Page:The History of the Church & Manor of Wigan part 2.djvu/119

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298

History of the Church and Manor of Wigan.

There are 10 sev'all p'ish churches w^thin the said city of C., and many countrey townes & villages w^thin those p'ishes, soe that noe one church can conteyne soe great a congregac'on, & there was never heretofore any restraint but that sermons might be in any of the said churches att such tyme as the sermon was in the cathedrall church.

The Bishop & Deane & Chapter doe p'tend to have liberties w^thin the great Ile & minster of the said cathedrall church [so] that the Maior ought not to have the sword or mace carried before him there, nor to have any authority in those places.

The Bishop that now is, upon some allegac'ons that the coming into the Maior's pewe in the said church of A. was inconvenient, moved that the Maior would come into the same att the backe doore thereof, & remove the irons, for the sword and mace to stand in, to that side of the pewe, & that the fore door of the said pewe might bee left for the Bishop to come into the said pewe, w^ch for diverse reasons was not thought fitt to be yeilded unto.

Hereupon the Bishop in Christmas last caused the sermons to be removed from the said church of A. & to bee in the minster of the said cathedrall church, w^ch is a place of small extent, & hath not a convenient place ether to heare or sitt in.

Since then, for some reasons knowen to himselfe, hee hath brought the sermons to the west-end of the said great Ile of the cathedrall church, & nere the old bellfrey & divers great & auncient church doores for sev'all usuall passages those wayes, into a newe pulpitt^[1] lately caused to be erected att the side of one of the nethermost pillars of the great Ile opposite to a windowe of the chappell in his owne house, & hath p'vided some seats w^th backs & diverse formes^[2] to sitt on to heare sermons in the said Ile.

He hath also prohibited that there shall not bee any sermons in any other church of the said cittye att such tyme as the sermon is in the said new pulpitt in the cathedrall church.

↑ This pulpit, made of oak and carved with the bishop's arms, now stands in the Consistory Court at the south-west end of the Nave.
↑ These forms were given by the bishop himself, as appears from his accounts for that year, 1627. This was probably the first time that the Nave of the cathedral was used for Divine Service.

[1] This pulpit, made of oak and carved with the bishop's arms, now stands in the Consistory Court at the south-west end of the Nave.

[2] These forms were given by the bishop himself, as appears from his accounts for that year, 1627. This was probably the first time that the Nave of the cathedral was used for Divine Service.

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