A pious donor wishes to give a new pulpit to a
church in memory of a relative, and the old pulpit is carted away to
make room for its modern and often inferior substitute. Old stalls and
misericordes, seats and benches with poppy-head terminations have
often been made to vanish, and the pillaging of our churches at the
Reformation and during the Commonwealth period and at the hands of the
"restorers" has done much to deprive our churches of their ancient
furniture.
[31] _English Church Furniture_, by Dr. Cox and A. Harvey.
Most churches had two or three chests or coffers for the storing of
valuable ornaments and vestments. Each chantry had its chest or ark,
as it was sometimes called, e.g. the collegiate church of St. Mary,
Warwick, had in 1464, "ij old irebound coofres," "j gret olde arke to
put in vestments," "j olde arke at the autere ende, j old coofre
irebonde having a long lok of the olde facion, and j lasse new coofre
having iij loks called the tresory cofre and certain almaries." "In
the inner house j new hie almarie with ij dores to kepe in the
evidence of the Churche and j great old arke and certain olde
Almaries, and in the house afore the Chapter house j old irebounde
cofre having hie feet and rings of iron in the endes thereof to heve
it bye.
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