64 THE CHURCH SCREEN'S OF DORSET. 



did not preserve them from the ignorance of the Victorian 

 restorers in 1855. Judging from a woodcut in ttre last edition 

 of Hntchins the stalls must have been among the finest pieces 

 of Jacobean woodwork in the country, and their loss cannot 

 be too deeply deplored.* The remains of the stalls have 

 been made up into wooden choir stalls without canopies. 

 Koike church was, with the exception of the tower, rebuilt on 

 an extended scale in 1628, and is an interesting example of 

 17th century Gothic with many delightful details. The 

 sumptuous contemporary fittings remain for the most part in 

 spite of injudicious restoration. The screen, pulpit, font, altar 

 rails and bench ends are all of excellent workmanship. The 

 Chapter House at Forde Abbey was fitted up as a private 

 chapel by Edmund Prideaux, Cromwell's Attorney General, 

 in 1649, and contains an exceedingly rich screen of classical 

 design. Iwerne Courtney and Melcombe Bingham have 

 excellent parclose screens, both due to the liberality and piety 

 of Sir Thomas Freke. The latter is dated 1619. The small 

 church of West Stafford, restored in 1640, has an excellent 

 screen of that date ; while at Ibberton there is some 17th 

 century screenwork in the tower arch with turned balusters, 

 but it is in a rather dilapidated condition and has been much 

 pulled about and altered. 



Before passing on to the examination of the surviving 

 screens in the county, a few words on the use of rood loft will 

 not be out of place, especially as considerable misunder- 

 standing seems to exist in some quarters on this question. It 

 is frequently stated as an absolute fact that it was the custom 

 to sing the Gospel and chant the lessons at Matins in the loft 

 at the Mass on Sundays and feasts. Now, while it is quite 

 certain that in Cathedral, Monastic and Collegiate Churches 

 this was actually the case, there is no evidence to prove that 

 this was done in the smaller churches. In the first place it 

 would be decidedly inconvenient for the priest single-handed 



* Illustrations of the screen and canopied stalls, as they were before the 

 ' restoration/' may be seen in N. Whittuck's Views of Wimborne Minster, 

 published by Henry Herbert, Wimborne, 1839. [Editor]. 



