THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

OLD PLATE IN WIRRAL CHURCHES
It was in this same reign that the cup was
restored to the laity.
At the end of Edward's reign the plate
possessed by each church consisted simply
of one silver chalice and a paten, the latter
also serving as a cover for the cup. These
vessels, like those of the early church, were
largely drawn from domestic sources, any
suitable cup being used, so that the
patterns of these early post-Reformation
chalices are of the greatest possible variety.
Even surgeons' bleeding bowls were sometimes
used, perhaps with symbolic intent.
Towards the end of the reign of Charles I
a feeble attempt was made to standardise
the chalice, but this was not really effected
on any scale until the early years of Queen
Victoria, when the Gothic revival began.
From that time chalices have been made
more or less on the pre-Reformation
model, though very much larger as befitted
the use by the laity.
With the restoration of the cup to the
general congregation, there naturally
arose the need for a large vessel to contain
the wine which would be consumed where
there were many people partaking of
Holy Communion, and, just as domestic
vessels were at first used for the chalices,
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