In the north transept at All Saints church in Oakham, there is a large wooden chest, shown in the photograph above. This is the Oakham Parish chest, which is encompassed by iron bands, with three locks. It is well described by a framed description close by, written by an unknown author, and dated 2007.
The earliest Parish Chests are of Norman or even Saxon date. In the early 16th century the Vicar General, Thomas Cromwell issued a mandate to the effect that every parson, vicar or curate had to enter in a book every christening, marriage and burial in his parish, with the names of the parties. In addition to these records documents relating to the day to day running of the parish would have been stored in the Chest, including the Churchwarden’s accounts, Removal and Settlement Certificates Poor Rate and Poor Law records.
The parish was to provide a `sure coffer’ with two locks, the incumbent having the custody of one key and the Churchwarden having the other. _ The safety of the documents was assured by there being two locks and therefore the opening of the Chest had to be approved by the incumbent and the Churchwarden together. The chests were usually made of oak, early ones having been `dug out’ of a substantial log. Later chests became more refined being made of boards secured with iron nails. Some were decorated with iron banding. These were common from the early part of the fourteenth century. Some had slots pierced in their lids possibly to receive monetary offerings.
An injunction in the thirteenth century was that in every church a chest should be provided fastened with THREE keys, to be kept by the Bishop, the Priest and a religious layman. It will be noted that the Parish Chest here at All Saints, Oakham has three such fastenings. Whilst an exact date cannot be made as to its origin it would appear that this Parish Chest may date from the early years of the Church.
There is little more that can be added, with perhaps one exception. In a blog post by Nick Thorne entitled “Parish Chest – A Sure Coffer for the parish records” he writes
By the mid-1500’s the parishioners in every parish of the land were instructed by law to provide a strong chest with a hole in the upper part thereof, and having three keys, for holding the alms for the poor. Another chest may have been used to keep safe the church’s plate and this or the first chest would also double up as a place where the parish registers and other parish documents could be kept safe. In some places only one chest would have sufficed for both purposes, while in other parishes two or more may have been used.
So there is a possibility that the three locks might indicate a 16th century rather than a thirteenth century date.
Of course, confronted by an old oak chest, the immediate question that comes to mind, is what mysteries does it still contain. The Oakham chest opens without much effort, although the lid is a bit weighty, so that question can easily be answered. And the mystery turns out to be quite mundane as can be seen from the photograph below – a crown of thorns, presumably for the Holy Week liturgy and an assortment of large and votive candles. Pretty much the sort of stuff that would be found in a cupboard in any parish church! The mysteries are long gone (and probably deposited in Leicester Archives).
Engineering, history and ecclesiology 