Inside All Saints again.
I include these pictures here as they show one of the nicest pulpits I have seen and definitely the worst Eagle Lectern I have ever come across; both within a few feet of each other. I mean, look at those legs! There is no way they could take the weight of a decent King James Bible.
Maybe there is a back story I am not aware of; a last carving by a dying man with terrible arthritis in his hands, perhaps. A person so well loved by his neighbours and community that they insisted on giving this lectern its pre-eminent position in the church. And when the small congregation assembles every second week, they look at this peculiar misshapen bird and think of the good deeds that its creater performed while he was alive.
Alternatively, the original brass lectern was stolen and rather than lock the church, a quick sacrificial eagle was created to fill the space. Something so hideous that it would never be taken and would also act as a reminder of the baseness of those who rob churches.
Of course, it might just be a simple modern piece of eccleisiastical furniture that no-one thinks about at all.
