Saxon & Medieval — Late Medieval; late 15th century
St Ethelburga-the Virgin door frame
This partition framed the inner door within the western entrance of the church of St Ethelburga-the-Virgin. The church porch served an important function for the community. It was the setting for marriages and religious plays; the place for 'churching' or blessing a woman after childbirth; a place of penance, a place to collect and distribute alms to the poor, and a space for legal transactions and a venue for business. In the early 1500s the congregation at St Ethelburga's raised extra revenue for their parish by developing the porch and renting it out for 'a little shop'. The spandrels contain the faces of a man and a lion, the emblems of St Matthew and St Mark, and it is possible that there was a matching door frame for the outer porch incorporating the symbols of the other two Evangelists, St Luke and St John.
- Category:
- Saxon & Medieval
- Object ID:
- 35.51a
- Object name:
- St Ethelburga-the Virgin door frame
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- Late Medieval; late 15th century
- Material:
wood
- Measurements/duration:
- H 2477 mm, W 2300, D 140 mm (overall)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Long-term loan
St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
- Copyright holder:
St Ethelburga's Church
- Image credit:
Image courtesy of St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.