CURIOUS PLACES OF WORSHIP.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 681, 27 June 1914, Page 3

CURIOUS PLACES OF WORSHIP.

A Chapel in a Coal'r*ft. T The miners' chapel in Mynhd Meniggd Colliery at Swansea,, where for a period extending over halt a eentury the toilers of the. mine have each morning gathered together to worship, may fairly claim to be one of the most remarkable sacred..edifices in the universe. Descending to the bottom of the shaft, 033 llnls oneself almost at the door., of this underground sanctuary. -The all-per-vading gloom, is- broken by \>v.t one solitary -light.. which emanates from a Davy safety lamp suspended over the pulpit by a cord fast:n3d to the ceiling. It generally falls to the lot of Ins oldest miner in the rat to conduct the service and address the hornyhanded congregation,' and it is ,saf2 to say that the strangeness ami uncouthness of the surroundings ad.l to rather than detract from th 3 carnestness and Impressiveness of the -proceedings. Perhaps it is tin hazarduous nature of his calling causes the coalminer's' mind to dwell rathe/ more upon things .spiritual than the majority of other toilers of similar .menial calibre, for.in other mines it is a recognised custom for ttu. men to gather together at meal times for 1 prayer meetings . and services C'i song. But Mynnd Mendggd is unique among collieries in having a special apartment fitted up for use as a chapel. A FLOATING CHURCH. - Not long ago there was established In Germany " a floating church, lh3' first of its kind in that country. It is an ancient steamboat that' has completed its span of useful ire in its original capacity, and has now been granted -a nsw. lease of life as a river-borne place of worship. Attached to the church are a library and refreshment room for the use o". the numerous bargemen 'who ply their trade on the Spree and the Havel. This novel church was opened by no less a personage than* the Crown Prince of Germany. In all probability the village church of East Bergholt, in Suffolk, is ths' only one in England which posscssas an entirely distinct building for its belfry. Many yards away fro:n the church stands a shed in-which ihs bells are hung, and- the bells themselves are rather out of the common, in that they are worked from above "instead of from beneath. The church of St. Cross, at Reigate Heath, was formerly • a windmill. The exterior remains , precisely as it was when it was engaged ia fulfilling its original destiny, but the interior has been fitted up as a church, and a service is held there on Sundays at 3.30 p.m. Possibly the main idea of those; who transformed this windmill into a place of worship was tb provide a service tor tiie unregenerate " heathen *whb play golf on the adjacent linis on the Sabbath. 5 In days of old Prid-Stools, or seats of peace, were placed near the altars of the churches, and were the last and most sacred places of resort for those claiming sanctuary under the roof of the holy edifice,, and dire was the punishment meted out for the violation of their sanctity. One of these curious stone chairs is to. be seen at the present day in the vilr lage church of Sprotborougti, near Doncaster, which >in days gone by possessed, the .right of sanctuary. It Is massive and heavy, being carved out of the solid stone, and it is believed to date back to the 13th century. On the front is carved, the .outline • of a human' face with • fe long beard/ resembling the tail of a >bird or fish. On each side of the head is a human leg. an 1 01 the left arm is a bear sitting on its haunches, with a collar round its neck and the fore paw clutching a* staff attached to the collar. The figures are supposed to represent i Thor and Saturn. Away back in the 1 misty ages of the past it was dug up in the churchyard,, and has remain--ed where it was placed in the church ever since. A PRINTERS' CHAPEL. A church is probably cne of Ihs last places in which one would, loolt to find a printing press, yet there is one to be seen in a church in the heart of the City of London. . It is situated. in the vestry of St. Ethelburga. Bishopsgate, and far f r 0 m ber* ing a relic of antiquity, |br%,mere curiosity, it is in regular'"'' tase, for on it the parish magazine is printed.'In view of' this combination of Church and Press* it.will not 'be out of place to remark that printing '■ in England really began in a place of warship ; to wit, the chapel tjl| Westminster Abbey. Here Caxtori set up his press and printed his first booi, the " Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers," published in 1474. Prom this fact sprang the use of the term "'chapel" to signify a gathering of printers. This designation is in vogue among members of the- craft at the present day.