A Story in Stone

A Holy Space

The Chancel

Chancel is a term used to describe the holiest part of the church, and derives from the Latin 'cancelli', meaning gratings or a lattice (a reference to the typical form of the screen separating the Chancel from the Nave). The need for separation arose from the doctrine of transubstantiation (the belief that, in the Eucharist, water and wine become Christ’s body and blood) laid down at the fourth Lateran Council of 1215. Clergy were required to ensure that the blessed sacrament was kept protected from irreverent access or abuse; and so, the area of the church used by the lay people was increasingly screened off from that used by the clergy.

This distinction was enforced through canon law, by which the construction and upkeep of the Chancel was the responsibility of the rector, whilst the construction and upkeep of the Nave was the responsibility of the parish.

The Chancel at Geddington, as in many churches, has two parts:

The Choir is the area in front of the Altar Rail, where the carved wooden Choir Stalls are found. In medieval times, this is where clergy would sit to chant Psalms and prayers during Masses; and where those of high rank might also be permitted to sit.
The Sanctuary is the area behind the Altar Rail, where the High Altar is situated.

The existence of a long Chancel at Geddington is an indicator of its importance in the medieval period as this suggests there were sufficient numbers of clergy and high-status worshippers to warrant such provision.

Dating the Present Chancel

There is some debate among experts over when the Chancel we see today was completed, but two pieces of evidence shed some light:

a transcript in the Buccleuch Archiveof an 18^th Century translation of a Latin document in Lincoln Cathedral Archive dated 1358, in which the Bishop of Lincoln:

“…appropriated annexed united and granted the Parish Church of Geytingdon.……to the religious men the abbot and Convent of the monastery of Pippewell…” and ordained that “….the aforesaid religious men shall in the first place construct and build the Chancel of the same Church and the windows of the same competently…”

A Latin inscription in stones running around the foot of the Sanctuary wall and into the adjacent South (Lady) Chapel records the completion of work on the Chancel, one of which is explicitly dated 1369.

The Latin Inscription

The Latin text (in Lombardic script) that since 1857 has formed a stone skirting around the Sanctuary reads:

+ WILLELMVS • GLOVERE • DE • GEYTYNGTON • CAPELLANUS • FECIT • SCABELLA • EIVS • ARE • ET • PAVIMENTARE • ISTVM • CANCELLVM ; AD • HONOREM DEI • ET • B E A T E • MARIE • Q v i • OB I I T - IN • FESTO • CORPORIS • CHRISTI • ANNO • DOMINI • M.CCC.LXIX • CVIVS • ANIME • PROPICIETVR • DEVS • AMEN

[William Glover Chaplain of Geddington made this Scabella and the raised pavement of this Chancel to the glory of God and the blessed Mary, and who died on the Feast of Corpus Christi in the year of our Lord 1369, on whose soul may God look with favour. Amen]

The text running from the Chancel into the South Chapel (also in Lombardic script) reads:

+ ROBERTVS • LAVNCELYN • DE • GEYTINGTOVN • FECIT • ISTVM • CANCELLVM • CVIVS • ANIME • PROPICIETVR • DEVS • AMEN.

[Robert Launcelyn of Geddington built this Chancel on whose soul may God look with favour. Amen]

NOTES:

Scabella means ‘footstool’, but it is not clear to what that refers. It might be the 3 sedilia (see below), or the Sanctuary steps, or even the Sanctuary itself as ‘the footstool of Christ’.
Corpus Christi means ‘Body of Christ’ and the Feast Day celebrates the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It is held on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, 60 days after Easter.

These inscriptions once formed the facings to steps in the Chancel and an early 18^th Century record shows them as being incomplete with some stones transposed:

As part of the changes in 1855-57, these stones were reconstructed, re-arranged and relocated to form the present wording around the Sanctuary and Lady Chapel steps.

Who were William Glover & Robert Launcelyn?

William Glover appears once in the Geddington Manorial Court records when, on 13^th January 1378 we find:

Nicholaus Comfort et Alicia uxoris eius venerunt in curiam & petunt se admissi ad medietati unius mesuagii post decessum Willelmi Glovere capellani cuius consanguine et hereditarie predicte Alicie est et sic admissi sunt et habent inde seisinam et fecerunt et dant de fine per ingressum prout patet in capite.

This roughly translates as:

“Nicholas and Alice Comfort his wife come to the court and ask to be admitted to a half [share?] of a messuage after the death of William Glovere, chaplain, whose relation and heir is the aforesaid Alice and thus they are admitted and have seisin therein and make [fealty] and give as fine for entry as appears above”.

The date and the identity with a chaplain make this very likely to be the William Glover of our inscription.

Robert Launcelyn appears multiple times in the Geddington court records in the 1370s, being ‘elected’ a beadle in 1378; frequently appearing as a pledge provider; and a brewer of ale and affeeror. Robert is also known to have held land in the common fields - again, he appears in numerous land transactions as the holder of selions (ridges) neighbouring those forming the subject matter of the transaction; and he was a miller too - he features several times being fined for charging excessive mill tolls. So, it is entirely possible that it was this Robert Launcelyn who paid for the building of this chancel during the years 1358-69. He certainly seems to have held a significant amount of land.

Extract from Geddington Manorial Court Rolls 13^th January 1386 [Photo: Edward Coulson]

NOTES:

Geddington (Crown) Manorial Court Rolls 1377-1414 - Northamptonshire Record Office [NRA 23059 Montagu-Douglas-Scott]. Earlier records do not appear to be available. With grateful thanks to Edward Coulson for his transcription of the Court Rolls.
An affeeror was a manorial official who assessed fines for transgressions of manorial customs and ordinances. Interestingly, Robert is mentioned in a land transaction on 25 September 1378 as the neighbour of a messuage (a dwelling with outbuildings assigned for the use of the occupiers) in Geddington which was acquired on that date by Henry Mulso, a relative of the John Mulsho commemorated in the North Aisle.

