“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.”

 

2 Corinthians 4:7

 

The Parish Chests

     Oak older than most of the church

The chest was carved from a solid piece of oak.

In 1538, a mandate drafted by Thomas Cromwell instructed each ecclesiastical parish to have a sure coffer, a Parish Chest. The keys were to be held by the vicar and the churchwardens.

The chest was a safe place for keeping records of christenings, marriages, and burials.

The mandate from Cromwell was not a major issue for this church which had collected all these records for some years previously. This chest has three separate locks and could only be opened with the vicar and two church wardens present for security.

During the Reformation, most of the sacred vessels from the church were lost.

In 1687 two silver chalices, two silver patens and a large silver flagon were provided, the gift of a successful Snaith man, Martin Headley (who would later become mayor of Leeds). These were stored in the oak chest until 1821 when, sadly, thieves broke into the Priory, forced open the chest, and stole the precious items.

Records from the Consistory Court were not stored in this chest. Within the South Porch there used to be a staircase leading to the “Parvise Chamber”, a room built over the porch that used to store all of the records of the Consistory Court and, on occasion, be used for meetings.

The Parvise Chamber was removed in the Victorian Restoration of 1858, at which time the Consistory Court was abolished.

There is another chest in the Dawnay Chapel (see image on the left). This one is dated from 1825.

Church registers are very important legal documents and must be kept safe