[89310] St Andrew & St Mary, Fletching : Sedilia & Piscina

St Mary & St Andrew, Fletching, East Sussex.

Grade l listed.

Chancel.

Piscina - C19 trefoil-headed. The form recalls late C13 work.

Sedilia - C19 triple canopied, with shafts, cusping and dogtooth.

 

A sedilia, from the Latin sedile, or seat, is a canopied seat, or set of multiple seats, set into a recess in the south wall of the chancel, near the altar. The sedilia were used by clergy as seating during services. Usually there are three seats, one each for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon, under the same extended canopy. The canopies in particular can be highly decorated, with elaborate carving, often of foliage.

 

The Piscina (Latin “pond”) has come down to us as a decorated basin with a hole in the middle to the right of where the altar stood in medieval times in the wall beneath the canopy supported by a stone pillar. The piscina had a central drain used to dispose of surplus liquids from the communion service, reverently and securely. Great importance was attached to these drains, as is shown by the fact that a piscina was the only liturgical fitting other than the altar which was required by diocesan regulations from the thirteenth century. In some churches the piscina is accompanied by a credence shelf, where the bread and wine and water were placed in preparation for the service.

Done