and foliage, whilst a cresting of leaves 
 forms the ridge. The actual desk underwent a slight and most 
 careful restoration in 1856, but the rest is quite original. 
 
 J. T. L. 
 
 Shipdham, Norfolk 
 
 In the nave of Ivinghoe, Berks., is a wooden fifteenth-century 
 lectern on a hexagonal stem with a wide moulded base. 
 
 East Harling, Norfolk, used to be possessed of a singularly 
 interesting wooden lectern of Decorated style. It consisted of
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 191 
 
 G. H. T. 
 
 Ramsey, Hunts.
 
 192 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 C. F. N. 
 
 All Saints, Pavement, York
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 193 
 
 a lozenge-shaped shaft, rising from a plain cross-bar base, but 
 having a circular moulded capital. The double desk had an 
 embattled top, and the ends were well carved with cinquefoil 
 cusping and diaper work. 1 On inquiring for this desk four or 
 five years ago, the present writer was informed that, through 
 some gross carelessness, it was "lost or stolen" during a restora- 
 tion of 1878-79. Rumour has it that it was secretly purchased 
 by some unprincipled American, and that it is now in an episcopal 
 church near Boston. 
 
 Scole, near Diss, possesses a simple 
 but most effective example of a wooden 
 lectern of the fifteenth century. It 
 consists of an octagonal stem or shaft 
 without any capital, but is supported on 
 a graduated moulded base terminating 
 in a square, having a boldly carved open 
 single oak leaf at each angle. The desk 
 is of a plain double character. 2 
 
 Ramsey, Hunts., has a singularly 
 good double-desked lectern, c. 1450, 
 doubtless used in the old abbey, and 
 now bearing a sixteenth-century chained 
 Bible ; the ridge is embattled, but the 
 chief feature is the shaft supported by 
 three widely projecting buttresses with 
 pierced tracery, and each crowned with a 
 diminutive figure (191). Another double- 
 desked fifteenth-century lectern with a 
 buttressed shaft, and four small figures 
 between them, is that of All Saints, 
 Pavement, York ; it is supposed to have 
 been brought here from the church of 
 St Crux (192). The good eighteenth- 
 century double-desked lectern of Blyth- 
 burgh, Suffolk, with the end pierced by 
 open quatrefoils, has often been illus- 
 trated (188). Two other good but fairly plain double lecterns 
 of the fifteenth century occur at Lingfield, Surrey, and at St 
 Michael-at-Thorn, Norwich. :! 
 
 In his Little Guide to Berkshire, Mr Brabant states that 
 
 1 Illustrated in Instrumental Ecclesiastica, PI. xx., ist Series (1847) ; also 
 in Norfolk Arch., vii. 123. 
 
 - Illustrated on PI. 2 of Instrumenta Ecclesiastica, ist Series, 1847. 
 3 Illustrated in Dr Cox's Norfolk Churches, ii. 185. 
 
 2 5 
 
 East Hendred, Berks.
 
 194 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 A. B. 
 
 St Michael's, College Hill, London
 
 LECTERNS OF WOOD 
 
 195 
 
 the lectern of East Hendred is " pre- Reformation and curious " ; 
 it certainly is curious, for this single-desked simple lectern is 
 supported on a shaft which terminates in a human foot ; there is 
 also a projection for a lower book-rest (193). Buckinghamshire 
 has four seventeenth-century wooden lecterns. At Swanbourne is 
 an oak lectern with turned shaft, resting on four feet with scrolled 
 braces ; at Long Crendon is a wood lectern, with a circular 
 shaft, late seventeenth century; in the south aisle of Quainton 
 church, resting on an altar- 
 table, is an oak desk with 
 carved ornaments, bearing 
 the names of the church- 
 wardens and date 1682 ; in 
 the gallery at Cublington is 
 a revolving hexagonal desk, 
 with turned post and curved 
 feet, given, as inscribed, by 
 Joseph Xeale, 1675. 
 
 Other wooden lecterns 
 not hitherto mentioned in- 
 clude Littlebury, Little 
 Horkesly, Newport, and 
 Shalford (all Perpendicu- 
 lar), Essex ; Lyme Regis 
 (double), seventeenth cen- 
 tury, Dorset; Maisey- 
 Hampton, 1623 (with book- 
 chain), Gloucestershire; 
 Aldbury (double), Herts. ; 
 Lenham, Kent ; Epworth 
 and Swaton, Lincolnshire ; 
 Bitterley, Salop ; Cheddar, 
 Chedzoy (double, revolving, 
 painted), 1618 ; High Ham (curious design), Wedmore, 
 Somerset ; Wednesbury, Staffordshire ; Hawkstead, Hopton-by- 
 Lowestoft, and Lavenham, Suffolk ; East Coulston, Wilts. ; 
 Harthill and Kirkheaton l (double), Yorkshire. 
 
 At Boscombe, Wilts., there is an oblong deal stand with 
 sloping desk round which the church band used to gather ; its use 
 is remembered by several of the older inhabitants. 
 
 Some of the London city churches possess examples of post- 
 Restoration lecterns ; e.g., St Michael's, College Hill. 
 
 1 Temp. Charles II., Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1808. 
 
 St Cross, Winchester
 
 196 
 
 fULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 Cumnor. Berks.
 
 197 
 
 READING DESKS 
 
 " THIS ABOMINATION," as the hand-book of the old Cambridge 
 Camden Society unkindly describes it, " was first devised in the 
 beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Till that time, of 
 course, the priest said the service nowhere but in the choir ; 
 the only seat which he ought to use is his stall in the choir." 
 
 It is curious to note how the use of a reading-desk at the 
 east end of the nave has died out in nine-tenths of English 
 churches during the last half-century ; the old custom of reading 
 matins and evensong from a choir-stall is now everywhere 
 prevalent. 
 
 As the Reformation gradually developed, the use of a special 
 desk or pew gained ground, but there was much diversity of 
 practice in the earlier years of Elizabeth, and much depended 
 upon the caprice of particular bishops. 
 
 In a paper found among Secretary Cecil's MSS., it is noted 
 that in that year some ministers performed Divine service in the 
 chancel, others in the nave, and some in a seat made in the 
 church. 
 
 In 1569 Bishop Parkhurst of Norwich ordered that "in all 
 smaller churches there be some convenient seat outside the 
 chancel door . . . where the minister may say the whole of the 
 Divine service, that all the congregation may hear and be edified 
 therewith." In 1571 Archbishop Grindal of York gave the follow- 
 ing precise directions : " That the people may the better hear the 
 morning and evening prayer when the same by the minister is 
 said, and be the more edified thereby, we do enjoin that the 
 churchwardens of every parish, at the charges of the parish, 
 shall procure a decent low pulpit to be erected and made in the 
 body of the church out of hand, wherein the minister shall stand 
 with his face toward the people when he readeth morning and 
 evening prayer; provided always that where the churches are 
 very small, it shall suffice that the minister stand in his 
 accustomed stall in the choir, so that a convenient desk or
 
 198 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 lectern, with room to turn his face towards the people, be there 
 provided," etc. 
 
 At St Peter Cheap, London, there was " paid for 2 matts 
 for the pewe wherein Mr Parson saithe the service, the Xth daie 
 of November, 1 568 ; vj d." 
 
 Clevedon, Somerset 
 
 In the accounts of 1577 for St Mary, Shrewsbury, is an item 
 for " colouring the ciirates deske." 
 
 At last it was definitely made obligatory by the Canons of 
 1603 "that a convenient seat be made for the minister to read 
 service in." 
 
 But very few examples are extant of the ministers' pews of 
 Elizabethan date. In the little disused church of Sutton, near 
 Shrewsbury, the reading desk is carved, " Richard A tkys, Schole-
 
 READING DESKS 199 
 
 master, 1 582." At Barwick, Somerset, the letters " VV. H." are on 
 the reading desk door ; they are said to be the initials of William 
 Hope, who was patron of the church in early Elizabethan days. 
 Harleston, Northants, is dated 1591. 
 
 Sometimes the reading pew had double desks, so that the 
 minister could face either west or south ; the first position for the 
 lessons, and the latter for the rest of the service. But as a rule 
 they were set with their backs severely to the altar. Old double 
 desks of this description may be noted at Clevedon, Somerset 
 (198), East Ilsley, Berks., and VVoodford, Xorthants ; good ex- 
 amples of seventeenth-century reading desks may be noted at 
 Salford Prior, Warwickshire (1616), Chedzoy, Somerset, with 
 double arcading (1620), and Mayfield, Staffordshire, inscribed 
 in raised letters, " Mr William Barton, Vicar of Mafield, entred 
 March 10,1630." That great trophy of Jacobean carving erected 
 at Croscombe, Somerset, by Bishop Lake in 1616, included a fine 
 reading desk. Cumnor, Berks., is a singularly large and hand- 
 some example ; another is seen at Tawstock, Devon (196). 
 
 George Herbert made his pulpit and reading desk equal in 
 height " so as to be of equal honour and estimation, and agree 
 like brethren." 
 
 But this idea also occurred to another devout churchman of 
 the same period, for Nicholas Ferrar, when embellishing the small 
 church of Little Gidding, Hunts., in 1625, placed both pulpit and 
 reading desk on the same level opposite each other, " it being 
 thought improper that a higher place should be appointed for 
 preaching than that which was allotted for prayer." 
 
 It is worth noticing that no mention of the new desk was 
 introduced into the Prayer Book till 1661, since which time the 
 Preface to the Commination Service directs "After Morning 
 Prayer . . . the Priest shall, in the Reading Pew or Pulpit, 
 say," etc. 
 
 A synonym for " reading desk " was " reader's pew." Thus 
 Christopher Harvey sings : 
 
 " But, if my pulpit-hopes shall all prove vain, 
 I'll back unto the reading pue again."
 
 200 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 DESKS FOR CHAINED BOOKS 
 
 THERE is another kind of desk, or lectern, or stand for books 
 which yet tarries in a fair number of our churches, though not 
 connected, except in the case of Bibles, with public worship. 
 These were the desks upon which rested chained books for the 
 use of private readers. 
 
