CHAPTER I
the choir, nave, and their furniture
Little need be said about the Choir, as so much must depend upon the architecture of the church. It should not be crowded with benches and desks, which has a very bad effect, but kept as open as possible. Where there is little room, it is far better not to have a surpliced choir; so that only stalls for the clergy and a few seats for the servers will be needed.
The stalls for the clergy will vary according to the size and customs of the church. In large churches as well as in collegiate churches returned stalls were formerly used.[1] The clergy will need an extra shelf for books; and a similar shelf for the men, partitioned between each seat, will be useful. It is my experience that the boys behave better if they have nothing at all to kneel up against. They will then kneel bolt upright, with nothing to screen them, on a strip of matting (say of dark green or red); and this will also give the choir a more open look.
No wood or metal work that can possibly come in the way should have sharp edges or corners. And no nails should be allowed to be fixed in the wood by those who carry out decorations.
- ↑ This was long continued in many places. The Puritan Cartwright objected in 1573 that ‘the minister sitteth in the chancel, with his back to the people.’ Bishop Wren in 1636 appeals to post-Reformation practice in favour of this custom (Parentalia, 78). 40
