THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

OLD WOOD-CARVINGS IN WIRRAL CHURCHES
chair is placed north of the altar. When
a Bishop is not present, the Incumbent of
the parish has the right to occupy this
seat. That at Backford is illustrated in
these pages. It was made from the old
altar rails which were in the church 300
years ago. Other sanctuary chairs deserving
of special notice are at Lower
Bebington and at Burton.
The most important seats in the chancel
apart from those in the Sanctuary are the
stalls, reserved originally for the clergy,
the laity being rigorously excluded. In
a council about 683, however, exception
was made in favour of the Roman
Emperor, though St. Ambrose gained
great applause for denying this privilege
to Theodosius. But it was a perilous
thing to exclude emperors, and what had
to be conceded to them was naturally
claimed by princes, and what in turn was
conceded to princes was promptly claimed
by nobles. Thus in Scotland in 1225 an
episcopal order allowed king and nobles
to stand or sit in the chancel. In 1240 in
the diocese of Worcester this permission
was extended to lay patrons, and from
that time onwards more and more concessions
were made, until at last any good
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