 As printing gained ground, and books obtained admission 
 to even the humblest of homes, a chained book became an 
 anachronism, and no wonder that the stands to which they were 
 attached became so much useless lumber, especially as such 
 stands rarely if ever consisted of ornamental or carved wood- 
 work. As early as 1622, an enlightened benefactor left a 
 number of books to be stored in the parish church of Repton, 
 Derbyshire, provided they were not chained, but lent according 
 to the discretion of the minister and wardens. By the close of 
 the seventeenth century the custom of chaining books came 
 almost to an end. 
 
 It is a great mistake to imagine that the chaining of books 
 in churches came in with the Reformation. Lyndwood's will 
 of 1443 provides for the chaining of his Provinciate in a chapel 
 of Westminster Abbey. Sir Thomas Lyttleton bequeathed 
 several works to the abbey of Hales Owen, in 1481, "to be 
 bounden with an yron chayn so that all priests and others may 
 se and rede when it plesyth them." Thomas, Earl of Ormond, 
 directed in 15 14 that his glossed Psalter (doubtless in English) 
 be fastened with a chain to his tomb in the city church of St 
 Thomas Aeon. 
 
 The wardens' accounts of St Michael's, Cornhill, for 1475 
 contain the following entry : 
 
 For lengyng of an yron cheyne and making it to serve to 
 
 the glosed sawter in our Lady Chappell ij d. 
 
 The following highly interesting set of books were chained 
 in the Lady chapel of All Saints, Derby, according to an entry, 
 c. 1525, in the parish books :
 
 DESKS FOR CHAINED BOOKS 2OI 
 
 These be the bokes in our lady Chapell tyed with chenes y' were 
 gyffen to Alhaloes Church in Derby. 
 
 In primis one Boke called summa summarum. 
 
 Item A boke called Summa Raumundi. 
 
 Item Anoyer called pupilla occuli. 
 
 Item Anoyer called the Sexte. 
 
 Item A boke called Hugucyon. 
 
 Item A boke called Vitas patrum. 
 
 Item Anoyer boke called pauls pistols (English). 
 
 Item A boke called Januensis super evangeliis dominicalibus. 
 
 Item A greete portuose. 
 
 Item Anoyer boke called legenda Aurea (probably printed). 1 
 
 In 1590 Thomas Iken left to the Shropshire church of 
 Hodnet, "term shillinges in monye to buye a deske and a 
 chaine" for the preservation of Erasmus' Paraphrase, Foxe's 
 Martyrs, and Jewel's Apology. 
 
 The books that remain chained are but few, and are chiefly 
 confined to the three just mentioned, with an occasional Bible, 
 but the number of churches which retain a book or books that 
 show they have been chained is certainly upwards of one 
 hundred and fifty ; they are often stowed away in chests or 
 cupboards.-' The stands of diverse kinds that are yet extant are 
 probably under forty. It seems only necessary to give two 
 illustrations, namely a single stand at Sherborne St John, Hants, 
 and a later double stand, for several volumes, at Breadsall, 
 Derbyshire ; the latter was reduced to ashes in June 1914, when 
 the ancient church of Breadsall was burnt by militant suffragists. 
 The following is a list of some of the more important stands that 
 are still (or until recently) extant (202) : 
 
 Appleby, Westmoreland. Stand with 3 vols. of Foxe, west end of south 
 
 aisle, 1632. 
 Breadsall, Derbyshire. Double reading desk with folding lids, 4 vols. 
 
 each side. 
 
 Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe. Desk for chained Bible. 
 Cavendish, Suffolk. Double desk, with Jewel and Homilies. 
 Bromsgrove, Wore. Desk with chained Jewel. 
 Cirencester, Glouc. Desk for chained book. 
 Cumnor, Berks. Desk for 1611 Bible. 
 
 1 Soon after Dr Cox discovered these early parish books and restored 
 them to the church, Mr Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian, Cambridge, 
 supplied a valuable series of notes on them to the Chronicles of All Saints, 
 
 PP- 175-77- 
 
 2 Upwards of one hundred are named in the first edition of Church 
 Furniture (1907), pp. 336-40, and many entries have been since added. 
 
 26
 
 2O2 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS
 
 DESKS FOR CHAINED BOOKS 2O3 
 
 Fairford, Glouc. Lectern with chained early edition of Calvin's 
 
 Institutes and Whole Duty of Man, 1725. 
 Frampton Cotterell, Glouc. Chained Jewel on an old lectern 
 Hodnet, Salop. Chained books on a Jacobean stand. 
 Kinver, Staff. Desk 7 feet long, Foxe (1581), Jewel (1609), and two 
 
 others. 
 
 Kingston, Devon. Bible (1617) on stand. 
 Lingfield, Surrey. Bible and Jewel, chained on a double desk. 
 Northampton, St Giles. Desk in north chancel chapel, Calvin (1609), 
 
 Homilies (1676). 
 Sherborne St John, Hants. A triple desk, with the three vols. of 
 
 Foxe's Martyrs. 
 
 Towcester, North ants. Desk, south aisle, Bible, Homilies, and Foxe. 
 Wiggenhall, Norfolk. Bible, Foxe, Jewel, and Homilies, chained to a 
 
 desk. 
 Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire. Calvin (1573), Jewel (1611), and ten 
 
 other vols. chained to a curiously planned desk given by George 
 
 Dunscombe, vicar, ob. 1652. 
 York, All Saints, Pavement. Jewel on an old lectern.
 
 204 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THERE is no necessity in these limited pages to enter into 
 questions of the rise and origin of organs, or of their gradual 
 development and accessories ; all this can be found set forth 
 with precision and detail in the authoritative pages of Messrs 
 Hopkins' and Rimbault's several editions of The Organ, and in 
 Sir George Grove's Dictionary of Music. Much is to be learnt 
 from the delightful pages of the Rev. F. W. Galpin's English 
 Instruments of Music (1910). Our only concern is with a few 
 preliminary words as to the early use of organs in England, and 
 notices of the more remarkable of the older cases. These old 
 organ cases are for various reasons of considerably less interest 
 in England than in Switzerland, France, Germany, or Spain. 
 
 Church organs were introduced into England at least as 
 early as the dawn of the eighth century. St Aldhelm, who died 
 in 709, states that native workmen ornamented the front pipes 
 of their organs with gilding. He is supposed to have erected 
 the first organ at Malmesbury, of which he was abbot from 680 
 to 705, and that it was this organ which inspired his graphic 
 description. Fanitius describes an organ erected by St Dunstan 
 in the tenth century at this same abbey of Malmesbury, and 
 says that he saw the following distich on a brass plate attached 
 to the instrument : 
 
 " Organa do Sane to Praesul Duns tans A del mo 
 Perdat hie aeternutn qui vult hinc tollere regnum." 
 
 Dunstan also erected organs for the abbeys of Glastonbury 
 and Abingdon. In 951 Elphege, Bishop of Winchester, built 
 one for that minster, which is said to have required several men 
 to set the keys in motion, and fill the four hundred tubes with 
 air. From this date onwards the large minster or abbey churches 
 became speedily supplied with organs, and by the thirteenth 
 century the larger parish churches were equally well equipped. 
 They multiplied exceedingly during the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries, so that it was, we believe, difficult to find any church
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 205 
 
 
 '?. ' -- " , : 
 
 VP 
 
 t! 
 
 
 Old Radnor, Wales 
 
 K. H. S. 
 
 Old Radnor
 
 206 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 of decent proportion destitute of such an instrument. At all 
 events, so far as they have been investigated, there is not a 
 single extant set of pre-Reformation churchwardens' accounts 
 which does not abound with items relative to the repair or 
 supply of organs. 1 It would be quite an easy matter to fill 
 at least fifty pages of this size with such extracts ; we must 
 be content with a few items from two or three of the more 
 interesting. 
 
 The accounts of St Petrock, Exeter, show that a rood-loft 
 was erected in 1458-59. In 1472-73 a seat was made at a cost 
 of 75. for use when playing on the organs in the rood-loft ; about 
 this date the clerk of the church received 6s. 8d. a year for 
 playing the organs. In 1519 new organs were purchased for 
 10 and " the olde pair sold." 
 
 1455 (St Margaret, Southwark}. For a peyre of newe 
 
 Organes v li. vj s. viij d. 
 
 For a pleyer to pley upon the same Organes hyred 
 
 in Chepe xiij s. iiij d. 
 
 To Mychell for pleying upon the organes xij s. 
 
 1457. To John Fychelle Organ pleyer - xl s. 
 
 T 5 X 3 (St Mary, Cambridge}. Payed to a blak Fryer in Estir 
 
 holidaies for to pley atte Orgaynes xvj d. 
 
 1526. For a skynne ledir to amend the organs ix d. 
 
 1527. For a new handell makyng for the orgayne tokeylle ij d. 
 P d for a quartt off Suett wyne to the orgyn makyr for ys 
 
 relabor iiij d. 
 1537. Payed for ij lokkes and iij Jemens (hinges) for the 
 
 Organnys - xiiij d. 
 
 Payd for a staffe for the Belowes of the said Organn>s - iiij d. 
 1543. Item of Thomas Canam for xliiij li. of tynne comyng 
 
 of the old orgayne pypes xj s. 
 1557. Payd to Dyall for playeng of our orgaynes from the 
 
 xij th of May to the iiij" 1 of June ij s. viij d. 
 
 1559. For a booke called a grayle for the organys iij s. iiij d. 
 
 For byndyng of the booke for the orgayns viij d. 
 
 The numerous parish accounts of the city churches abound 
 in organ entries. The earliest of them is for 1433, when 
 St Peter Cheap paid 6s. 8d. " for ye Organs mendyng." 
 
 There were two organs at the church of St Mary-at-Hill, the 
 smaller one in the choir and the larger one probably on the 
 rood-loft. The inventory of 1496 names " ij peyre of old 
 organs," whilst the inventory of 1553 mentions " i j paire of 
 Organs y one gretter yen y other." The accounts for the 
 
 1 See Dr Cox's Churchwardens' Accounts (1913), pp. 196-204.
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 207
 
 208 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 latter year enter 55. 6d. " for mending the great organs and 
 mendynge the bellowes and for mendynge the lytell organs." 
 In 1477 one Walter Pleasance was paid 6d. " for playing at the 
 organs " on St Barnabas' day. 
 
 1519-20. For Bryngyng of the Orgons from Seint Andrewys 
 
 to our chirche agent Seint Barnabas Eve ij d. 
 
 For the beryng home of the Orgon to Seint 
 
 Andrewys iij d. 
 
