When the ornaments and vestments were carted away from the church in
the time of Edward VI, many of the church chests lost their use, and
were sold or destroyed, the poorest only being kept for registers and
documents. Very magnificent were some of these chests which have
survived, such as that at Icklington, Suffolk, Church Brampton,
Northants, Rugby, Westminster Abbey, and Chichester. The old chest at
Heckfield may have been one of those ordered in the reign of King John
for the collection of the alms of the faithful for the fifth crusade.
The artist, Mr. Fred Roe, has written a valuable work on chests, to
which those who desire to know about these interesting objects can
refer.
Another much diminishing store of treasure belonging to our churches
is the church plate. Many churches possess some old plate--perhaps a
pre-Reformation chalice. It is worn by age, and the clergyman,
ignorant of its value, takes it to a jeweller to be repaired. He is
told that it is old and thin and cannot easily be repaired, and is
offered very kindly by the jeweller in return for this old chalice a
brand-new one with a paten added. He is delighted, and the old chalice
finds its way to Christie's, realizes a large sum, and goes into the
collection of some millionaire. Not long ago the Council of the
Society of Antiquaries issued a memorandum to the bishops and
archdeacons of the Anglican Church calling attention to the increasing
frequency of the sale of old or obsolete church plate.
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