EasterSepulchreHolcombeBurnellChurchDevon

An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of Late Medieval British and Irish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

interior

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

Description

The Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, in which from

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

day were deposited the

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and sacred elements in commemoration of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

entombment A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immurement'', althou ...

and

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

. It was generally only a wooden structure, which was placed in a recess or on a tomb.

Distribution

The Easter Sepulchre is only found in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, the practice having been peculiar to the

Sarum Rite The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the Use (liturgy), liturgical use of the Latin liturgical rites, Latin rites developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Refor ...

. However, there is a ruin presumed to be an Easter sepulchre at Kildrummy in north-east Scotland.

Use

The Easter Sepulchre contained the

Blessed Sacrament The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

of the altar, the

Host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

. Following the doctrine of the

Real Presence The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, sometimes shortened Real Presence'','' is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist, not merely symbolically or metaphorically, but in a true, real and substantial way. Th ...

, i.e. that Jesus is physically present within the Host, on Good Friday the Host was taken from the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

where it had been placed following the

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

celebration of the Last Supper and, wrapped in linen cloths, 'buried' in the Easter sepulchre which was found on the north wall of the sanctuary. Cut into the wall, it was sometimes ornately carved but within it was a wooden frame on which was hung a cloth pall often embroidered with scenes from the Passion. Candles were lit around the sepulchre, burial clothes adorned it, and parishioners stood guard until early Easter morning at the first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. The Host was brought out, in imitation of Jesus having arisen out of the tomb, and was placed again in the tabernacle in the centre of the Church. Like Roods or Crucifixes and their lofts, Easter Sepulchres were the object of iconoclastic fury by the Protestant Reformers, and few still survive.

Surviving examples

There are throughout Great Britain and Ireland many fine examples in stone from the Late Medieval pre Reformation period, some of which are

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

, such as:

Cumbria

Warwick Bridge Warwick Bridge is a village in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It forms part of a small urban area which includes the villages of Corby Hill and Little Corby. In 2011 it had ...

Devon

* Holcombe Burnell * Bishops Nympton * Heanton Punchardon * Monkleigh * St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy * Throwleigh

Dorset

* Gillingham * Tarrant Hinton

Glamorgan

Coity Coity () is a village in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales, part of Bridgend town urban area. Coity is part of the community of Coity Higher and is notable for being home to Coity Castle, one of the best-preserved castles in Glamorgan. Othe ...

Herefordshire

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

Lincolnshire

* Navenby *

Heckington Heckington is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Sleaford and Swineshead, Lincolnshire, Swineshead Bridge, and south of the A17 road (England), A17 road. Heckington, with 1 ...

(1370)

London

* St John the Divine, Kennington

Norfolk

* Fritton * Kelling * St Andrew's Church, Northwold

Northamptonshire

* Lutton * St. Mary's Church, Grendon

Nottinghamshire

* Sibthorpe * Hawton (1370) * Arnold

Oxfordshire

* Bampton * Piddington

Somerset

Church of All Saints, Monksilver Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian co ...

Suffolk

* Cockfield * East Harling * Long Melford * St Margaret South Elmham

Warwickshire

* Long Itchington * Withybrook, Coventry

West Sussex

* St Catherine of Siena Church, Cocking

East Riding of Yorkshire

Patrington Patrington is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness, south-east of Hedon, south-east of Kingston upon Hull and south-west of Withernsea on the A1 ...

Gallery

File:Sedilla.JPG, A simple unadorned example from St Mary's Church,

Grendon, Northamptonshire Grendon or "Grenrian" as the locals call it, is a small village and civil parish in rural Northamptonshire, England, on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Many houses are made of the local limestone and various older thatched hous ...

File:EasterSepulchreHolcombeBurnellDevonDetail.JPG, Holcombe Burnell Church, Devon. Detail of central sculpted

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

showing Christ stepping out of the tomb, with sleeping guards

Notes

References

;Attribution * {{Easter Church architecture Easter liturgy Holy Week