 1521-22. To the Orgonmaker for the Orgons in money 
 besidse that was gaderid and for bryngyng home 
 of the same orgons x s. viij d. 
 
 To the Orgonmaker as aperith by Identure for the 
 oversight of the orgons for certen yeris, yerely 
 to now - xij d. 
 
 1523-24. To John Northfolke for a Rewarde for kepyng the 
 
 Quere and the Orgons all the xij days in Cristemas vj s. viij d. 
 
 Paid for brede and Drynk spent uppon the Orgon- 
 maker and other of the parisshe in the tyme 
 of the Amendyng of the Orgons xj d. 
 
 1524-25. To the Orgonmaker for mendyng the Orgons 
 accordyng to the Mynde of M r Northfolke and 
 at his devyse - ij s. 
 
 To the iij Almesmen, to every of them ij d. for 
 theyre weke when they do blaw the orgons 
 when ther weke comyth - viij s. viij d. 
 
 The organ used always to be described as organs in the 
 plural, and usually as " a pair of organs." This latter term, often 
 erroneously interpreted, is simply an equivalent to the word " set," 
 and means an instrument of more pipes than one. A " pair of 
 beads " used to be an equally common expression, meaning a 
 set and not two. Nearly a score of like examples of this use of 
 the word " pair " in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries could 
 be adduced. We still speak or write of a pair of steps or stairs 
 " two pair back " when a flight of several steps is intended. 
 An amusing instance is still common enough among humbler 
 folk in the West of England and elsewhere, when pair of drawers 
 is said or written, implying a chest of drawers. 
 
 The parish accounts but rarely mention the small " regals " 
 or portable organs which could even be carried and played at 
 the same time, for they had gone much out of fashion in the 
 days during which these accounts survive. They occur, however, 
 at St Peter Cheap, when Howe, the organ-maker, usually called 
 Father Howe, was paid 33. in 1555 for repairs to "doble regalls," 
 and 2s. in the following year " for ij new pypes for the organs, 
 and basse to the regalls." But there are various references to
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 209 
 
 Framlingham, Suffolk
 
 1 10 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 the comparatively small primitive organs, which, though played 
 from a stand, could be moved about as required from one part of 
 the building to the other, or even carried on special occasions to 
 another church, as we have already seen in the accounts of 
 St Mary-at-Hill. 
 
 English church organs of this period usually stood on the 
 rood-loft, though occasionally on a special loft of their own. An 
 additional smaller pair of organs often stood in the choir or the 
 Lady chapel of the larger churches. 
 
 Objections to the use of organs were strongly urged by the 
 more puritanical of the reformers "those poor withered souls," 
 as Sir VV. Richmond aptly calls them of the sixteenth century. 
 On 1 3th February 1562, among articles put down for discussion 
 by the Geneva element in the Lower House of Convocation was 
 one to the effect " That the use of Organs be removed." There 
 were 117 votes recorded, and organs were only saved by a 
 majority of one ! In 1561 Bishops Grindal and Home wrote to 
 their continental supporters that they disapproved of the use of 
 organs. It is no wonder, then, that various parishes got rid of 
 their organs about the middle of Elizabeth's fickle reign, 
 anticipating that they would shortly be seized by the Crown or 
 by Church officials. This is the explanation of an entry 
 previously cited from the accounts of St Peter Cheap. The 
 attack on organs was renewed some ten years later, and certain 
 parishes, like St Laurence, Reading, avowedly sold their 
 instruments lest they should be " forfeited into the hands of the 
 organ-takers." 
 
 In 1644, ordinances of the Lords and Commons of gth May 
 enjoined that " all organs and the frames and cases in which they 
 stand, in all churches and chappels shall be taken away and 
 utterly defaced, and none other hereafter set up in their places." 
 Nevertheless some escaped, but chiefly in cathedral or collegiate 
 churches. 
 
 After the Restoration organs came in again apace. English- 
 men had practically lost the art of organ-making. Bernard 
 Smith (usually known as Father Smith), a German, and Thomas 
 and Rene Harris, Frenchmen, were the chief craftsmen to supply 
 the demand. 
 
 As to organ cases, they do not appear to have been known 
 till towards the close of the fourteenth century. Apart from the 
 Continent, the oldest organ case is that of Old Radnor, which 
 stands on the north side of the chancel. This handsome and 
 curious case is a blending of Renaissance work with a distinct 
 survival of Gothic feeling. The linen-fold panelling is elaborate, 
 and distinctly good ; it is repeated at the sides up to the total
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 211
 
 212 
 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 height of eighteen feet. The date is clearly late Tudor, and not 
 Jacobean as sometimes stated. It seems to us more likely to be 
 quite late Henry VIII. than Marian or Elizabethan. The case 
 has been most carefully restored, and fitted to a new instrument. 
 
 Another beautiful organ case is that at Framlingham, in 
 Suffolk ; it dates from 1674, and was brought here from Pem- 
 broke College, Cambridge. The organist is screened off by 
 scroll work of exquisite Renaissance design. The natural notes 
 of the keyboard are black, whilst the short keys or semi-tones 
 are white. 
 
 Good organs and their cases seem to have acquired a habit 
 
 M. B. A. 
 
 Framlingham, Suffolk 
 
 of migrating. For instance, the fine organ front of St Peter 
 Mancroft, Norwich, was purchased about 1875, and now stands 
 in the south chancel aisle of St Nicholas, Yarmouth. As there 
 are manifold and marvellous stories about the splendid organ 
 of Yarmouth, it may be well to state that this fine instrument 
 was built by Abraham Jorden, in 1733, for this church, and was 
 erected at the west end of the south aisle. In 1869 it was 
 removed to the north transept. In 1875 it was again removed, 
 divided into two sections, and placed in the two chancel aisles. 
 The St Peter Mancroft organ front harmonised so nearly with the 
 old case, now in the north aisle, that arrangements were made 
 for its acquisition. When the imposing new chapel of St 
 John's College, Cambridge, was built, 1862-69, the good front
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 213 
 
 o 
 
 04
 
 214 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS 
 
 of the old organ was moved to the church of Bilton, near Rugby. 
 But the strangest case of migration remains to be told in 
 connection with "the Milton organ," as it is usually termed 
 at Tewkesbury Abbey. Magdalen College, Oxford, obtained a 
 new organ in 1637. When organs were prohibited for worship 
 by the Commonwealth, Protector Cromwell had it removed to 
 Hampton Court, where the poet Milton is reputed to have played 
 on it. At the Restoration this instrument was restored to 
 Magdalen College, who had it re-erected in the chapel, and 
 repaired by Dallam. In 1737 the college disposed of it to 
 Tewkesbury, and it stood on the screen there until 1875. It 
 is now in the chancel. There is also a fine organ case at the 
 most interesting church of Stanford, Northamptonshire. To 
 this a story of migration is attached, which as usually told and 
 printed cannot be possible. It appears to be true that it came 
 from old Whitehall Palace, but that it was transhipped there 
 from Magdalen College chapel must be wrong. 
 
 There is a beautiful organ of much merit and chaste design 
 at St Margaret's, Lynn (211). It bears : 
 
 "Johannes Suetzlar Londini fecit 1754." 
 
 Among other fine cases of some age are those of the 
 cathedral churches of Worcester, Gloucester, Norwich, St Paul's, 
 Southwell, and Manchester; Christ's College (1636) and Pem- 
 broke College (1664), Cambridge; 1 and the parish churches 
 of Finedon, Northants, and Abingdon (1666), Berks. 2 All 
 Hallows, Lombard Street, has one of the best organs of the 
 Wren churches. 3 
 
 In the basement of the new London Museum, at Stafford 
 House, in a bad light it is worthy of a better place is the 
 well-finished case of a small choir organ of the Grinling Gibbons 
 type, which was originally made for Westminster Abbey in 1660, 
 and held an instrument of Father Schmidt's. After its ejection 
 it was stored for some time in the tower of St Margaret's, West- 
 minster, and afterwards given to Bransbury chapel, demolished 
 in 1705. 
 
 The old organs of St George's, Windsor, seem to have been 
 destroyed in early Reformation days. In 1609 Thomas Dallam 
 of London, a well-known organ-maker, was instructed to build 
 new organs, and payments connected with their construction 
 appear for several years. In Ashmole's Order of the Garter there 
 
 1 Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1893. 
 
 2 Arch. Assoc. Sketch Book, 1901. 
 
 3 Illustrated in Archit, Review, March 1903.
 
 ORGANS AND ORGAN CASES 
 
 215 
 
 is a plate by Hollar giving a west view of the organ screen and 
 organ. The case is a beautiful Renaissance design, with angels 
 blowing trumpets on the tops of the side towers. Charles II.'s 
 arms make it clear that this is not the 1609 organ, which was 
 destroyed during the interregnum, but the one ordered by the 
 Chapter in 1660 of "Mr Dallame," for which he was to receive 
 600. During the considerable works done in the chapel 1782- 
 92, " The king presented a magnificent Organ made by Green 
 (the old one was by his Majesty's desire given to the Parish 
 Church). The Case of the Organ was made from the design and 
 under the direction of Mr Emlyn." The new organ cost .1,010. 
 The case is elaborately decorated, and the principal divisions are 
 carried as pinnacled turrets, of which there are four on each 
 side. 1 
 
 1 Sir W. St John Hope's splendid work on Windsor Castle, pp. 447-49. 
 
 St Stephen's, Walbrook
 
 217 
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 The page number is printed in Clarendon type where there is an illustration. 
 
