Obits

Obits occupied the middle ground between short-term prayers and chantries. They were the forerunners of chantries, and originated in monasteries where commemoration was effected with a mass, a bequest to the house, and a dole to the poor. Otherwise known as twelvemonth days, year-days, yeremyndes or anniversaries, obits were usually celebrated on the anniversary of the testator's death. They might be celebrated for a few years at minimal cost or, for increased expenditure, could continue for years.

They were re-enactments of burial rites, the testator's cadaver suggested by a pall-draped hearse encircled by burning candles. The Office of the Dead was observed on the eve, the requiem mass celebrated on the day of the anniversary. Residue from the bequest was specifically assigned for the celebration; thus, in 1498, Walter Pers's tenement was left to the use of Southwold church on condition that 10s were taken from the profits to pay for his obit. Pers's instructions included two shillings to six priests; twelve pence to six clerks; fourpence to the ringers ‘as the custom is'; for making the hearse and to the poor, the residue of the 10s. The cost of the obit itself was little more than 3s 4d. Tapers and lights would be supplied from Pers's bequest (2d or 4d for tapers and 8d for a one-pound candle had been the price at Thorington in the 1460s). The hearse was part and parcel of parish equipment, as was the pall. Christian Caas left to St Nicholas's chapel, Sizewell, ‘… the best covering that [be]longeth to my bed for a hearse cloth or a bier cloth'. At Cratfield, the 1528 inventory included a black worsted hearse cloth. At Huntingfield, three hearse towels were listed. Obit expenses at 3s 4d were modest, although not as low as the shilling spent on anniversary celebrations in Seend chapel in Salisbury diocese; but Southwold, nevertheless, was 6s 8d in pocket, a generous addition for church coffers.