SEDILIA (the plural of

See also:

• LAT

Lat. sedile, seat)  , in ecclesiastical architecture, the term given to the seats on the south side of the chancel near the altar for the use of the officiating priests . They are generally three in number, for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon . The custom of recessing them in the thickness of the wall began about the end of the 12th century; some early examples consist only of stone benches, and there is one instance of a single seat or arm-chair in stone at Lenham in Kent, thought by some to be a confessional . The niches or recesses in which they are sunk are often richly decorated with canopies and subdivided with moulded shafts, pinnacles and tabernacle work; the seats are sometimes at different levels, the eastern being always the highest, and sometimes an additional niche is provided in which the piscina is placed .