Plate LXXXII.
SCREEN AT TILNEY ALL SAINTS, NORFOLK (1618).
206.—Pulpit, Worth Church, Sussex (1577).
There were many screens erected during the early years of the seventeenth century. The finest specimens are at St. John's Church, Leeds, and at Croscombe in Somerset, near Wells, in both of which churches most of the woodwork is of this period, including the excellent oak seats. The general effect of the richly ornamented woodwork at Croscombe, including the pews, the pulpit, and the lofty screen, is unusually striking. But in many churches in different parts of the country screens may be found of more or less importance. A good example is illustrated from Tilney All Saints, in Norfolk, near King's Lynn (Plate [LXXXII].), which bears the date 1618 in a little panel over the central arch. The design, it will be seen, is somewhat unconstructional, for the main posts of the lower part are not carried up to support the crowning cornice, but terminate in obelisks, leaving the cornice to be carried by turned balusters; the effect being to render the upper part rather insecure in appearance. There is a screen at Stonegrave, in Yorkshire, of simple but rather unusual design, in which the detail is very carefully managed. Although it is dated 1637, its general character places it in the category of Jacobean work.
Of pulpits there were a large number erected in Elizabeth's time, and still more in King James's, for in the canons of 1603 a pulpit was ordered to be placed in every church not previously provided with one. Many of these have disappeared, through decay or the fury of Gothic restoration, but there are still plenty left, of which several types are illustrated. There is the elaborate one at Worth Church, in Sussex, dated 1577, built up with columns at the angles. The faces are occupied by niches containing figures of the Evangelists (Fig. [206]), and the frieze above bears an inscription in the Dutch language. On the panels between the pilasters of the lower stage is some of the applied carving, previously referred to in treating of panelling.
207.—Pulpit, Blythborough Church, Suffolk.
Plate LXXXIII.