Similar seats occur in Culworth
Church, in the same county, and these are likewise of the fifteenth
century. The pulpit was anciently disposed towards the eastern part of the
body of the church, but not in the centre of the aisle. Pulpits are now
rarely to be found of an earlier date than the fifteenth century, when
they appear to have been introduced into many churches, though not to have
become a general appendage. Ancient pulpits of that era, whether of wood
or stone, are covered with panel-work tracery and mouldings; and some
exhibit signs of having been once elaborately painted and gilt. Mention,
however, is made of pulpits at a much earlier period; for in the year 1187
one was set up in the abbey church, Bury St. Edmund's, from which, we are
told, the abbot was accustomed to preach to the people in the vulgar
tongue and provincial dialect[164-*]. The most ancient pulpit, perhaps,
existing in this country, is that in the refectory of the abbey (now in
ruins) of Beaulieu, Hampshire: it is of stone, and partly projects from
the wall, and is ornamented with mouldings, sculptured foliage, and a
series of blank trefoiled pointed arches, in the style of the thirteenth
century. The church of the Holy Trinity, at Coventry, contains a fine
specimen of a stone pulpit of the fifteenth century.
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