The earliest pulpits date from about 1340. Medieval pulpits were constucted of
stone or oak and are similar in shape to a wine glass with a slender splayed
stem atop of which is a tall narrow 'drum' with traceries panels containing
carved motives depicting the likeness of the Four Evangelists.
Perhaps the finest stone pulpit, complete with its original staircase and a
jolly lion on the balustrade can be found in St. Peter's church, Wolverhampton.
Survival of seventeenth and eighteenth century pulpits usually can be
attributed to a succession of conservative squires and rectors who preferred
the old to the new.
Where new pulpits were built in the nineteenth century, they are often in the
fashionable ' Early Gothic ' style for which there is no medieval precedent,
and some say that unlike their graceful fourteenth and fifteenth century
predecessors, they are invariable ill-proportioned and ugly.
What ever you think about your pulpit, one thing to be pleased about, is that
most of them were built after the custom of putting hour glasses on them was
done away with.
Church attendance was compulsory in the seventeenth century and preachers
addressed captive audiences for at least an hour. If at the end of that time
the parson turned the hour glass over, the congregation knew it was in for a
further hour of preaching.
Written and contributed by Philip Lloyd.
