Winchester Cathedral choir

The seating area where cathedral choir members sit and stand as they take part in a service is called, sometimes helpfully, other times unfortunately, the "choir". The confusion arises when the listener doesn't know whether the word applies to people or the place. It would be better if the term chancel was always used to described the place rather than interchangeably with "choir". Winchester Cathedral choir (above) is quite typical of English cathedral choirs with tall wooden canopies rising above and behind facing rows of benches and individual seating.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Ledbury church chancel

There are a number of reasons why church chancels are usually more lavishly constructed and decorated than other parts of the building. They hold the high altar. It is also the place where the clergy and their assistants do their work and it is where the choir usually sits. In the past it was the part of the building that was funded by the church. In contrast, the larger nave was funded by and used by the people of the parish. Chantry chapels sometimes equalled or exceeded the chancel in their ornamentation but more often than not the chancel was, and remains, the most decorative part of the church. That is the case at St Michael and All Angels at Ledbury (above).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Fonts, ballflowers and chancels

Medieval builders almost always started building a church at the east end of the chancel, the place that housed the high altar, the necessary prerequisite for worship. Consequently this is often the oldest part of a remaining medieval church. However, rebuilding in a more modern style, or expansion of the church, often meant building anew, and in such cases the area around the high altar may not be the oldest. Sometimes a font, the necessary prerequisite for admission to the faith, is the oldest part of the church. And, many churches kept a venerated old font even when rebuilding took place. But a font, though usually made of stone, is easily moved, and many were replaced, or even moved elsewhere. The font stem at Tewkesbury Abbey (above) has ballflower decoration that dates it to the fourteenth century (the bowl is newer), similar to the age of the chancel, but a couple of hundred years more recent than the nave. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Altar reordering

In the second half of the twentieth century the Church of England began to come to terms with declining numbers in their congregations and a desire to have less separation between clergy and laity. Part of the response to these changes was to have an altar at the east end of the nave (or at the west end of the chancel). This brought the presiding priest closer to the worshippers rather than being distant, at the east end of the chancel near the high altar. However, the high altar was usually retained and the new altar could not be allowed to outshine it. The church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, illustrates this solution. A modest altar has been placed at the west end of the raised chancel. It has no permanent frontal, cross etc. but signifies its presence very effectively by being lit underneath. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2