| Rood, rood beam, rood loft, rood loft stairs,
rood screen. The most striking difference
between a Norfolk parish church before the Reformation,
and one after it, is that the eastern end of the nave would have been filled with
the apparatus that supported the great rood
- literally, cross. This consisted of a large
representation of Christ crucified, flanked by Our Lady
and St John. These were usually statues, although some
may have been painted on to a tympanum.
It served as a constant reminder to the faithful of the
central truth of Christianity. No medieval roods survive
in England. The rood was fixed to the wall above the chancel arch, supported from beneath by a rood beam, which crossed the chancel arch from south to north. Several rood beams survive in Norfolk. Below this, possibly with a parapet concealing the beam, was the rood loft. This was a gallery, within which a choir might sing, the Gospel might be read, and candles lit along the rood beam. Access to the loft was by the rood loft stairs, evidence of which survives in about a half of all Norfolk medieval churches. They were usually made of stone, turning inside the wall; hundreds of examples survive. Occasionally the steps were cut flush into the wall, with a turn at the east end of the nave. Sometimes, they obviously incorporated a now-vanished wooden stage. Beneath the rood loft, the rood screen filled the space between nave and chancel. Altars would have been set against the nave side, dedicated to particular saints or chantry guilds. Many fine screens survive. The screen usually had paintings of saints on it, or occasionally orders of angels or Old Testament prophets. The late 19th and early 20th century Anglo-catholics, under the influence of the Oxford Movement, enthusiastically restored rood screens; in several cases, they completely reconstructed them, with rood, rood loft, rood beam, and sometimes even altars. |