ng, and of great
value.

At the Reformation the stone altar was displaced by the communion table,
which at first occupied the position vacated by the altar. This gave
umbrage to the Puritan mind, and the communion table was then usually
placed in the centre of the chancel, with seats all round for the
communicants; which arrangement is still in vogue in some of our English
churches and in Jersey, although at the Restoration the communion table
was, as a general rule, replaced at the eastern wall of the Chancel.

[Illustration: _Durham Sanctuary Knocker._]

Long before the Christian era the altar was regarded as a place of
refuge for those fleeing from justice or oppression, and this custom or
privilege of sanctuary was sanctioned by the English bishops and was
retained for many centuries by the Christian Church. Many of our parish
churches claim to possess old sanctuary rings or knockers, but it is
doubtful if any of these were ever used by fugitives, for the reason
that although in early days every parish church had the right to grant
sanctuary, few possessed the means of feeding and housing a refugee,
save in the church itself, which was expressly forbidden. This is why
we find records of fugitives travelling many miles at the risk of their
lives and passing hundreds of parish churches in their endeavour to reach
Bury St. Edmunds, Hexham, Durham or some other of the well-recognised
sanctuaries. The only sanctuary knocker remaining to-day, which is
above suspicion, is that at Durham Cathedral. It is made of bronze and
represents the grotesque head of a dragon, the ring coming from the
mouth.

[Illustration: The Baptistery in Luton Church.
_Photograph Fredk. Thurston, F.R.P.S._]

Above the door is a small room in which attendants watched by
day and night, and when a fugitive was admitted a bell was rung to
announce that someone had taken sanctuary.

[Side note: The Font.]

The font, as we have seen, was originally placed in a separate building
called the baptistery. The only known example of anything of the kind
in England is that in S. Mary's Church, Luton, fully described in The
Homeland Handbook, No. 47. It is in the Decorated style, dates from the
time of Edward III., and is said to have been designed by William of
Wykeham for Queen Philippa. It is composed of white stone with open
panels, pierced by cinquefoils and quatrefoils, while the apex of each
panel terminates in a foliated finial. The font insi