The ‘mercy seats’ in St John the Baptist Church at Cockayne Hatley

If you haven’t heard of a ‘mercy seat’ you may be surprised to know that there are 24 of them in St John the Baptist church. Mercy seats or misericords were found in monasteries. Monks and clerics were not supposed to sit down during services but stood in prayer with uplifted hands. Since there were eight lengthy divine offices daily this would be exhausting, especially for the old and infirm. So hinged seating was added to the stalls and, when tipped up, this provided a ledge so the monk could rest against it during extended prayer services (while appearing to be standing).

Although the misericords were not normally visible, they were often skilfully carved and sometimes depicted detailed scenes, occasionally humorous ones.

History of the misericords in St John the Baptist church

The carvings in St John the Baptist church are 335 years old. They have travelled over 320 miles from Wallonia in Southern Belgium. They are here indirectly as a result of the French Revolution. The woodwork of the stalls was originally in the church of the Abbey of Oignies. The Abbey was an important pilgrimage site and acquired a remarkable treasure of gold and silver ornaments and reliquaries. (The treasure is officially designated as one of the ‘Severn Wonders of Belgium’.)

The Baroque woodwork is of very high craftsmanship, reflecting the wealth and importance of the Abbey.

In 1792 Oignies and the surrounding region in what is now Southern Belgium fell under French rule in the war following the Revolution. The French Directoire government decreed that religious orders should be suppressed and their property confiscated. The monastic community at Oignies was dispersed and the church furnishings were later sold as public property.

In 1806 Henry Cockayne Cust, the Lord of the Manor at Cockayne Hatley, was appointed Rector of the church. He found the church in a state of considerable disrepair (on Christmas day in 1806, snow fell through the roof on to the altar during the service). The Rev Cockayne Cust undertook extensive restorations to the fabric of the building and introduced new windows and carvings to the building as part of the restorations. A dealer in Brussels was handling the sale of the Oignies Abbey church furnishings and he sold some of the woodwork to Rev. Cockayne Cust, to be installed in 1826 as part of his restoration work.

These Flemish misericords have very fine carvings, mostly of intricate foliate designs. There are also four foliate masks or ‘Green Men’ and two misericords displaying a shield with the arms of the Rouillon dit Castaigne family: the prior of the Abbey of Oignies from 1679 to 1694 was Guillaume de Rouillon dit Castaigne.