11 Facts About Chancel screen

Rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture.

The rood Chancel screen is so called because it was surmounted by the Rood itself, a large figure of the crucified Christ.

The panels and uprights of the Chancel screen did not support the loft, which instead rested on a substantial transverse beam called the "rood beam" or "candle beam".

The passage through the rood Chancel screen was fitted with doors, which were kept locked except during services.

Terms pulpitum, Lettner, jube and doksaal all suggest a Chancel screen platform used for readings from scripture, and there is plentiful documentary evidence for this practice in major churches in Europe in the 16th century.

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Hence the origin of the chancel screen was independent of the Great Rood; indeed most surviving early screens lack lofts, and do not appear ever to have had a rood cross mounted on them.

The monastic rood Chancel screen invariably had a nave altar set against its western face, which, from at least the late 11th century onwards, was commonly dedicated to the Holy Cross; as for example in Norwich Cathedral, and in Castle Acre Priory.

In 1577 Carlo Borromeo published, making no mention of the Chancel screen and emphasizing the importance of making the high altar visible to all worshippers; and in 1584 the Church of the Gesu was built in Rome as a demonstration of the new principles of Tridentine worship, having an altar rail but conspicuously lacking either a central rood or Chancel screen.

Rood screen was a physical and symbolic barrier, separating the chancel, the domain of the clergy, from the nave where lay people gathered to worship.

Chancel screen's screens survive in Macclesfield and Cheadle, Staffordshire, although others have been removed.

In many East Anglian and Devonian parish churches, original painted decoration survives on wooden Chancel screen panels, having been whitewashed over at the Reformation; although almost all have lost their rood beams and lofts, and many have been sawn off at the top of the panelled lower section.