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History of the Memorial Chapel - Introduction |
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Thursday, July 07 2005 |
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Page 6 of 9 The first thing to strike the eye upon entering the Memorial Church is the timber-work with its massive, hand-hewn beams. These were shaped by local carpenters, using primitive tools - adze and ax and saw. Originally the wood was a part of an old mill which stood on the banks of a stream near the old settlement of Columbia. In churches which date from before the Reformation there is often to be seen a screen between the chancel and the body of the church. In simpler form there is sometimes a beam, supporting a cross, called a rood-beam. This has been worked into the structure of the chancel roof, with the heavy timbers telling silently of "the old rugged Cross." In modified form, the same structure is carried throughout the roof supports of the nave. The details were suggested by a famous refectory in Beaulieu Abbey. The pew-ends are made from the same old mill timbers, and shaped so as to give the impression of long usage, even to simulating the wear from many hands on their tops. All the chancel panelling and the rest of the wood-work is very simple, with only a very little carving to relieve the plainness. Altar, lectern and pulpit have received a bit of decoration. The deep brown of a dull, tobacco color characterizes all the wood-work. It is the kind of finish which will be seen in similar ancient Church furniture, the result of a varnish which has lost all its glaze, leaving only the stain, much aged.
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