Parish chest
Illustration — Parish chest, Mathon Church, near to Mathon, Herefordshire, Dated 1698, but understood to be much older. In England and Wales, a parish chest is a wooden chest which was used for the storage of important documents relating to a parish, these would typically include the parish register of births, deaths and marriages, and other documents relating to the administration of the parish. A parish chest would usually be kept in the parish church.
Parish chest
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Illustration — Parish chest, Mathon Church, near to Mathon, Herefordshire, Dated 1698, but understood to be much older. In England and Wales, a parish chest is a wooden chest which was used for the storage of important documents relating to a parish, these would typically include the parish register of births, deaths and marriages, and other documents relating to the administration of the parish. A parish chest would usually be kept in the parish church.
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wikidata · Q124881212 · wikipedia · Parish chest
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Parish chests were used from medieval times, and early ones were usually simple, constructed from a hollowed out log. In later centuries, parish chests generally became more elaborate, and incorporated features such metal bands and multiple locks.
• Illustration — A 13th-century parish chest, dug-out from one trunk of wood, in St Andrew's Church in the village of Nuthurst, West Sussex, England • Illustration — Medieval parish chest on wheels, St Andrew's Church, Rugby • Illustration — The parish chest in the tower of the Church of St Peter and St Thomas Becket, in Stambourne, Essex, England
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