Historic Churches 2017

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON

HISTORIC CHURCHES

TH ANNUAL EDITION

the English Reformation in an attempt

to recreate an interior from the period

before England turned its back on Rome.

An impressive piece acquired for the

church was the early 16th-century lectern

(page 23) which was bought at auction

by the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, Pugin’s

close friend and patron. Its influence was

immediate, as can be seen at Norwich

Cathedral where the three statuettes

added during the restoration of the

pelican lectern are clearly derived from

the Birmingham example.

The revival of the liturgy in the

Anglican church in the 19th century,

of course, is the result of the Oxford

Movement. Of great importance were

Tracts for the Times

, published between

1833 and 1841. Once a Catholic fixture,

the brass eagle lectern was again seen

to be an appropriate Anglican church

fitting, at least in the high church. Many

cathedrals were refurbished according

to the principles of the Gothic Revival.

At Hereford as at Durham not only was

a screen replaced but a new lectern

was made and placed in front of it.

The newly created cathedral at Truro

was embellished with an impressive

bookstand that again draws inspiration

from the Birmingham lectern.

Suppliers of ecclesiastical fixtures

were soon producing their own versions

of the brass eagle lectern. From the

1840s firms like John Hardman of

Birmingham; Hart, Son, Peard & Co

of London; and Benson & Froud

of London began mass-producing

lecterns. Advertised in newspapers

and transported by rail, the Victorian

designs often closely followed those

of the gothic examples that had been

discovered, and they found their way into

Anglican church interiors across Britain.

PRE-REFORMATION DESIGN

The freestanding bookrest with its

eagle-shaped reading desk has three

components: the pedestal, the stand and

the desk. In the late 15th to early 16th

century the pedestal becomes circular

and is supported by three or four small

lions, seated or

couchant

. The stand is

treated as a column or baluster, decorated

with geometrical shapes at both ends of

the stem and repeated in the middle. The

stand is topped by a sphere on which the

eagle rests, its wings outstretched to form

the reading desk.

A fine example of an early brass

eagle lectern can be seen at St Bride’s

Church, Fleet Street in the City of London

(page 25), which is typical of the style

popular in England in the decades prior to

the Reformation (roughly 1470–1530).

These Tudor lecterns, which later

inspired the Victorians, share a similar

design and are the products of a similar

metalworking tradition. Brass or ‘latten’,

the difference is purely linguistic, is an

alloy of copper and zinc. The latter was

unknown as a material for a large part of

our history and instead the powder of a

stone containing high concentrations of

zinc ore was used. This stone was called

calamine and was found in abundance in

the region between Aix-la-Chapelle and

Liège in modern Belgium.

The Meuse Valley became a centre

for brass-workers, filling domestic and

ecclesiastical interiors with candlesticks

and kettles from the 10th century

onwards. In the early 12th century

Theophilus Presbyter described the

process of brass-making in his book

Schedula diversarum atrium

and

archaeological finds from the 13th to the

15th century support his account. Copper

was heated in a crucible, then charcoal

and the powdered calamine were added.

A vapour containing the zinc ore reacted

with the copper to produce brass. This

process is called cementation and was

used for brass-making until the Industrial

Revolution. It remained a skilled craft and

trade secrets were not readily shared.

At the top end of the market

were ecclesiastical fittings like large

candleholders and eagle lecterns. These

objects were too big to cast in one piece

so they were assembled from many

individually cast segments using a

lost-wax technique. Moulds were taken

from wooden or plaster models. The

pedestal and its lion-shaped feet were

separate parts and even the bird’s talons

were individual pieces, as the following

examples illustrate.

At Christ’s College Chapel,

Cambridge, the lions are substituted by

greyhounds (thought to be a reference to

Lady Margaret Beaufort who re-founded

the college in 1505). The colour difference

suggests these were not made in the same

workshop as the lectern. Two of the three

lions of the lectern in Croft, Lincolnshire,

were stolen in 2008 and later replaced.

Several eagles are now missing

their original individually cast talons

and their loss is often blamed on Oliver

Cromwell. At Wolborough, Devon, the

lost talons were later replaced in silver.

More recently, the talons of the eagle

at Oxborough, Norfolk were replaced,

taking inspiration from those of the

contemporary and similar lectern at

Southwell Minster. The conservation of

the lectern, including the replacement

of the talons, was done by Rupert Harris

Conservation Ltd of London.

It was not unusual to have two

lecterns in a church, as the Gospels were

read from the

cornu Evangelii

on one side

of the altar, while the Epistles were read

from the

cornu Epistolae

on the other, as

is recalled in the

Rites of Durham

. This is

confirmed by the 13th-century writings

on liturgy by William Durand, the Bishop

of Mende. The locations may be situated

to the north and south of the altar. In the

chancel behind a screen or

pulpitum

, the

area reserved for the clergy, the Gospel

and the Epistle were sung in Latin.

According to the 16th century author

of the

Rites of Durham

At the North end of the high altar,

there was a goodly fine letteron

[lectern]

of brasse where they sung

the epistle and the gospel, with a

gilt pelican on the height of it finely

gilded pulling hir bloud out hir

breast to hir young ones, and winges

spread abroade wheron did lye the

book that they did singe the epistle

and the gospel.

This evocative description formed the

basis of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s design

for the present pelican lectern at Durham

Cathedral, which was made by Francis

Skidmore of Coventry. Late 19th-century

photographs (page 26) provide a view

of the intended effect and its location

at the end of the aisle in front of the

screen. Placing lecterns in this central

position became widespread during the

Reformation. Previously hidden behind

the screen and supporting a Gospel or

Epistle handwritten in Latin, the lectern

now addressed the congregation and held

a printed Bible in English.

A late 19th-century advertisement by an ecclesiastical

fittings supplier