The word rood is derived from the Saxon word rood or rode, meaning "cross". The rood screen is so called because it was … See more

Until the 6th century the altar of Christian churches would have been in full view of the congregation, separated only by a low altar rail around it. Large churches had a ciborium, or canopy on four columns, over the altar, fr… See more

The rood screen was a physical and symbolic barrier, separating the chancel, the domain of the clergy, from the nave where lay people gathered to worship. It was also a means of seeing; often it was solid only to wai… See more

At the Reformation, the Reformers sought to destroy abused images, i.e. those statues and paintings which they alleged to have been the focus of superstitious adoration. Thus not a single mediaeval Rood survives in Britain. T… See more

The earliest known example of a parochial rood screen in Britain, dating to the mid-13th century, is to be found at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire; and a notable early stone screen (14th century) is found at Ilkeston… See more

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• Williams, Michael Aufrère (2008). Medieval English Roodscreens with special reference to Devon. University of Exeter PhD thesis.
• Williams, Michael Aufrère, 'Medieval Devon Roodscreens from the Fourteenth Century to the Pres… See more