From the earliest days of the church, churchwardens have played an indispensable role
as general managers of, not only the church and its precincts, but the parish as well.
Historically, churchwardens have been key
officers of the parish
concerned with anything and everything; raising funds; administering church property (which has been
known to include a herd of cattle); celebrating masses in Latin for the souls of benefactors of the church
in the days before the Reformation; providing missals, other church books, lighting, furnishing, equipment,
hassocks, cushions, carpets and, not least, heating.
The churchwardens would, in previous centuries have been responsible for securing the provisions for
parish festivities such as the Church Ale, the main festival in which
the whole parish took part (our closest equivalent in modern times would be the more restrained
Harvest Festival supper).
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In order to execute their duties, churchwardens could find themselves obliged to pay the vicar for the
deciphering and translation of official documents.
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More formally, they would also be responsible for the implementation of episcopal duties and complying with
the law, such as the Act against Superstitious Books and Images of
1550 which ordered the destruction of all Latin service books.
The use of the parish as a means of local government through successive centuries meant that law and order
within the parish hinged on the efficiency of the uver-worked and unpaid churchwardens who acted, effectively,
as civil servants.
For many centuries, the
parish was the effective unit of
local government and the
churchwardens had many duties outside the church for which they
were responsible. Sometimes these duties overlapped with those of the
parish bailiff
causing some confusion.
Churchwardens' Accounts, presented annually, are a valuable source of
information about life in previous times as are
Parish Registers. They include not only payments made in connection with the church, but
also items such as payements to bellringers to announce news and money distributed to the poor.
