The Architecture
Parish churches, with their richly varied range of styles and sizes, reflect an architectural evolution. They record the local artistry, skills and materials used by our forebears over centuries, making the parish church not only a place of worship but also a centre of village life. Their carvings, paintings, memorials and furnishings reflect how people lived, worked and worshipped.
This diagram shows the standard locations of many features of churchbuildings. Below is a useful glossary of ecclesiastical terms used in relation to them.
Glossary
- Aisle: passage alongside the nave or chancel,separated from it by piers or columns
- Altar: the holy table, the religious focus at the east end of the church
- Arcade: row of arches supported by piers or columns
- Chancel: the eastern end of a church, where the altar is placed
- Chancel arch: the arch separating the chancel from the nave or crossing
- Chapel: a small area of worship, often dedicated to a particular saint
- Choir: where services are sung, or more generally, the eastern arm of a church
- Font: a container, generally of stone, which holds holy water for baptism; usually located near the west door
- Lectern: a reading desk, often in the shape of an eagle, made to hold the Bible during services; usually made of brass
- Nave: the western arm of the church, where the congregation stands
- Pews: wooden seats or benches in the church. Pews only appeared at the end of the medieval period
- Piscina: stone basin for washing communion or mass vessels
- Pulpit: a raised stand from which the preacher addresses the congregation
- Transepts: the crossing arms of the church, generally aligned north-south
