THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
churchman was permitted
chancel.
to sit in the
The next step was the admission of
Tradition and usage made this
women !
a more difficult matter, for as early as
367 A.D. the Council of Laodicea had
passed a canon that women ought not to
come near the altar or enter the sanctuary
where the altar stood, and the rule held
good with but few exceptions for many
centuries. Thus in 1625, Charles I of
England wrote, " In my own particular
opinion
I do not think . . . that women
should be allowed to sit in the chancel,"
and traces of this feeling survive even
to-day.
But, if certain stalls were reserved for
the people of consequence, the most important
function which they came to fulfil
was the accommodation of a surpliced
choir. Not every parish church, however,
could afford the elaborately carved stalls
granted for the use of patrons or clergy,
and therefore many of the choir members
had to sit on forms. At the time of writ-
ing there is an old oak form and railing in
the garden of the West Kirby parish
church, which may have fulfilled some
such function as this. The special stalls
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