An old chest. Left panel, probably deposition from the cross, damaged; central panel, resurrection; right panel, Christ appearing to Mary Magdalen.
Not visible: left end, Christ bearing his cross; right
end, Christ before Pilate.
Chest, possibly used as Easter Sepulchre
The chest shown in the photo to the left was described by M. H. Bloxam in 1882 as probably the only surviving English wooden Easter Sepulchre (for placing the crucifix and wafer in, on Good Friday).
He has been followed by other writers, including Feasey, Bond, and Randall (references below).
In fact, although the carved panels are of fourteenth century date, they may have been framed into a later chest (the lid and legs are definitely later). If so, the original use of the panels may have been very different. Or they may have been the surviving panels from an Easter Sepulchre taken apart at the Reformation. There is no way of knowing.
The present wherabouts of the chest is not known to this author.
The illustration is from Birmingham and Midland Institute Transactions (Archaeological Section), 20 (1894), 80, where there is a brief discussion. A longer description is in Bloxam, (reference in pictorial essay), 116-9.
Click here to return to pictorial essay.
Note on other survivors
A possible fragment is at Barningham, Suffolk.
In J. C. Cox and A. Harvey, English Church Furniture, 1908, page 77 another survivor is mentioned. It is said to be in private hands in the north of Derbyshire, having been ejected from the church of Hampton, Worcs. It is said to be of fifteenth-century date, of table form with traceried sides, 4 foot 3 inches by 2 feet and nearly 3 feet high. This may represent an Easter Sepulchre converted to a table, as discussed in the body of the essay.
Sheingorn (her book referenced in the body of the essay,
page 55) says that a wooden frame for supporting the Easter sepulchre was
found walled-up at St Michael's, Smarden, Kent, in 1860, but on discovery
and exposure to air, immediately diintegrated.
References:
M. H. Bloxam, Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical
Architecture, vol. ii, 1882, 116-119.
H. J. Feasey, Ancient English Holy Week Ceremonial,
1897, 145-6.
Francis Bond, The Chancel of English Churches,
1916, 234.
G. Randall, Church Furnishing and Decoration in England
and Wales, 1982, 143.