 ABBEY DORE, 91, 116 
 Abbotsbury, 104, 106 
 Aberdeen, 165 
 Abingdon, 97, 204, 214 
 Abington, 130 
 Affpuddle, 33, 62, 89 
 Albrighton-by-Shifnal, 135 
 Albury, 118 
 Aldborough, 144 
 Aldbury, 195 
 Aldeburgh, 138 
 Alderton, 130 
 Aldridge, 134 
 Aldworth, 98 
 Alfold, 138 
 Alford, 124 
 Alne, 144 
 Alrewas, 134 
 Alton, 1 12 
 Alvington, 105 
 Ampney Crucis, 44 
 Antwerp, 96 
 Appleby, 201 
 Arlington, 96, 101 
 Arlington, 33, 146 
 Arundel, 21, 48 
 Ashburton, 60 
 Ashby St Ledgers, 130 
 Ashley Abbots, 1 34 
 Ashwell, 118 
 Ashton, 105 
 Astbury, 185 
 Aston Bury, 118 
 Aston Cantlow, 78 
 Aston Tirrold, 52 
 Astwick, 96 
 Aveley, 108 
 Axminster, 106 
 
 BADSEY, 80 
 Banstead, 138 
 Banwell, 9, 46 
 
 28 
 
 Barnswell St Andrew, 128 
 
 Barnstaple, 149 
 
 Barrington, 100 
 
 Barrowden, 120, 132 
 
 Barton, 100 
 
 Barton-in-Fabis, 130 
 
 Barwick, 135, 198 
 
 Basing, no 
 
 Basingstoke, no 
 
 Baulking, 96 
 
 Bearstall, 100 
 
 Beaulieu, 76 
 
 Beckley, 181 
 
 Beddingfield, 138 
 
 Belbroughton, 143 
 
 Berkhamsted, 150 
 
 Bessingham, 70 
 
 Bewick St James, 50 
 
 Bigbury, 66 
 
 Bilton, 214 
 
 Binfield, 153, 154 
 
 Bishop Stortford, 92, 118 
 
 Bishop's Lydeard, 121, 135 
 Bishop's Waltham, no 
 Bishopstone, 143 
 Bisley, 134 
 Bitterley, 134, 195 
 Black Bourton, 46 
 Bleadon, 41 
 Bledlow, 183 
 Bletchingley, 150 
 Blisworth, 102 
 Bloxworth, 149 
 
 Blythburgh, in, 138, 183, 193 
 Boconnoc, 102 
 Bodmin, 54, 187 
 Bolnhurst, 96 
 Bolton-le-Moors, 66 
 Bolton Percy, 144 
 Bologna, 175, 176 
 Bosbury, 116 
 Boscombe, 143, 195 
 Boston, 124
 
 2l8 
 
 Botolphs, 140 
 
 Bottesford, 122 
 
 Bourne Abbey, 124 
 
 Bourton-on-Dunsmore, 141 
 
 Boveney, 98 
 
 Bovey Tracey, n, 40, 170, 171 
 
 Bow Brickhill, 54 
 
 Boxford, 96 
 
 Boyton Malherbe, 66 
 
 Bradworthy, 105 
 
 Braithwell, 143 
 
 Brancaster, 94, 97 
 
 Brancepeth, 85, 108 
 
 Braunton, 106 
 
 Breadsall, 58, 201, 202 
 
 Brean, 135 
 
 Breaston, 105 
 
 Bridford, 60 
 
 Bridgwater, 76 
 
 Brightstone, 1 12 
 
 Brigstock, 72 
 
 Brinckley, 100 
 
 Brinkworth, 141, 142 
 
 Brimpsfield, 1 10 
 
 Brisley, 70 
 
 Bristol, 1 10, 151, 157, 187, 201 
 
 Broadwinsor, 106 
 
 Brockworth, 32, 64 
 
 Broad was, 143 
 
 Brockley, 46 
 
 Bradsworth, 146 
 
 Bromsgrove, 201 
 
 Brough, 50, 69 
 
 Buckfast Abbey, 60 
 
 Buckland Brewer, 60 
 
 Bucknell, 132 
 
 Bungay, 89 
 
 Burford, 32 
 
 Burgh, 124 
 
 Burgh St Andrew, 136 
 
 Burlingham St Andrew, 32 
 
 Burlingham St Edmund, 70 
 
 Burnham Norton, 23, 32, 70 
 
 Burton-in-Kendal, 141 
 
 Bury, 187 
 
 Bury St Edmunds, 30 
 
 Butlers Marston, 141 
 
 Buxted, 140 
 
 Bygrave, 66 
 
 CADDINGTON, 96 
 Caerwent, 126 
 Camborne, 54 
 
 Cambridge, 30, 54, 66, 165, 172, 212, 
 214 
 
 Canterbury, 30 
 
 Carisbrooke, 114 
 
 Carlisle, 36 
 
 Carlton Husthwaite, 146 
 
 Castleacre, 70 
 
 Caston, 126 
 
 Catesby, 130 
 
 Catton, 70 
 
 Cavendish, 201 
 
 Cawston, 69, 70 
 
 Cerne Abbas, 108 
 
 Chaddesden, 180, 181 
 
 Chaldon, 140 
 
 Chale, 44 
 
 Chalgrove, 132 
 
 Charlecombe, 48 
 
 Charlton-on-Otmoor, 132 
 
 Charlton Adam, 135 
 
 Charlwood, 138 
 
 Charney Bassett, 53 
 
 Chastleton, 132 
 
 Cheddar, 32, 45, 48, 195 
 
 Cheddington, 98 
 
 Chediston, 136 
 
 Ched worth, 44 
 
 Chedzoy, 89, 103, 135, 195, 199 
 
 Chellington, 96 
 
 Chelveston, 128 
 
 Chelvey, 157 
 
 Cheriton Marshall, 108 
 
 Cherry Hinton, 100 
 
 Chesham, 98 
 
 Chester, 36 
 
 Chesterblade, 181 
 
 Chesterfield, 105 
 
 Childrey, 38 
 
 Chilton, 54, 158 
 
 Chippenham, 150, 176 
 
 Chipping Campden, 108, 169 
 
 Chipping Sudbury, 32 
 
 Chipping Warden, 181 
 
 Chipstead, 138 
 
 Chittlehampton, 40 
 
 Chivelstone, 59, 60 
 
 Church Preen, 134 
 
 Church Pulverbatch, 150 
 
 Church Stretton, 134 
 
 Cirencester, 39, 42, 211 
 
 Claypole, 67, 68 
 
 Clee St Margaret, 134 
 
 Clevedon, 198, 199 
 
 Cley, 126 
 
 Cliffe-at-Hoo, 120, 154, 156 
 
 Climping, 48 
 
 Clovelly, 106 
 
 Clun, 135
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 219 
 
 Clyffe Pypard, 142 
 Cockayne- H alley, 96 
 Cockington, 83 
 Codicote, 1 13 
 Cold Ashton, 32, 64 
 Coleridge, 3, 50 
 Coin Rogers, 44 
 Colston Bassett, 122 
 Combe Flory, 76 
 Compton, 141 
 Compton Bassett, 151 
 Compton Bishop, 40 
 Coombe, 46 
 Cornwood, 60 
 Cotes-by-Sto\v, 68 
 Cotworth, 66 
 Coulton, 96 
 Coventry, 50, 170 
 Cowden, 120, 157 
 Cowley, 44 
 Cranborne, 60 
 Cranleigh, 138 
 Crayke, 144 
 Creaton, 128 
 Greeting All Saints, 148 
 Cressage, 134 
 Crich, 180, 181 
 Croft, 124 
 Cropredy, 132 
 Croscombe, 115, 117, 135 
 Crowhurst, 138 
 Crowle, 176, 177 
 Croydon, 100, 118, 168 
 Cublington, 195 
 Cumnor, 96, 196, 201 
 
 pVALLINGTON, 230 
 
 LJ Daresbury, 81, 100 
 Dartford, 120 
 Darlington, 60, 63 
 Dartmouth, 40 
 Deane, 120 
 Denford, 130 
 Dent, 144 
 Deptford, 120 
 Derby, 200, 201 
 Derningham, 70 
 Detling, 186, 187 
 Devizes, 150 
 Didhurst, 64 
 Dinder, 89 
 Dinton, 96 
 Ditlisham, 36, 42 
 Doncasler, So 
 Dorchesler, 106, 107 
 
 Dorney, 98 
 
 Dorton, 98 
 
 Downham Si Leonard, 94 
 
 Dray ton, 96 
 
 Durley, 112 
 
 D urn ford, 141 
 
 Dursley, 1 10 
 
 Dummer, 52, 64 
 
 Dunlsbourne Rous, 1 10 
 
 Durham, 30, 90, 165 
 
 EAKRING, 130 
 Earl's Barlon, 130 
 East Allinglon, 60, 61 
 East Brent, 88, 136 
 Easl Coulslon, 195 
 East Dean, 141 
 East Garston, 96 
 Easl Hagbourne, 31, 33, 57 
 Easl Harling, 190 
 Easl Hendred, 98, 193 
 Easlhope, 134 
 East Ilsley, 199 
 East Isley, 96 
 East Lockinge, 96 
 East Stonham, 148, 152 
 Easl Meon, 44 
 Easlon-under- Hey wood, 133 
 Ealon-under-Heywood, 74 
 Edinglon, 144 
 Edilh Weston, 187 
 Edlesborough, 53, 54 
 Egglescliffe, 108 
 Egloshayle, 38 
 Egmanton, 130 
 Elkstone, 108 
 Elmstone, 44, 64 
 Elsworlh, 54 
 Elworthy, 136 
 Epworth, 197 
 Eton, 172, 173, 174 
 Etwall, 179 
 Evenlode, 80 
 Ewhurst, 140 
 Exeter, 60, 184, 206 
 
 FAIRFORD, 203 
 Falmouth, 56 
 Farminglon, 1 10 
 Fawley, 1 10 
 Feering, 108 
 Felixstowe, 136 
 Fen Dillon, 54 
 Fenstanlon, 66
 
 22O 
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 Filby, 70 
 Fincham, 126 
 Finchampstead, 52, 53 
 Finedon, 214 
 Finsbury, 1 12 
 Fordington, 42, 89 
 Fotheringay, 71, 72 
 Fowey, 102, 103 
 Framlingham, 209, 211, 212 
 Frampton, 39, 124 
 Frampton-on-the-Frome, 42 
 Frampton Cotterell, 203 
 Fringford, 132 
 Friskney, 124 
 Frome Vauchurch, 106 
 Fulbourne, 52 
 Furley, 143 
 
 GARSTANG, 122 
 Gatton, 140 
 Gazeley, 78 
 Giggleswick, 146 
 Glapthorne, 128 
 Glastonbury, 48, 204 
 Gloucester, 64, no, 178, 214 
 Godalming, 138 
 Goring, 78 
 Grafton Flyford, 80 
 Granby, 130 
 Grantchester, 30, 100 
 Graveley, 66 
 Great Anwell, 118 
 Great Ashfield, 136 
 Great Baddow, 108 
 Great Blakenham, 136 
 Great Coxwell, 96 
 Great Easton, 122 
 Great Eversden, 100 
 Great Milton, 132 
 Great Munden, 116 
 Great Shelford, 100 
 Great Walsingham, 68 
 Grendon Underwood, 98 
 Guildford, 139 
 
