Inside the church

To fully inv

Inside the church

To fully investigate a historic church you should look at the artefacts kept inside. You might find battle flags, armour, paintings, statuary and other historic items giving a sense of the people using the church over the generations.

Keep a good look out for an Aumbrie (or Aumbry or Ambry). This is a secure chest or cupboard where the altar plate and other sacred items are stored, often with carved oak doors. The Aumbrie was generally built into a recess in the North wall of the church close to the altar.

Despite its sacrificial and pagan connotations, the Christian church adopted the word altar. It is used to describe the Eucharist table where rites are conducted. By true definition, word altar should only be used to describe a medieval stone-built ceremonial table. Nowadays the word is commonly used to describe any post-reformation communion table.

The earliest churches (Celtic and Anglo-Saxon) had freestanding wooden altars. From the Sixth Century most altars were made from stone. Take a look at the construction of the altar and get an idea of its age.

In medieval times only a single candle would be placed on the altar. Other candles would be placed as votive lights in front of paintings, statues, shrines and tombs. These lights were often extremely expensive.

Votive candles were lit as a personal offering or sometimes as part of a bequest. When a person died they might leave instructions in their will that a candle be lit for them at certain times of the year. Their family would then be obligated to pay for the candle and ensure it was lit at the right time.

Have a look for a Piscina (a medieval wash basin with a drain). Look for Sidilia, or seating, for the priest and his assistants. All will be near the altar.

If you are very fortunate you may be able to see a Rood Screen. It separated the altar from the rest of the church and preserved an air of mystery about the ceremonies. Many Rood Screens were destroyed at the time of the English Reformation but it is sometimes possible to see where they would have been situated.

Behind the altar you may see a reredos (also reredorse or reredoss). This is a decorative (ornamental) stone or timber screen. It covers the wall either behind the altar or between two piers or columns to the east of a sanctuary.

Many late medieval reredos were richly decorated with figurines and painted panels. Some were tiers of brightly painted and gilded alabaster figures, each displayed in a canopied niche. Thomas Cromwell and his iconoclasts found these an easy target so few original examples remain, although Victorian replacements abound.

Things to look out for:

Is the church well used? Take note of the way the building is kept. Is it clean, dry and smelling of polish or does it feel damp and smell of mould? Have congregations fallen to a point where the church is a drain on community resources? Are artefacts at risk?

Look for indications of prosperity: conservation of artefacts and fabric and regular usage. All these signs indicate the nature of the church today and how its heritage is being preserved.