PREFACE

This small book is intended to be a companion and complement to the writer’s book in the same series on The Ground Plan of the English Parish Church. In that book the growth of the ground plan is treated with necessarily scanty reference to the circumstances to which, directly or indirectly, that growth is due. Some attempt is made in the present volume to supply an account of the historical conditions amid which our parish churches were built, to say something of the builders, and to remove the popular idea, still current even among educated people, that our architecture is mainly due to the profuse benefactions of the religious orders. A special [chapter] on chantry foundations, which played so large a part in the life of the later middle ages, follows the general historical [chapter]. The western tower, the porch, and the chancel are then described with more fulness than was possible in the description of the ground plan; and the decoration and furniture of the various parts of the church are treated in the closing [chapter].

The writer returns thanks for much help to his wife, to whom a sketch and the plans in the book, except that of Burford, are due; to the Rev. J. C. Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., and to the Rev. R. M. Serjeantson, M.A., F.S.A., who have read through his proofs, and provided him with many useful suggestions; to the editor of the Archaeological Journal, for the use of the plan of Burford church; and to Messrs C. C. Hodges, J. P. Gibson, F.S.A., E. Kennerell, and A. J. Loughton, for the loan of photographs.

A. H. T.

April, 1911.

CHAPTER I
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARISH CHURCH
SECTION			PAGE
1.	Early parish churches in England	[1]
2.	The monastic missionary settlements: church-building on private estates	[3]
3.	The Danish invasions and the monastic revival	[5]
4.	German influence on pre-Conquest architecture	[6]
5.	Influence of the Normans on the architecture of parish churches	[7]
6.	The parish church at the Norman conquest	[10]
7.	Appropriation of churches to monasteries: ordination of vicarages	[11]
8.	Relation of monastic owners to the fabrics of churches	[13]
9.	The builders of medieval parish churches	[15]
10.	The parish church and its rectors	[17]
11.	Disadvantages of pluralism and litigation	[18]
12.	Growth of the chantry system	[20]
13.	Chantry chapels at Beckingham, Lincolnshire	[21]
14.	Summary	[22]
CHAPTER II
THE CHANTRY CHAPEL IN THE PARISH CHURCH
15.	Chantries and colleges of chantry priests	[24]
16.	Foundation of chantry colleges	[27]
17.	Parochial chapels	[29]

18.	Religious and trade guilds	[30]
19, 20.	The chantry chapel: its influence on the church plan	[33]
21.	Chancels of collegiate churches	[37]
22.	St John Baptist’s, Cirencester	[39]
23.	Chesterfield and Scarborough; charnel chapels	[41]
24.	Burford church, Oxon	[42]
25.	St Michael’s and Holy Trinity, Coventry	[45]
26.	Importance of the work of lay benefactors	[48]
CHAPTER III
THE TOWER, THE PORCH, AND THE CHANCEL
27.	Subject of the chapter	[51]
28.	The western tower before the Conquest	[53]
29.	Survival of the older type of tower after the Conquest	[56]
30.	Architectural development of the tower	[59]
31.	The spire	[60]
32.	The tower of the later middle ages: its relation to the clerestory of the nave	[62]
33.	Western doorways and porches	[65]
34.	Side doorways of the church	[67]
35.	The porch: altars in porches	[68]
36.	Chambers above porches	[71]
37.	Altars in towers: habitations in connexion with churches	[73]
38.	Variety of position of the tower	[75]
39.	The chancel arch	[76]
40.	Enlargement of the chancel and architectural treatment	[78]
41.	Fourteenth century chancels in Yorkshire and the northern midlands	[80]

42.	Decline of chancel building in the fifteenth century: the laity and the nave	[85]
43.	Sacristies	[88]
44.	Squints, priests’ doors, low side windows	[90]
45.	Crypts and bone-holes	[95]
CHAPTER IV
THE FURNITURE OF A MEDIEVAL PARISH CHURCH: CONCLUSION
46.	Remains of medieval decorations	[98]
47.	Mural paintings	[98]
48.	Stained glass	[102]
49.	Coloured furniture of stone and wood	[105]
50.	Furniture of the nave and aisles: font and benches	[106]
51.	Chapels in aisles	[109]
52.	Pulpits, galleries, etc.	[110]
53.	The rood screen	[112]
54.	The rood loft and beam	[116]
55.	Quire stalls and lectern	[117]
56.	Levels of the chancel	[119]
57.	The altar and its furniture	[120]
58.	Piscina,sedilia, and almeries	[122]
59.	The Easter sepulchre	[124]
60.	Exceptional furniture	[128]
61.	Parish churches after the Reformation	[129]
62.	Later parish churches	[130]
63.	Post-reformation work and modern restoration	[131]
	Bibliography	[134]
	Index	[137]

PREFACE

CONTENTS