THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

GROWTH OF WIRRAL OLD CHURCHES
less efforts of thirty generations ;
one feels there is truth in saying, '
and thus
That
church was not built, it grew.' "
To understand this growth, one must
dive deeply into history. Now we are
familiar with the fact that to-day we have
two main types of churches, viz., the
cathedral and the parish church, but in
mediaeval days up to the time of the
Reformation there was a special class of
church built for Peroetual Adoration.
JL
Instead of having one daily service, as
was generally the custom in the parish
churches, there was, in these, a long round
of services by night as well as by day.
Such churches were not primarily
intended for congregational use. The
daily programme, on the contrary, was
usually carried out by monks, particularly
those of the order of St. Benedict, but
some of these churches were served by
priests.
Of this type one example stands to-day
in ^Virral, viz.. Lower Bebington church.
This was what was known as a
"collegiate church," that is a parish
church where it was desired to maintain
the daily round of services in use in a
cathedral or monastic church. In such
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