They are small rooms, sometimes just a partitioned or curtained area, within the church, where the vicar can get changed. In the past they may also have been used to conduct meetings, these days they tend to become dumping grounds for all the detritus, things which may have been useful at one time, but which now lay dusty and forgotten by all but the church mice.
The vestry in our nearest church was crammed with all manner of things. It still has lots of 'stuff' in there, but the churchwarden decided to get rid of the Elsan toilet - unused, spotless, apart from dust, spider poo and cobwebs, but what on earth was it doing in there? Plastic flowers, ancient and very tatty Christmas decorations, broken chairs and a badly cracked jug were thrown out, too.
The useful mixed with the forgotten, the whole festooned with dust, dirt and cobwebs, mice droppings scattered everywhere, of course.
Ugly plastic chairs, signs of a little damp, and a painting of the church, no doubt a gift from a parishoner, plastic wreaths, an old pitchfork, a rake and some other bits of metal.
Most interesting of all, was a wooden sign.
I know that the church was renovated in the 1860's, or thereabouts, so presumably this dates from that time.
Unfortunately, although the seat numbers are specified, the pews in the church are not numbered and show no signs of having been numbered. This makes me hope that the sign was not hung in the church, the seats not numbered and people were allowed to sit wherever they liked.
Tucked away in one corner is this tiny fireplace, now blocked up. The church is old, despite having been restored by the Victorians, so I like to think that lots of past vicars have warmed their hands by it.
This is how it looks from the church, no hint of the mess beyond.
Ooh, you now have one lucky vicar if s/he has a tidy vestry to use. I've been in some where I am loath to put anything down as it would either get dirty or I'd never find it! I once cleaned a vestry and found fifty year old charity appeals among the mouse eaten linen so presumably no-one had moved the stuff for fifty years.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago I helped a friend prepare the church for her niece's wedding; while we were working, the new young vicar called in and expressed his wish to make use of the vestry in the future, so we added it to our list. I always love to take a peep at any I have access to, they add another dimension to the story of the church. I have just found my guide to the Walesby Parish churches, they make very interesting reading.
DeleteFifty years would make for some dust, dirt, and mouse droppings!
I feel I need to add vestry inspections to my church visits!
ReplyDeleteSome are locked, understandably, but many are open and worth a quick look. I have come across some lovely ones, but be prepared for the accumulated dust and droppings, Sue. The church in Eye, which you recently posted about is very beautiful, surely not a mouse dropping in sight there!
DeleteWe all have a hidden cubby hole of forgotten rubbish, saved just in case. Somehow I never thought about the vestry in a church becoming the hidden cubby hole.
ReplyDeleteQuite often they have enormous and heavy old safes, one even had two of them - presumably to keep all the silver and valuable plate. Old paintings, memorials and bits and bobs.
DeleteUnfortunately I have more than one cubby hole of rubbish, no matter how often I try to declutter! Ooops, no that's not rubbish, it is my craft materials.
It seems odd, doesn't it, that a church should be instructed to provide seats for the poor. I'm with you, though. I would imagine, in small communities, everyone knew who was poor. I love digging through what I call piles of practical history! :)
ReplyDeleteSince finding the board I have done some research and apparently this was quite a common way to help fund things. I imagine benefactors wanted to know that their money was being put to good use!
DeleteSome of those items must be collectable, to collectors.
ReplyDeletePlease don't say, you are/were among those, who had to do the sorting and throwing out?
This was in days long-gone-by.... So it can be seen, why the poor would have to sit, apart from the gentry. They had no fancy clothes and they did not have facilities for careful bathing, so they probably "smelled." The fancy folks would not want to sit next to them.
Christianity only spread so-far. >,-)
It was great fun, Luna.
DeleteCome across a few signs like that, they are part of the church history and should be show off. Must admit seen a few vestries like that as well
ReplyDeleteNow that we have unearthed it, a place has been found on a wall. Time passes, people pass, things are forgotten, then one day they are found again and exclaimed over.
Delete"...while we were working, the new young vicar called in and expressed his wish to make use of the vestry in the future, so we added it to our list."
ReplyDeleteYou answered my question... -sigh-
"new young vicar called in and expressed his wish" Really!?! How very medieval! How very chauvinistic! What century does he think, he lives in????
This sounds like one of the older British tv programs, about when women dressed-for-cleaning, were looked on, as lower class!!! I am appalled.
How could you just let him waltz-in-there, and "expect" you, to do his bidding????
Yes, I am steaming! ,-( I just can't understand, such happening, in this century. Why? Why didn't you question his expectation? Why didn't you say, that your doing this, for a friend, did not extend to fixing the vestry up, for him?????
-sputter, sputter, sputter-
Steady, lass! You could blow a gasket! Deep breaths.
DeleteThe vicar is brand new to the area and has about six or seven parishes, spread over quite a large area, to get to know. He had called in to have a pre-wedding chat with the happy couple, he didn't know we were going to be there. My friend, is one of the churchwardens, so she introduced us, then got talking about how he would like to conduct the wedding. Nothing chauvinistic!
Me? Miss a golden opportunity to explore the hidden depths of a vestry? Never!!
the historical possibilities of that church are so fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBack around the 1650's a man called Sir Henry Vane used the church, he was an English politician who served one term as Governor of Massachusetts before returning to England. In 1662 he was charged with high treason and was beheaded on Tower Hill, London...
DeleteI must ask but I think our vestry is the room that has become a bit of a dumping ground too - although it is also a legitimate storage area complete with 3 extra fridges - we do two feeding programs during the year for the city homeless so we need the extras. Some of my supplies for Sunday Coffee Hour were kept there as well but I had to climb 6 rickety stairs and then search for the light switch which is about 3 feet into the room in the pitch black - so I am very happy to have now been assigned a nice, large pantry cupboard just outside the kitchen where I don't have to worry about tripping over anything!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have got a good working space now, thank goodness! Rickety stairs, etc must have been quite a challenge. Nice to know that you reach out and help those who need a little help. There is no kitchen, or other facilities, in this little church. On the rare occasion when refreshments are offered in the church someone takes a kettle along and plugs it in to a socket at the base of the bell tower. Small scale stuff!
DeleteWe are a very large downtown church in the middle of the Financial and Entertainment districts with a large church hall building attached. It is well used weekly for Yoga, Weight Watchers, AA Meetings etc. The kitchen is large and restaurant standard and gets quite the workout - I love that all the surfaces are stainless steel so you never have to worry about burning something if you put a hot kettle or pot down! We use a professional caterer for some events but rely on an army of volunteers. The Tuesday breakfast runs all year round and feeds about 150 each week. Our "Out of the Cold" program runs November through April and feeds dinner to 300 every Monday night. In addition our English "Cafe" runs Tuesday nights Sept. through June and we offer coffee, tea and snacks to an average of 50 students and new comers (and we feed them something more substantial if we have leftovers from some other event or people bring in items for a potluck) so our kitchen does get a workout. I organize the Sunday Coffee Hour each week (and volunteer at the English Cafe) - and the best thing about the kitchen is the restaurant quality dishwasher - you lift up the cover - slide over the bin with dishes - pull down the cover and less than a minute later you have boiling hot and completely clean set of dishes! I've noticed that many of the male volunteers love to use it! :-)
DeleteIt sounds wonderfully organised - for those who give, as well as those who receive, or just use the hall for meetings. It all sounds very well funded, which is great, though these programmes are nothing without the volunteers, of course.
Delete