Church Linen, Vestments and Textiles: A practical guide to their use and care

By Margery Roberts 

It has been over 60 years since the last guide to the care of church linens and textiles was published and despite being used in every parish church, popular knowledge of their proper use and care is diminishing. This new guide offers help with the care of church linen and also to the use and care of vestments, hangings and other textiles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Canterbury Press
• Release date: Mar 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781848257429

Book preview

Copyright in this volume © The Society of the Faith, 2015

First published in 2015 by the Canterbury Press Norwich

Editorial office

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108–114 Golden Lane,

London EC1Y 0TG

Canterbury Press is an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd

(a registered charity)

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Norfolk NR6 5DR, UK

www.canterburypress.co.uk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Canterbury Press.

The Author has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

978 1 84825 740 5

Typeset by Regent Typesetting

Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon

Contents

The Society of the Faith

Foreword by the Bishop of Southwark

Introduction

Part One: Cloths and Covers

Introduction to Cloths and Covers

Purificator

Chalice pall

Corporal

Lavabo towel

Burse

Veil

Altar frontal, frontlet and frontlet cloth

Altar pall, also known as Laudian frontal

Altar cloth and dust cover

Credence table cloth

Pulpit fall and lectern fall

Part Two: Vestments and Garments

Introduction to Vestments and Garments

Cassock and cincture

Cassock-alb

Alb, girdle and amice

Surplice and cotta

Chasuble, stole and maniple

Dalmatic and tunicle

Cope

Scarf, academic hood and gown

Rochet and chimere

Bands, choir ruffs and collars

Mortarboard, Canterbury cap, biretta and mitre

Part Three: Cleaning Church Textiles

Introduction to Cleaning Church Textiles

Checklist of fabrics

Natural fibres

Synthetic fibres

Mixtures

Specialized fabrics

What to wash and what not to wash

What to wash

What not to wash

Laundering, dry-cleaning and stain removal

Laundering

Dry-cleaning

Stain removal

Some common stains and how to tackle them

Wine

Lipstick

Wax

Soot

Flower pollen

Spills on a carpet

Starching and ironing

Starching

Ironing

Part Four: Storage, Disposal and Acquisition

Introduction to Storage, Disposal and Acquisition

Storage

Keeping records and making labels

The best conditions for storage

Methods of storage

Hanging storage

Disposal and acquisition

Disposal

Acquisition

Appendix: The Liturgical Colours

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The Society of the Faith

The Society of the Faith is a small charity founded in 1905 by two high-churchmen, the Reverend Canon J. A. Douglas, Vicar of St Luke’s Camberwell, and his brother, the Reverend C. E. Douglas.

The Douglas brothers were committed to the catholic tradition within the Church of England. The Society they founded was to be ‘an Association of Christians in communion with the See of Canterbury for mutual assistance in the work of Christ’s Church and for the furtherance of such charitable undertakings as may from time to time be decided upon, more especially for the popularisation of the Catholic faith.’

The Society’s first work was the printing of Sunday School stamps, which proved immensely popular. This success inspired the foundation of Faith Press, publishing books both scholarly and popular, as well as church music.

In 1916 the Society also founded Faith Craft to produce high-quality vestments and church furnishings. Their biggest single commission was the complete refurbishment of St Mary-le-Bow in London after the Second World War.

The Douglas brothers lived on into the 1950s. Times (and tastes) were beginning to change, and this eventually led to the closure of both Faith Press and Faith Craft in 1973. However, The Society of the Faith remains committed to its original objectives: seeking to promote good standards in publishing and church furnishing, and in theological education.

Recent co-publications in association with the Canterbury Press include Michael Yelton’s Anglican Papalism (2005), Paula Gooder’s The Meaning is in the Waiting (2008), and John Gunstone’s Lift High the Cross: Anglo-Catholics and the Congress Movement (2010). In 2013, in association with Church House Publishing, the Society brought out Canon Robert Reiss’s book The Testing of Vocation: 100 years of ministry selection in the Church of England.

Since 1935 the Society has held the lease of Faith House, 7 Tufton Street, Westminster. Faith House is currently home to the church furnishers Watts & Company, the National Churches Trust, Sion College and Open Europe.

Foreword

by the Bishop of Southwark

The care of church linen and vestments is an important service, yet one that is often unnoticed, save by the priest and those serving at the altar of God. On the riverside of Southwark Cathedral stands the Livery Hall that is the home of the Worshipful Company of Launderers. By the standards of the City of London, it is a rather new Company, but the Launderers flourish under a motto that is far older: ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’. It is a phrase that resonates with a powerful familiarity and asserts a timeless truth on which many generations have been raised.

If indeed cleanliness is next to