THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
present form of paten, which serves the
double purpose of a plate and a cover for
the chalice, arose from the necessity of
protecting the cup from poisoning. This
subject is developed in dealing with the
Credence.
Pre-Reformation plate is very scarce to-
day, as the greater part was confiscated in
the reign of Edward VI, *'
because the
king had neede of a masse of mooney,"
and this confiscation was followed by the
destruction of almost every object connected
with the ritual of the church on
which there was anything of the nature of
a graven image. A short respite from
this iconoclasm occurred in the reign of
Mary, but the destruction was continued
in the Elizabethan period, chalices
particularly being destroyed, because they
were too small for the use of the laity
from whom the cup was withheld in the
pre-Reformation church. Thus in the
reign of Edward VI, commissioners were
appointed to visit each county and enquire
whether there remained in the churches,
*'
any images, offerings, candlesticks,
shrines, coverings of shrines, or any other
monument of idolatry, superstition and
hypocrisy" and if so, to destroy them.
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