In the previous chapter the attention of the reader was directed mainly to the relations of priest and people to their parish church. The division of obligation for the upkeep of chancel and nave by general law and custom between the parson and his parishioners has been stated and explained, and the devotion of the people to the work of maintaining and beautifying God’s house has been illustrated by various examples. In this chapter it is proposed to speak of the various parts of the church itself; and first of _the chancel_, which was that portion of the sacred edifice between the altar and the nave, so called because it was separated from the rest of the church by railings (_cancelli_). Frequently in England there was at this point a screen supporting a figure of our Lord upon the cross, with images of Mary and John on either side, and from this called the “Rood Screen.” The size of the chancel naturally varied according to the importance of the church, but it may be said to have generally included some stalls or seats for the assistant clergy and the parish clerks. When, as in cathedral and conventual churches, this portion was made larger, it was known as the choir (_chorus_), from the band of singers, who were originally accommodated in the space between the people in the nave and the clergy in the _presbyterium_, or were grouped round the altar, or perhaps more frequently in an apse behind it. In process of time this body of clergy migrated to more convenient positions in the choir. As already pointed out, the care of the chancel by law belonged to the rector or vicar, and a portion of the tithe received by him was supposed to be devoted to this purpose. The chancel was reserved entirely for the use of the clergy and for those who ministered at the altar or took part in the ecclesiastical chant. The prohibition against lay people sitting in that part of the church was not unfrequently a cause of difficulty. Simon Langham, of Ely, in his synodical decrees of 1364, prohibits the practice. [Illustration: ROOD SCREEN AND PULPIT. HABERTON CHURCH] “Lay people,” he says, “are not to stand or sit amongst the clerks in the chancel during the celebration of divine service, unless it is done to show reverence (to some person), or for some other reasonable and obvious reason; but this is allowed for the patrons of the churches only.” A letter on the subject, addressed to one of his clergy by the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, somewhere in the fourteenth century, shows that it was difficult sometimes to enforce this law.