 HAD LEIGH, 136 
 Halberton, 48, 58 
 Halesworth, 134, 136 
 Halsham, 144 
 Halston, 135 
 Hambledon, 64 
 Hamdon, 135 
 Hampsford, 52 
 Hampton Court, 214 
 
 Handborough, 72 
 Hanningham, 124 
 Hannington, 33, 52, 54, 66, 72 
 Harberton, 15, 42 
 Harleston, 190 
 Harringworth, 130, 132 
 Harthill, 195 
 Hartland, 105 
 Haslingfield, 54 
 Haughton-le-Skerne, 108 
 Hawkesbury, 44 
 Hawkstead, 195 
 Hawstead, 76, 78 
 Headon, 130 
 Heighington, 62 
 Helmsley, 30 
 Helpringham, 124 
 Henham Hall, 130 
 Henley-in-Arden, 78 
 Hereford, 30, 93, 109, 114 
 Heydon, 62 
 High Ham, 195 
 Hill Farrance, 135 
 Hitchin, 66 
 Hodnet, 201, 203 
 Hollingbourne, 66 
 Holne, 60, 65 
 Holton, 32 
 Holyrood, 167 
 Hoole, 122 
 Hope-Bowdler, 134 
 Hopton-by-Lowestoft, 195 
 Hordley, 135 
 Horham, 78 
 Horsham, 70 
 Huish Episcopi, 136 
 Hunsdon, 1 18 
 Huntington, 144 
 Hurst, 154, 155 
 Hutton, 45 
 
 TBSTONE, 53 
 1 Ickford, 100 
 Icklingham, 94 
 Ingoldmells, 68 
 Ipplepen, 57, 60 
 Iron Acton, 108 
 Irstead, 70 
 Isleham, 167 
 Iver, 100 
 Ivinghoe, 77, 98, 190 
 
 ACOBSTOW, 56
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 221 
 
 KELMARSH, 128 
 Kelsale, 136 
 Kenley, 135 
 Kenton, 55, 58 
 Kewstoke, 46 
 Kidlington, 132 
 Kilnwick, 144 
 Kingham, 126 
 King's Bromley, 134 
 Kingsbury Episcopi, 48 
 Kingsclere, no 
 King's Cliff, 72 
 King's Langley, 116 
 King's Sutton, 72 
 Kingsthorpe, 128 
 Kingston, 100, 203 
 Kingston-on-Sea, 140 
 Kinoulton, 94 
 Kirkby Lonsdale, 141 
 Kirkby Underwood, 124 
 Kirkheaton, 195 
 Kirklington, 144 
 Kirkwall, 148 
 Knaith, 124 
 Knebworth, 89, 1 16 
 Knoddishall, 136 
 
 L ACOCK, 141 
 Lakenheath, 78 
 Lamberhurst, 141 
 Lancaster, 120 
 Lan cross, 60 
 Landbeach, 34, 54 
 Landewednack, 102 
 Laneast, 54 
 Laneham, 130 
 Langley Marish, 98 
 Lanreath, 102 
 Laon, 30 
 Lapford, 163 
 Launceston, 56 
 Launde Abbey, 122 
 Lavendon, 98 
 Lavenham, 195 
 Lawhitton, 102 
 Laxfield, 129, 136 
 Layer Marney, 62 
 Leaden Roothing, 62 
 Leconfield, 144 
 Leeds, 144 
 Leicester, 68, 90, 149 
 Leighton Buzzard, 183 
 Lenham, 89, 120, 195 
 Lewes, 140 
 Lillingstone Lovell, 98 
 
 Limpley Stoke, 50 
 
 Lincoln, 94 
 
 Lingfield, 193, 203 
 
 Liskeard, 102 
 
 Llangibby, 126 
 
 Llan-y-Blodwell, 74 
 
 Litcham, 70 
 
 Little Bealings, 136 
 
 Little Cheney, 60 
 
 Little Gidding, 120, 168 
 
 Little Hadham, 1 18 
 
 Little Horkesly, 195 
 
 Little Shelford, 100 
 
 Little Waldingfield, 136 
 
 Littlebury, 187, 195 
 
 Lockinge, 46 
 
 Loddington, 122 
 
 Loddon, in 
 
 London 
 
 All Hallows, Barking, 124 
 All Hallows, Lombard Street, 214 
 All Hallows, Staining, 149 
 St Benet, Gracechurch Street, 126 
 Christ Church, Newgate Street, 126 
 St Dunstan's-in-the-West, 100 
 St Giles, Cripplegate, 126 
 St Helen's, Bishopsgate, 126 
 St James, Piccadilly, 30 
 St Katherine, Aldgate, 150 
 St Katherine Cree, 126 
 St Margaret, Southwark, 206 
 St Martin's-in-the-Fields, 90 
 St Mary-at-Hill, 20, 33, 206 
 St Mary, Whitechapel, 30 
 St Matthew, Friday Street, 89 
 St Michael's, College Hill, 195 
 St Michael's, Cornhill, 22, 200 
 St Mildred, Bread Street, 126 
 St Olave, Hart Street, 126 
 St Peter Cheap, 198, 206, 208 
 St Stephen's, Walbrook, 215 
 
 Longcot, 96 
 
 Long Crendon, 195 
 
 Long Marston, 116 
 
 Long Preston, 144 
 
 Long Sutton, 74 
 
 Long Whatton, 122 
 
 Lower Gravenhurst, 52 
 
 Lower Halstead, 120, 199 
 
 Lower Winchendon, 98 
 Loxton, 43, 46 
 Luccombe, 135 
 Ludlow, 149 
 Lutley, 80 
 
 Lutterworth, 25, 33, 66, 78 
 Lutton, 124
 
 222 
 
 Lydiard St Laurence, 135 
 Lyford, 96 
 
 Lyme Regis, 106, 195 
 Lynn, 94, 143, 211, 214 
 
 MAISEY-HAMPTON, 193 
 Maismore, 1 10 
 Malmesbury, 204 
 Manchester, 214 
 Marholm, 128 
 Marham, 102 
 Markham Clinton, 130 
 Marr, 143 
 
 Marrick Priory, 144 
 Marston, 54 
 Martindale, 141 
 Marton, 100 
 Matching, 108 
 Mawgan-in-Pyder, 102 
 Mayfield, 134, 199 
 Meare, 48 
 
 Mellor, 17, 24, 26, 54, 56 
 Merton, 101, 132 
 Micheldean, 64 
 Mickleover, 180, 181 
 Midhurst, 78 
 Middle Claydon, 98 
 Middle Littleton, 80 
 Middleton, 165 
 Middleton Cheney, 72 
 Middleton Scriven, 74 
 Milton Abbas, 60 
 M instead, 94 
 Minsterley, 135 
 Monkleigh, 60 
 Monks Eleigh, 78 
 Monk Sherbourne, 112 
 Monksilver, 73, 76, 162, 163, 184 
 Monk Soham, 136 
 Monkton, 120 
 Monkton Deverill, 143 
 Monkton Farleigh, 141 
 Morden, 94 
 Mortlake, 90 
 Morton Hampstead, 54 
 Mottiston, 112 
 Much Lilley, 66 
 Muston, 122 
 
 NAILSEA, 32 
 Nantwich, 19, 28, 38 
 Nassington, 128 
 Naunton, 44 
 Neatishead, 70 
 
 Necton, 126 
 
 Netherbury, 106 
 
 Newbury, 96 
 
 Nevvchurch, 1 14 
 
 Newdigate, 140 
 
 Newport, 87, 114, 195 
 
 Newstead, 167 
 
 New-timber, 140 
 
 Newton, 100 
 
 Newton Abbot, 168 
 
 Newton St Cyres, 94 
 
 Newton St Petrock, 60 
 
 New Walsingham, 70 
 
 North Badderley, 112 
 
 North Cerney, 44 
 
 North Luffenham, 132 
 
 North Mimms, 116 
 
 North Newton, 136 
 
 North Petherton, 76 
 
 North Walsham, 70 
 
 Northampton, 130, 203 
 
 Northleach, 44 
 
 Northwood, 114 
 
 Norton, 178 
 
 Norwich, 30, 70, 165, 167, 193, 212, 214 
 
 Nutley, 138 
 
 OCCOLD, 136 
 Odell, 96, 148 
 Odiham, no 
 Oddington, 108 
 Okeford Fitzpaine, 42, 132 
 Old Radnor, 205, 207, 210 
 Old Shoreham, 188 
 Onibury, 74 
 Orton Waterville, 118 
 Oswaldkirk, 144 
 Oswestry, 135 
 
 Otford, 14, 112, 113, 168, 173, 214 
 Ottery St Mary, 184 
 Ottrington, 181 
 Oundle, 128, 166 
 Over, 79 
 Overbury, 80 
 Oxburgh, 1 68 
 Oxford, 1 68, 173 
 
 Oxford, Magdalen College, 21, 30, 44, 
 46 
 
 PAIGNTON, 40 
 Pangbourne, 96 
 Partney, 68 
 Patrington, 144 
 Paull, 181
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 223 
 
 Paulshot, 142 
 Peakirk, 187, 188 
 Peatling Magna, 122 
 Perugia, 30 
 Peterborough, 167 
 Petton, 134, 135 
 Pilton, 13, 135, 154 
 Pinhoe, 60 
 Pitchford, 135 
 Pitstone, 96 
 Pleasley, 152 
 Plympton, 131 
 Pocklington, 181 
 Polebrook, 128 
 Pomeroy, 105 
 Porthilly, 56 
 Portisham, 106 
 Portsmouth, 112, 213 
 Poynings, 146 
 Prestbury, 92, 100, 150 
 Princes Risborough, 100 
 Puttenham, 116, 118 
 Puxton, 157, 158 
 Pytchley, 128 
 
 QUAINTON, 195 
 Quatford, 74 
 
 Quatt, 134 
 Queen's Camel, 76 
 
 RADCLIFFE, 120 
 Radnage, 100 
 Rampton, 100 
 Ramsey, 191, 193 
 Ran worth, 126, 187, 188, 189 
 Rattlesden, 136 
 Ravenstone, 100 
 