Despite the doubts of Niklaus Pevsner and other experts, all of this suggests that the Chancel was completed in the 1360s in accordance with the Bishop of Lincoln’s requirements given when he granted his licence to the Abbot of Pipewell in 1358.

It may also suggest that the priestly effigy in the Lady Chapel – who was said to be a ‘Chaplain of this Church’ - commemorates this same William Glover. Since Pevsner dates the effigy to the 14^th Century and gives the possibility of a link to the inscription, this certainly seems plausible.

The Chancel Choir

Taking roughly two-thirds of the area of the Chancel, the western part of the Chancel is the area where, in the medieval period, clergy would offer chants and prayers as the officiating priest said or sang the Mass. High on the west wall we can see two roof scars – the lower one being the only surviving sign of the Saxon Chancel. The higher roof scar marks the roof of the mid-13^th Century Chancel and, associated with this, we can make out a line of stones forming a base for timber wall plates (on which an earlier roof structure would have sat) running around the Chancel immediately above the heads of the lower Clerestory windows, which themselves appear to have been part of such a Chancel.

In 1863 the Northampton Herald reported that, during the re-ordering works of 1855-57, two Norman windows were uncovered in the Chancel that were said to have been blocked up as part of the late 14^th Century alterations. This suggests that alterations were made to the old Saxon Chancel in the 12^th Century. However, there is no obvious sign of these changes today – unless the Chancel’s lower clerestory windows are regarded as being of the 12^th Century.

The 3 small Clerestory windows in the Chancel’s south wall had been hidden but were revealed in October 1875 when workmen took down the old Lady Chapel roof and reduced its pitch. They were un-blocked and ancient glass from elsewhere fitted in 1904-05.

The Choir Stalls

Following the major renovations of 1903-06, Sydney Gambier-Parry’s new Chancel screen was installed in 1908 and it was four years later that the present Choir Stalls, designed by Ninian Comper and crafted from old roof timbers, were installed.

The red and black encaustic Minton floor tiles were laid as part of the 1855-57 re-ordering. The carvings (1906) on the cornices of the Chancel roof were the work of Charles Frith, the brother of the famous artist, William Powell Frith.

Choir War Memorial

On the north wall of the Choir is a memorial (left) commemorating Choir members who fell in the Great War.

In the form of an alabaster tablet within a framing of Ketton stone, it was designed by Talbot Brown, who also designed the war memorial in the churchyard.

Nearby, the Royal British Legion banner is carried from a wall bracket.

The Chancel Sanctuary

This is the raised area at the east end of the Chancel where we find the High Altar and several associated features.

The High Altar

In the medieval period, the High Altar would have stood hard up against the east wall, as the officiating priest would then have prepared and consecrated the bread and wine facing eastwards. The original Altar would have been removed after the Reformation and in all probability a ‘communion table’ positioned at the western end of the Chancel replaced it until 1635, when the Altar and altar rail were re-instated on the instructions of Archbishop Laud. Although Puritans strongly opposed this change, the altar and rail appear to have survived at Geddington until the 19^th Century.

Standing approx. 1 metre forward from the reredos, the large stone Altar slab we see today is believed to originate in the 1855-57 alterations. Supported by timber framing, it is 3.2m wide.

The Aumbrey

To the left of the High Altar, a 14^th Century Aumbrey is set into the east wall. This is where the bread, wine and water used in the Eucharist was kept. The design very closely matches the reredos (see separate display).

Sedilia & Piscina

Beneath the Sanctuary’s South Window there are three Sedilia (seats where officiating clergy sat at times during the Mass) set into small arches within the wall. Set within a smaller arch immediately left of the Sedilia is a Piscina - a basin within which the chalice and patten would be washed after the Mass.

Above the Sedilia and Piscina are five mutilated stone heads probably damaged after the Reformation. Set within the easternmost of the 3 sedilia is a brass plaque dated 1860 commemorating a former Vicar, Rev^d James Hogg, his wife Mary and their son William.

Traces of Medieval Paintwork

Close inspection of the stonework round the Sanctuary reveals traces of medieval paint (mostly a red ochre colour around windows and on some of the carved stone faces) that has survived the various changes of the past 500 years. Similar traces can also be seen within some parts of the Latin inscription that skirts around the Sanctuary.

Mary Queen of Heaven

In the wall above each side of the High Altar are projecting medieval stone bracket-heads (still with traces of the original medieval paintwork), each topped with 20^th Century plaster cast statues.

The ancient head to the right is believed to represent Mary, mother of Jesus. The floral garland she wears comprises rosettes that closely resemble those seen in the frieze of the reredos, suggesting a common 14^th Century origin. Each May, it was traditional to crown a statue of Mary, Queen of Heaven with roses (usually followed by a parade) and this may be the origin of the tradition, still followed each year by Geddington CofE Primary School, of crowning the ‘May Queen’.

The bracket-head to the left of the window may represent St. John (or perhaps St. Andrew as Patron), though no identification is certain.

The Altar Rail

The rail separating the Sanctuary from the Choir came from St. Mary’s Church, New Road, Peterborough, which was de-consecrated in 1989. There was an earlier Altar Rail, the door of which bore the date 1635, which can be glimpsed in Edward Bradley’s 1838 painting of the church in the early 19^th Century.

The Reredos and East Window

Two of the great glories of Geddington church, the Reredos and East Window are the subjects of a separate article….