By Harold Brakspear, F.S.A. 485 



Great abbey churches were, except in a few cases, built for the 

 exclusive use of the convent, and not for congregational purposes ; 

 neither were they or any church ever intended to impress 

 the visitor with an unbroken vista from end to end. After the 

 drastic sweepings which all our great churches have undergone, 

 especially at the hands of so-called restorers of modern days, it is 

 difficult to realize what the effect of one must have been with all 

 the chapels, altars, screens, and fittings complete. Fortunately at 

 Malmesbury there still remain indications of some of the internal 

 fittings which enable the principal arrangements to be traced. 



Under the western arch of the crossing is a solid stone screen, 

 capped by a cornice bearing the badges of Henry VII. with the 

 royal arms in the middle over a doorway which led into the quire. 



The quire was beneath the crossing and one bay of the presbytery, 

 and the stalls had canopies which were supported at the backs by 

 a beam let into the crossing piers. 



Just in front of the first pair of pillars in the nave was an open- 

 work stone screen across the full width of the church, and the 

 portions in the aisles still remain. Between this screen and that 

 already described was a loft called thepulpitum gained by a wooden 

 stair from the south aisle and a narrow gangway at the back of 

 the screen, the notches for which are still quite clear. The main 

 arches of the arcade are cut away to give passage on to the middle 

 part of the loft. Norwich Cathedral had a pidpitum of similar 

 character. 1 The loft carried by two light screens was very general 

 in Cistercian churches but with the Benedictines it was generally 

 placed on a solid wall containing vices with the quire door in the 

 midst. The epistles and gospels were sung from the pulpitum on 

 holy days and it generally held the great organs. At Durham 



the fairest paire of the 3 did stand over the quire dore only opened and 

 playd uppon at principall feastes, the pipes beinge all of most fine wood, 

 and workmanshipp verye faire partly gilted uppon the inside and the 

 outside of the leaves and covers up to the topp with branches and 

 flowers finely gilted with the name of Jesus gilted with gold .... 

 also there was a letterne of wood like unto a pulpit standinge and 

 adioyninge to the wood organs over the quire dore, where they had 



1 Proc. Soc. Ant., 2 S. xvii. 353. 