 Redenhall, 168, 170, 182, 183, 184 
 Ripon, 50, 144 
 Rickling, 62 
 Rodborough, 1 10 
 Rodney Stoke, 123, 135 
 Ronaldkirk, 94 
 Rossington, 80 
 Rotherfield, 140 
 Rotherham, 144 
 Rothersthorpe, 89, 128 
 Rous, 181 
 Royston, 66 
 Rumburgh, 136 
 Ruscombe, 96 
 Rushden, 72 
 Rye, 78 
 
 ST ALBANS, 154, 167 
 St Asaph, 90 
 St Cuby, 56 
 St Gwinear, 56 
 St Ive, 102 
 St Ives, 33, 50, 56 
 St John-in-the-Vale, 104 
 St Kew, 102 
 St Leonard, 14 
 St Lo, 30 
 St Mellion, 102 
 St My lor, 102 
 St Nicholas-at-Wade, 120 
 St Paul's, 1 68, 169 
 St Ruan-Langhorne, 56 
 St Sampson, 56 
 St Teath, 102 
 St Winnow, 102 
 Salford Prior, 199 
 Salisbury, 20, 89, 90-92 
 Sail, 94 
 Saltfleetby All Saints, 124 
 
 Sandon, 116 
 
 Savoy Chapel, 152 
 
 Smoley, 105 
 
 Saxelby, 68 
 
 Seaming, 70 
 
 Scole, 193 
 
 Seal, 1 20, 150 
 
 Selworthy, 76 
 
 Sefton, 95, 122 
 
 Sevenoaks, 120 
 
 Shabbington, 98 
 
 Shalford, 195 
 
 Shelston, 52 
 
 Shepsted, 122 
 
 Shepton Mallet, 7, 46 
 
 Shawbury, 134 
 
 Sherborne St John, 202, 3 
 
 Shipdham, 187, 189, 190 
 
 Shipton, 134 
 
 Shorwell, 41, 44, 112 
 
 Shotwick, 1 02 
 
 Shrewsbury, 36, 198 
 
 Siddington, 100 
 
 Silchester, no 
 
 Silk Willoughby, 124 
 
 Skidbrook, 109, 124 
 
 Snettisham, 70 
 
 Somerton, 136 
 
 Sopley, no 
 
 South Burlingham, 181 
 
 South Creyke, 70 
 
 South Littleton, 80 
 
 South Molton, 40 
 
 South Petherton, 102
 
 224 
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 South Tawton, 106 
 
 Southam, 70 
 
 Southampton, 152, 182, 188 
 
 Southwell, 166, 170, 214 
 
 Southwick, 140 
 
 Southwold, 25, 32, 76 
 
 Sparham, 50 
 
 Spondon, 180, 181 
 
 Stadhampton, 132 
 
 Stafford House, 214 
 
 Standish, 120 
 
 Stanford, 214 
 
 Stanstead Abbotts, 116 
 
 Stanton, 52, 62 
 
 Stantonbury, 98 
 
 Staunton, 29, 32, 42, 64 
 
 Steeple Clayden, 98 
 
 Steventon, 96 
 
 Stockleigh, 105 
 
 Stogtimber, 48 
 
 Stoke d'Abernon, 137, 138, 156, 157, 
 
 184 
 
 Stoke Bliss, 116, 143 
 Stoke Orchard, no 
 Stoke St Gregory, 125, 136 
 Stondon Massey, 108 
 Stonegrave, 144 
 Stonham Aspall, 136 
 Stonisfield, 132 
 Strasburg, 30 
 
 Stratford-sub-Castle, 131, 141 
 Stratton, 102 
 Stratton Audley, 132 
 Strelley, 72 
 Suckley, 143 
 Sudbury, 76 
 Sutcombe, 1 1 5 
 Sutton, 134, 198 
 Sutton-at-Hone, 66 
 Sutton-by-Dover, 120 
 Swanbourne, 195 
 Swarby, 89 
 Swaton, 195 
 Swimbridge, 42, 163 
 Syerston, 130 
 
 TACOLNESTON, 126 
 Taddington, 181 
 Tadley, 112 
 Tanson, 128 
 Tasley, 134 
 Tattershall, 68 
 Taunton, 107, 136 
 Tawstock, 199 
 Taynton, 64, 110 
 
 Teddington, 143 
 Teigh, 132 
 Tewkesbury, 60, 21 
 Teynham, 120 
 Thaxted, 108 
 Thornaby, 94, 99 
 Thornbury, 44 
 Thornham, 126 
 Thorpe Langton, 68 
 Thurlestone, 60 
 Tibenham, 126 
 Tintinhull, 20, 135 
 Todbere, 108 
 Tong, 134 
 Tor Bryan, 58 
 Tor Mahon 60 
 Tortington, 140 
 Totnes, 40 
 Towcester, 128, 203 
 Towersey, 98 
 Treborough, 76 
 Tredington, 113 
 Trull, 74, 75 
 Trumpington, 100 
 Truro, 38 
 
 Tuddenham St Martin, 78 
 Tugby, 68 
 Tuttington, 126 
 Twineham, 140 
 Tvvyford, 98 
 
 UBLEY, 136 
 Uffingham, 132 
 Upchurch, 120 
 Upper Clatford, 112 
 Upper Winchendon, 52, 53 
 Upton, 128 
 Utterby, 124 
 
 V 
 
 7ITRE, 30 
 
 \Y7ALBERSWICK, 78 
 W Walton-le-Dale, 122 
 Walkington, 144 
 Walpole St Andrew, 21, 32 
 Walsoken, 181 
 Waltham St Lawrence, 96 
 Wangford, 138 
 Warburton, 100 
 Wargrave, 96 
 Warmington, 72, 128 
 Water Eaton, 132
 
 INDEX LOCORUM 
 
 225 
 
 Wavendon, 100 
 
 Weaver ham, 94 
 
 Wedmore, 195 
 
 Wednesbury, 195 
 
 Welcombe, 105 
 
 Wells, 76, 127, 175 
 
 Wendens Ambo, 33, 34, 62 
 
 Wenlock, 176 
 
 West Chickerell, 108 
 
 West Kingston, 78 
 
 West Pennard, 135 
 
 West Somerton, 70 
 
 Weston-in-Gordano, 29, 135 
 
 Weston-on-Trent, 105, 130 
 
 Weston Turville, 98 
 
 Westhall, 136 
 
 Westminster, 33, 68, 201, 214 
 
 Wheatley, 130 
 
 Whaplode, 124 
 
 Whipsnade, 96 
 
 Whitchurch, 135 
 
 Whit well, 112 
 
 Wilbarston, 128 
 
 Wilby, 132 
 
 Wickhamford, 80 
 
 Wick St Lawrence, 46 
 
 Wickhampton, 126 
 
 Widford, 72 
 
 Wiggenhall, 203 
 
 Wiggenhall St Germans, 126, 154, 
 
 156 
 
 Wiggenhall St Mary, 149, 154 
 Wigtoft, 124 
 Willen, 100 
 Willingham, 54 
 Willoughby, 141 
 Winchcombe, 44 
 
 Winchester, 5, 66, 112, 182, 195, 214 
 Winchfield, 1 10 
 
 Winchurch, 108 
 Windsor, 175, 214 
 Winestead, 146 
 Winforton, 1 16 
 Wing, 98 
 Winslow, 98 
 
 Winterborne Whitchurch, 60 
 Winterbourne Bassett, 142 
 Wintringham, 146 
 Wistow, 144 
 Witcham, 38 
 Witheridge, 40 
 Withycombe, 76 
 Witnesham, 13 
 Wolborough, 164 
 Wolverhampton, 27, 32, 48 
 Woodford, 199 
 Woodham Mortimer, 108 
 Wood Newton, 187 
 Woolpit, 170 
 Wootton, 112 
 Wootton Wawen, 78, 203 
 Worcester, 30, 47, 50, 143, 214 
 Worlingworth, 136 
 Worstead, 31, 33 
 Wraysbury, 100 
 Wrexham, 135 
 Wroxeter, 134 
 Wymington, 96 
 Wysell, 72 
 
 YARMOUTH, i, 114, 212 
 I Yatton, 33 
 Yaxley, 89, 154, 1 59 
 Yeldon, 52 
 ^eovil, 172 
 
 York, 104, 144, 145, 146, 192 
 Yoxford, 136 
 
 29
 
 226 
 
 INDEX RERUM 
 
 A 
 
 MBO, 28, 163 
 Aries, Council of, 12 
 
 BEDE ROLL, 18-22 
 Bedfordshire pulpits, wood, 52; 
 
 post-Reformation, 96-98 
 Bell, sermon, 86 
 Berkshire pulpits, stone, 38 ; wood, 52- 
 
 53 ; post-Reformation, 96 
 Bible, chained, 96 
 
 Black Death, 24 
 Brass eagles, 165-172 
 Brass lectern desk, 172-176 
 Buckinghamshire pulpits, wood, 53, 
 
 54 ; post- Reformation, 98-100 
 Bury's Ecclesiastical Woodwork, 54 
 
 pulpits, 
 54 ; post- 
 
 CAMBRIDGESHIRE 
 stone, 38 ; wood, 
 Reformation, 100 
 Canons of Edgar, 2 
 Canons of 1603, 120, 198 
 Canopies of pulpits, mediaeval, 54, 
 
 64, 72 ; post-Reformation, 92-94, 
 
 98 
 
 Carolean pulpits, 89 
 Chained Bible, 96 
 Chained books on desks, 200-203 
 Cheshire pulpits, stone, 38 ; post- 
 Reformation, 100-104 
 Churching pew, 94 
 Concealment of brass eagles, 166- 
 
 168 
 Cornwall pulpits, stone, 38-42 ; wood, 
 
 54 ; post- Reformation, 102 
 Council of Aries, 12 
 Council of Carthage, 12 
 Council of Cloveshoe, 12 
 Council of Mayence, 12 
 Cox's Churchwarden? Accounts, 98, 
 
