THK CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 65 



to come from the altar and ascend to the loft for this purpose. 

 In the second place the stairs to the loft which survive in a 

 large number of cases are quite unsuitecl for use by the priest 

 in his vestments, since they are steep and narrow. On the 

 other hand there is considerable documentary evidence that it 

 was customary to place an organ in the rood loft, as the 

 following extracts will show. In 1473 in an Exeter church 

 there was paid " for making a seat in le roode lofte, when 

 playing on the organys...7s." In the inventory of St. Stephen 

 Walbrook, London, occurs " In the same rood loft is a pair of 



organs the gift ot Borton Wyns, grocer." In 1 509 at Louth 



occurs the following entry, " for setting of the Flemish organ 



in the rood loft by four days xxd." The loft w r as also of 



use for supporting the rood with the Mary and John and the 

 candles that burnt before the rood, and made it easier to 

 attend to these lights, which on great feasts were often very 

 numerous. It is likewise possible that the loft was used for 

 the solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which took 

 place on certain occasions of great importance, though this 

 would only be at comparatively rare intervals and by special 

 permission of the Bishop. In addition to the organ it is 

 probable that the village choir was located there, and this fact 

 would account for the worn condition of the stairs to the loft 

 which is so often noticeable. Almost the only instance of the 

 rood loft in a parish church being used for chanting the 

 Gospel is at Long Melford, Suffolk, where it is recorded that 

 " on Good Friday a priest then standing by the rood sang the 

 passion," but, as Mr. Francis Bond pointed out, this does not 

 necessarily mean that he was standing on the rood loft; and 

 in any case Long Melford is a church of enormous size and in 

 pre-reformation days had a large staff of clergy, so that the 

 services would be carried out more or less as in a Collegiate 

 Church. As to what \vas the usage in Cathedral and Collegiate 

 Churches, Tattershall in Lincolnshire furnishes a good 

 example. Here the fine stone screen and loft remain in good 

 preservation, and in the centre of the east side of the loft is a 

 projecting ambo with stone desk, which doubtless served for 

 chanting the lessons at Matins, and possibly also for singing 



