By Mr. Edivard Kite. 



309 



It. for the Paschall taper 



for ij pounds waxe to the light in. . . .Lady 

 Porch 



xxjd. 



xxjd. 



This seems to refer to a light burnt before the image of the Virgin Mary, 

 which no doubt occupied the now vacant niche over the inner doorway of the 

 Porch. Sums of money, or land, were often bequeathed to Churches for the 

 maintenance of such lights. 



The Easter or Holy Sepulchre, to which these items refer, was an erection, 

 either of wood or stone, set up for the performance of certain ceremonies 

 commemorative of the entombment and resurrection of our Lord. Its position 

 was usually on the north side of the chancel, but in some instances it appears 

 to have been on the south ; this arrangement however is confined chiefly to the 

 counties of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire. 



The Elements consecrated on Maunday Thursday, were after Mass removed 

 from the Tabernacle over the High Altar, carried in solemn procession to the 

 Sepulchre, and deposited in it. 1 Here they remained until High Mass on Easter 

 Day, when they were re-conveyed to the Altar with the same ceremony. 

 During the intervening nights tapers of wax were kept burning in the church, 

 and persons employed for the purpose of watching the Sepulchre, a practice 

 founded upon an ancient tradition that the second coming of Christ would be on 

 Easter Eve. 



The Easter Sepulchre was in some instances a permanent structure of stone 

 ornamented with elaborate carving as in the Churches of Heckington andNavenby, 

 Lincolnshire; Hawton, Nottinghamshire; and Northwold, Norfolk. These are 

 some of the finest examples remaining in England. Several sleeping soldiers 

 (intended for the Roman Guard) are sculptured in the lower compartments, 

 whilst the upper contain representations of the Resurrection. 



Much more frequently, however, it was, as in the present instance, a temporary 

 erection of wood, put up and taken down as occasion served, either beneath a 

 recess formed by an arch of about three feet in height, constructed purposely 

 for its reception in the wall of the church, as at Great Cheverel, and Chitterne 

 St. Mary, Wilts ; or on a High Tomb which in some cases served the double 

 purpose of a memorial to its erector, and the Easter Sepulchre. This latter 

 arrangement was common in the Perpendicular and Tudor styles. 



" I will that there be made a playne tombe of marble of a competent height, to 

 the intent that yt may ber the Blessed Body of our Lord, and the Sepultur at 

 the time of Estre, to stand upon the same, with myne arms, and a convenient 

 scriptur to be sett about the same tombe." Will of Thos. Windsor , Esq., of 

 Stanwell, Middlesex, 1479. See "Fosbroke's Ency. of Antiq.," Vol. II. p. 703. 



1500? 16 Hen. VII. 



Itm. for mending the Organs 



to iiij men for keeping of the Sepulchre 



ij nights 



for the making of the Sepulchre and taking down 



1 In addition to the Host, a cruci.'ix appears to have been sometimes deposited in the Sepulchre. 



* 2 s 