 159, 206 
 
 Cumberland pulpits, 104 
 Cutts' Parish Priests and their People, 
 
 18 
 
 DERBYSHIRE pulpits, wood, 56, 
 57 ; post-Reformation, 105 
 
 Desks for chained books, 200-203 
 
 Devonshire pulpits, wood, 58-60 ; post- 
 Reformation, 105, 1 06 
 
 l~)ives et Pauper, 1 6- 1 8 
 
 Dollman's Pulpits, 32, 36, 40, 44, 46, 
 48, 64, 76 
 
 Dorsetshire pulpits, stone, 42 ; wood, 
 60-62 ; post-Reformation, 106, 107 
 
 Durham pulpits, wood, 62 ; post- 
 Reformation, 108 
 
 CAGLES of brass, 165-172 ; list of 
 C/ extant old eagles, 172 
 Eagles of wood, 182-184 
 Edward VI. pulpits, 89 
 Elizabethan pulpits, 89 
 Essex pulpits, wood, 62 ; post-Reforma- 
 tion, 1 08 
 Extemporary sermons, 84-86 
 
 r^LOSSAR Y of Gothic Architecture, 
 
 Gloucestershire pulpits, stone, 42-44 ; 
 
 wood, 62, 63 ; post- Reformation, 
 
 108-110 
 
 Gothic Architecture in Spain, 3 1 
 Gospel lecterns, 181 
 Grinling Gibbons, work of, 100, 126 
 
 HAMPSHIRE pulpits, stone, 44; 
 wood, 64-66; post-Reformation, 
 110-114 
 
 Hertfordshire pulpits, wood, 66 ; post- 
 Reformation, 118 
 Higden's Polychronicon, 12-14 
 Hour glasses, 98, 128, 141, 147-161 ; 
 bibliography of, 161 ; list of extant 
 examples, 160, 161 ; cost of, 147- 
 151 ; divers uses of, 157 
 Huntingdonshire pulpits, wood, 66 ; 
 post-Reformation, 118, 119
 
 INDEX RERUM 
 
 227 
 
 INDULGENCES, 22 
 1 Injunctions of 
 
 /Elfric of Canterbury, 12 
 
 yElfric of York, 12 
 
 Grosseteste, 2 
 
 Peckham, 2, 14, 16 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, 82 
 
 Veysey, 18 
 
 \Vulfstan, 12 
 Inscriptions on pulpits, passim, chiefly 
 
 post-Reformation 
 Institution of a Christian Man, 18 
 I slip Roll, 1 66 
 
 J 
 
 ACOP.EAX pulpits, 89 
 Joceline's Chronicle, 2-4 
 
 K 
 
 ENT pulpits, wood, 66; post- 
 Reformation, 1 20 
 
 LANCASHIRE pulpits, wood, 66; 
 post- Reformation, 120-122 
 
 Latin Doctors, the Four, 70, 74 
 
 Laudian revival, 89 
 
 Lecterns of brass, 163-176 ; of stone, 
 176-181 ; of wood, 182-196 ; of 
 iron, 176 
 
 Leicestershire pulpits, wood, 66-68 ; 
 post-Reformation, 122 
 
 Licences for preaching, 82 
 
 Lincolnshire pulpits, wood, 68 ; post- 
 Reformation, 123, 124 
 
 Luttrell Psalter, 166 
 
 MAHOGANY pulpits, 90 
 Mediaeval sermons, value of, 
 
 16-18 
 
 Middlesex pulpits, wood, 68 ; post- 
 Reformation, 124-126 
 Monmouth pulpits, post-Reformation, 
 
 126 
 Myrrour of the Church, 16 
 
 NEALE'S Mediaval Preaching, 10 
 Norfolk pulpits, wood, 70 ; post- 
 Reformation, 127-129 
 Northamptonshire pulpits, wood, 72 ; 
 
 post-Reformation, 128, 129 
 Nottinghamshire pulpits, wood, 72 ; 
 post-Reformation, 130-132 
 
 O 
 
 RGAN cases, 204-215 
 
 Oxfordshire pulpits, stone, 46 ; 
 wood, 72-74 ; post-Reforma- 
 tion, 132 
 
 PELICAN lecterns, 163, 165 
 Post - Reformation pulpits, 89- 
 
 1 46 ; a few of stone, 89 
 Preaching in Latin, 1-26 
 Preaching in vulgar tongue, 1-26 
 Preaching in post- Reformation days, 
 
 82-88 
 Pulpits- 
 Canopies (mediaeval), 54, 64, 72 ; 
 
 post-Reformation, 92-96 
 Coloured, 32, 66, 70, 72, 76 
 Conventual, 36 
 Figures on, 41, 42, 70, 74, 80, 100, 
 
 136, 143 
 
 Frequent, 23, 33-35 
 Hangings, 66, 96-98, 112 
 Iron, 30 
 
 Out of a single block of oak, 55, 56 
 Political use in Elizabethan days, 69 
 Post- Reformation, 84-146 
 Reconstructed, 52, 56, 60, 74 
 Repaired, 33, 89, 90 
 Secondary use of, 18-26 
 Stone, 30, 32, 36-50 
 Wooden, 30, 52-80 
 Pulpitum, 28 
 
 READING DESK, 96, 116, 134, 
 146, 197 
 
 Refectory, pulpits in, 36 
 Rites of Durham, 12, 30, 165, 199 
 Rutland pulpits, post-Reformation, 132- 
 134 
 
 SERMONS, frequency of mediaeval, 
 7-18; rare in Elizabeth's days, 
 84-86; length of, 151, 152 ; extem- 
 porary, 86-88 
 Sermon bell, 80 
 
 Somersetshire pulpits, stone, 46-48; 
 wood, 74-76; post- Reformation, 
 
 135, HO 
 
 Sounding-boards, 92, 108, no, 112, 
 114, 1 16, 118, etc. ; used as vestry 
 tables, or dining-tables, 94, 126, 
 130, 135-138, 
 
 Shropshire pulpits, wood, 74 ; post- 
 Reformation, 134, .135
 
 228 
 
 INDEX RERUM 
 
 Staffordshire pulpits, post-Reforma- 
 tion, 134 
 
 Stairs to the pulpit, 33 
 
 Suffolk pulpits, wood, 76-78 ; post- 
 Reformation, 136-138 
 
 Surrey pulpits, wood, 78 ; post- 
 Reformation, 138-140 
 
 Sussex pulpits, post- Reformation, 140, 
 141 
 
 Synod of Ely, 14 
 
 Synod of Oxford, 2, 22 
 
 Synod of York, 16 
 
 TESTER see Canopy and Sound- 
 ing-Board 
 
 "Three- Deckers," 94 
 Truro pulpit, mystery of, 38 
 
 \V7ARW1CKSHIRE pulpits, stone, 
 W 50 ; wood, 78 ; post-Reforma- 
 tion, 141 
 
 Westmorland pulpits, post-Reforma- 
 tion, 141 
 
 Wiltshire pulpits, stone, 50 ; wood, 
 78-80; post-Reformation, 141-143 
 Wolverhampton pulpit, legend of, 48 
 Woman in the pulpit, 106 
 Wood's Life and Times, 84-86 
 Worcestershire pulpits, stone, 50 ; 
 wood, 80 ; post-Reformation, 143 
 Work for Householders, 1 6 
 Wycliff relics, so-called, 66-68 
 
 Y7O R KSHIRE pulpits, stone, 50; 
 1 wood, 80 ; post - Reformation, 
 143-146 
 
 Printed a( THE DARIEN PRESS, Edinburgh
 
 Church Art in England 
 
 A Series of Books edited by 
 
 FRANCIS BOND, M.A., F.G.S., Hon. A.R.I.B.A. 
 
 Now Ready 
 
 SCREENS AND GALLERIES IN ENGLISH CHURCHES. By FRANCIS 
 
 BOND - 
 
 FONTS AND FONT COVERS. By FRANCIS BOND - 
 WOOD CARVINGS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES. By FRANCIS BOND 
 
 I. Misericords 
 
 II. Stalls and Tabernacle Work, Bishops' Thrones, and 
 
 Chancel Chairs - - - 
 
 WESTMINSTER ABBEY. By FRANCIS BOND 
 VISITORS' GUIDE TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY. By FRANCIS BOND 
 DEDICATIONS AND PATRON SAINTS OF ENGLISH CHURCHES. 
 
 By FRANCIS BOND 
 
 CHURCH BELLS OF ENGLAND. By H. B. WALTERS 
 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. By 
 
 FRANCIS BOND 
 PULPITS, LECTERNS, AND ORGANS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES. By 
 
 Rev. Dr Cox. 
 
 Forthcoming 
 
 ENGLISH CHURCH PLATE. By Rev. J. T. EVANS 
 CHURCH CHESTS, DOORS, ETC. By P. M. JOHNSTON 
 THE ENGLISH CHANCEL. By FRANCIS BOND - 
 TOMBS AND MONUMENTS IN ENGLISH CHURCHES. By F. E. 
 HOWARD 
 
 Now Ready, uniform with the aboi'e 
 
 MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND DURING THE MIDDLE 
 
 AGES. By A. HAMILTON THOMSON 13 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, & BOMBAY 
 
 2,3 
 4, 5 
 
 6,7 
 
 9 
 10 
 
 ii 
 
 12 
 14, 15 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 16 
 
 16
 
 BY FKANCIS POND 
 
 SCREENS AND GALLERIES IN 
 ENGLISH CHURCHES 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 204 pages, with 152 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs and Drawings. Strongly bound in cloth. Price 
 
 6s. net ($2.40).
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES 
 
 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." 
 
 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 
 
 Screen in Holbeton Church 
 
 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 photo- 
 graphs and measured drawings which render the work of permanent value." 
 
 Bulletin Monumental. " Apres avoir analyse, aussi exactement que possible, 
 1'interessant etude de M. Bond, nous clevons le feliciter de nous avoir donne ce 
 complement si utile a son grand ouvrage."
 
 BY FRANCIS BOND 
 
 FONTS & FONT COVERS 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 364 pages, with 426 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs and Measured Drawings. Strongly bound in 
 
 cloth. Price I2S. net ($4.80).
 
 PRESS NOTICE 
 
 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." 
 
 Font at.Bodmin
 
 BY FRANCIS BOND 
 
 Wood Carvings in English Churches 
 
 I. Misericords 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 257 pages, with 241 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs and Measured Drawings. Strongly bound in 
 
 cloth. Price 73. 6d. net ($3.00).
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES 
 
 New York Herald. " One of the quaintest, most fascinating, and at the rame 
 time most learned volumes that a reader would happen upon in a lifetime." 
 
