Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/379

Rh pretation ; but the solution of the problem does not properly come within the scope of a work like this.

There are but scanty accounts of the changes made in the outward appearance and in the services of the Church at the beginning of Eliza- beth's reign ; it is, however, generally acknowledged that these were gradual, and that the vestments and other ornaments recovered during the reign of Mary were not laid aside at once. It is probable that except in remote parts of the country the altars were removed and tables substituted very soon : the Churchwardens' Account Book at Wing, where the Roman interest was strong, notes that the altars in that church were kept up beyond the appointed time, but that is only till 1561. The rood had to be removed with the images in 1559 ; but the rood loft did not come down till 1562. The reading pew and desk, an outward and visible sign that mattins had supplanted mass as the chief Sunday service, appeared in 1571 ; but not till 1582 were the walls completely whitewashed and painted with texts after the approved fashion. Other churches would carry out the same changes more or less rapidly, according to the particular views of incumbents and patrons. Towards the end of the reign great unsightly pews, often placed in such position that the rarely used chancel was quite invisible from the body of the church, began to be erected everywhere.

There is a report of the archdeaconry in 15845 which gives an idea of the state of the churches at this time, and serves as a connecting link between the early part of this century and the next. Out of twenty-nine churches, in which some default or other is noticed, seven had the chancels in bad repair and four the walls or windows. In seven churches the rector was non-resident : in one of these no curate what- ever was sent to supply his place, so that there were no services ; in two others there were only occasional services. At Weston Turville and Quainton there was no distribution of alms to the poor. At Drayton Parslow the rector was a ' common quarreller at the law ' and a fre-