 Antiquary. " An authoritative, and at the same time delightful and instructive 
 volume." 
 
 Church Times. "An indispensable guide to the subject. The illustrations are 
 worthy of all praise." 
 
 Yorkshire Post. "Another of the valuable series of monographs on Church Art 
 in England, and the most entertaining of all." 
 
 Misericord at Worcester 
 
 Misericord at Beverley Minster 
 
 Liverpool Courier. "Another of the admirably written and illustrated art hand- 
 books 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." 
 
 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 indices, as in all the volumes in this 
 series, are admirable."
 
 BY FRANCIS BOND 
 
 Wood Carvings in English Churches 
 
 II. Stalls and Tabernacle Work, Bishops' 
 Thrones, and Chancel Chairs 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 154 pages, with 124 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs and Measured Drawings. Strongly bound in 
 
 cloth. Price 6s. net ($2.40). 
 
 n 
 
 C/3 
 
 PRESS NOTICE 
 
 La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiositt. " Une illustration copieuse etablie avec 
 des soins tout documentaires ; des index ; une table par ordre chronologique, une 
 autre par noms des lieux, viennent faciliter les recherches et permettre au lecteur dc 
 tirer benefice des vastes resources d'une erudition informee et sure."
 
 BY FRANCIS BOND 
 
 WESTMINSTER ABBEY 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 348 pages, with 270 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs and Measured Drawings. Strongly bound in 
 
 cloth. Price IDS. net I $4.00). 
 
 
 Kan Vault of Henry VI I. 's Chapel in Westminster Abbey 
 9
 
 VISITORS' GUIDE TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY 
 
 93 pages of text, abridged from the larger work on "Westminster Abbey." 
 
 Fcap Svo, with 15 Plans and Drawings and 32 Photographic Illustrations. 
 
 Price is. net (40 c.). 
 
 Chapter House at Westminster 
 to
 
 BY FRANCIS BOND 
 
 Dedications and Patron Saints of English 
 Churches. Calendars. Ecclesiastical 
 Symbolism. Saints and their Emblems 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 359 pages, with 252 Illustrations. 
 Strongly bound in cloth. Price 75. 6d. net ($3.00). 
 
 THE main object of the book is to inquire into the dedi- 
 cations of the English churches, and to show the curious 
 ways which led to the popularity, or it may be the 
 unpopularity, of the various saints. To aid in the identi- 
 fication of the saints represented in mediaeval art very numerous 
 illustrations have been reproduced from stained glass, statuary 
 in wood, stone, and alabaster, ivories, brasses, bench ends, 
 wall paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and painted rood- 
 screens. At the end will be found an alphabetical list, 
 with dates and emblems, of the saints commemorated in 
 English dedications, and another alphabetical list of the 
 emblems of the saints ; these two lists will be found of service 
 in visiting the picture galleries and stained glass of England 
 and the Continent. 
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES 
 
 Morning Post. "Mr Bond's indefatigable industry and gift of Jlair in ecclesi- 
 astical matters have found a wide scope in this fascinating field ; we have had as 
 much pleasure in reading it as lie had in writing it. It is the work of a true 
 enthusiast, and will greatly help the diffusion of a keener and more intelligent 
 interest in the visible and invisible antiquities of our innumerable ancient churches." 
 
 Yorkshire Obsover. "Out of the fulness of his learning the writer has made 
 this volume a most curious revelation of the wit, wisdom, superstition and romance of 
 the Middle Ages." 
 
 Times Literary Supplement. " Mr Bond's previous works have dealt with 
 English ecclesiastical architecture and carving, with an elaboration of illustration and 
 description for which students a century hence will be profoundly grateful. Readers 
 of the present l>ook should be many, for it contains much that is delightful." 
 
 II
 
 BY H. B. WALTERS 
 
 Church Bells of England 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 420 pages, with 170 Illustrations 
 
 reproduced from Photographs and Drawings. Strongly 
 
 bound in cloth. Price 7s. 6d. net ($3.00). 
 
 Times. "It is by far the most complete work 01 its kind in existence and the 
 most accurate ... a treatise as readable as it is erudite." 
 
 PQ 
 
 12
 
 Uniform with the preceding Volumes of the English Church Art Series 
 
 Military Architecture in England 
 During the Middle Ages 
 
 By A. Hamilton Thomson, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 Demy 8vo, containing 406 pages, with 200 Illustrations reproduced 
 
 from Photographs, Drawings, and Plans. Strongly bound in cloth. 
 
 Price 73. 6d. net ($3.00). 
 
 Bodiam : North Front and Gatehouse 
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES 
 
 Church Times. "Not only those who are specially interested in military archi- 
 tecture, but also everyone who desires, on visiting an ancient castle, to view it with 
 intelligent appreciation, must needs add this work to his library." 
 
 Guardian. " This volume at once steps into the position of a classic ; it will be 
 long before it is superseded." 
 
 English Historical Review. "This monograph is compressed into about four 
 hundred pages, and copiously illustrated, yet it contains a wealth of detail that could 
 easily have been expanded into a much longer work. ... Its author is not writing a 
 guide to castles, but a history of military architecture ; yet the work might usefully be 
 taken as a guide to many of the castles described in it." 
 
 Country Life. "The book could scarcely be bettered as a concise survey of a 
 difficult and complex subject." 
 
 Journal des Savants. " Le livre de M. Thompson sera . . . le bienvenu. II 
 le sera d'autant plus qu'il donne un aper$u tres complet des transformations de 1'archi- 
 tecture militaire outre-Manche depuis les temps les plus anciens. . . . Ce n'est pas 
 seulement au point de vue anglais, c'est egalement a notre point de vue francais que 
 ce livre offre un reel interet." 
 
 13
 
 Two Volumes, Demy Quarto; 1000 Pages; 1400 Illustrations 
 Price Two Guineas net ($16*75). 
 
 An Introduction to 
 English Church Architecture 
 
 From the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century 
 By FRANCIS BOND 
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES 
 
 Afhenaum. "These volumes form a worthy sequel to the important work on 
 'Gothic Architecture in England,' l>y the same author, published in 1905. They 
 represent a vast amount of orderly labour, and show an astonishingly wide grasp 
 of a great subject. It is a big undertaking; 1000 quarto pages, with 1400 illus- 
 trations. One of the pleasant features of the work is the sparing use of exceptional 
 or technical terms, the exact meaning of which is grasped as a rule only by a 
 professed architect, For the use of the unlearned, the first volume opens with a 
 tersely- written glossary of terms, and this is followed by a most useful explanatory 
 list of French words and phrases of an architectural character. But for the must 
 part there is a breezy freshness about Mr Bond's phrases which at once rivets the 
 attention." 
 
 Westminster Gazette. "We know Mr Bond as a careful student, of sound 
 scholarship, but if we had no other evidence, this ' Introduction ' of his would mark 
 him also as a writer of imagination who has not allowed the infinite detail of his 
 subject to obscure his sight of the building. ' It is good for those who are to be 
 introduced to mediaeval church architecture,' he writes in his preface, 'to know not 
 only how a church was built, but why it was built, who built it, who served in it, 
 who worshipped in it, and what manner of worship was theirs Ancient or Modern.' 
 Already we are beginning to regard such an attitude as perfectly natural, forgetting 
 that the text-books of the last century took no more account of the human impulse 
 than a treatise on trigonometry takes of the private life of Euclid. . . . The book 
 is magnificently illustrated." 
 
 Yorkshire Observer. "Mr Bond shows, step by step, how the church varied 
 from age to age, structure following need, so that an ancient parish church as we 
 see it now is not a mere bit of ingenious or clumsy designing, plain or beautiful by 
 caprice, but a living organism reflecting the lives, the faith, and indeed the material 
 fortunes of the people who built and used it. It is in the realisation of this soul of a 
 building more than in anything else that the difference lies between the old guide- 
 book antiquarianism and the new archaeology which Mr Bond represents. ... If 
 it were not so easy and lucid to read, one might compare it with Darwin's ' Origin 
 of Species.'" 
 
 Connoisseur. "An unrivalled record of English ecclesiastical architecture. It 
 is difficult to speak in too high praise of the work. Mr Bond has explored his subject 
 from end to end."
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES (continued} 
 
 Western Mail. "Splendidly hound and well printed, with a glossary of terms 
 which will prove most useful to the lay reader, it is a work of the greatest value to 
 all who are in any way interested in the construction, details, and uses of our ancient 
 and beautiful churches." 
 
 Antiquary. "The student or the general reader who wishes to have an 
 intelligent grasp of principles and of their illustration and exemplification in the 
 
 Vault of Choir of Gloucester Cathedral 
 
 details of construction has here provided for him an ideal book. Mr Bond's pages 
 are likely, however, to fascinate the expert as well as the beginner. . . . For this 
 valuable book the author will receive the grateful thanks of students, not only those 
 of the present time but those of many a day to come. . . . Every chapter and every 
 section is lavishly illustrated, not at random, but by a carefully chosen set of examples 
 closely related to the text; the wealth of illustration is so great that a full half of 
 the thousand pages of the two volumes is occupied by pictures."
 
 IN PREPARATION 
 Uniform with the 'above Volumes of the English Church Art Series 
 
 ENGLISH CHURCH PLATE 
 
 By Rev. J. T. EVANS, M.A. 
 
 Editor of " Church Plate of Gloucestershire, Cardiganshire, Pembroke," etc. 
 
 CHURCH CHESTS, DOORS, COLLECTING AND 
 POOR BOXES, PRESSES, ETC. 
 
 By PHILIP MAINWARING JOHNSTON 
 
 F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. 
 
 Author of numerous Papers in the " Surrey and Sussex Archaeological Collections," 
 and in the " Archaeological Journal." 
 
 THE ENGLISH CHANCEL 
 
 The Altar, Reredos, Communion Table, Altar 
 Rails, Piscina, Sedilia, Easter Sepulchre, etc. 
 
 By FRANCIS BOND 
 
 Author <?/" English Church Architecture," etc. 
 
 By F. E. HOWARD 
 
 Author of papers on " Fan Vaulting," " English Chantry Chapels," 
 " Devon Churches," etc. 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 16
 
 3947S
 
 A 000 675