churchwarden
(ˈtʃɜːtʃˌwɔːd(ə)n)
[f. church n. + warden n.1]
1. In England: A lay honorary officer of a parish or district church, elected to assist the incumbent in the discharge of his administrative duties, to manage such various parochial offices as by custom or legislation devolve upon him, and generally to act as the lay representative of the parish in matters of church-organization.
As a rule there are two churchwardens, elected annually at the Easter vestry, one by the incumbent, the other by the parishioners. As kirk-masters, church-masters they are mentioned in 1429, as church-reeves in 1386; the OE. ciric-weard was not a layman.
| 1494 Fabyan Will Pref. 8, I will that the said xiijd. be distributed..after the discrecon of the churche wardeyns of the said parisshe. 1514 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 145 To the seid Curate and Kirke-wardeyns. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, The Curate and the Churchwardens. Ibid., Then shal the Churche wardens..gather the deuocion of the people. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 101 Honest substantiall men (called churchwardens or the like) chosen by the consent of the whole congregation. 1610 Churchw. Acc. St. Margarets, Westm. (Nichols 1797) 29 For Salt to destroy the fleas in Churchwarden's pew..6d. 1628 Earle Microcosm. Ch. Papist (Arb.) 31 Once a moneth he presents himselfe at the Church, to keepe off the Church-warden. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 158 ¶4 The Church-warden should hold up his Wand. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. xi. 395 A church⁓warden may justify the pulling off a man's hat, without being guilty of either an assault or trespass. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 107 The lists of county voters, the overseers and churchwardens of every parish are charged with the duty of preparing. |
| attrib. [cf. ] 1886 R. N. Worth Devonsh. 293 The Saxon font..preserved through the churchwarden period by being partially buried, reversed, in the floor. |
| fig. a 1876 G. Dawson Improvers of Shaks. (1888) 46 So have Shakespeare's works suffered from the churchwardens of literature. |
b. attrib. churchwarden Gothic, the sham Gothic affected in church building or restoration in the early nineteenth century. So
churchwarden window, etc.
| 1840 Manning in Purcell Life (1896) I. 177 To survey and codify the laws of Churchwarden Gothic, beginning from the hat⁓pegs and wooden mullions at Bexhill. 1894 Murray's Handbk. Oxfordsh. 138 Aston Rowant... The windows throughout the church were despoiled of their tracery, and churchwarden windows inserted. 1912 Cranage Churches Shropsh. II. 895 The style is a peculiarly hideous variety of ‘churchwarden Gothic’, the original windows..having cast-iron tracery. |
2. In Scotland, sometimes applied to the (salaried) church-officer or beadle.
3. colloq. A clay pipe with a very long stem.
| 1863 J. C. Jeaffreson Live it Down II. 184 (Hoppe) Having first induced Mr. B. to take a churchwarden, and smoke also. 1883 Harper's Mag. July 174/1 The ‘church-warden’..is a small clay pipe with a stem from sixteen to twenty inches long. |
Hence
churchwardened ppl. a.,
nonce-wd., placed under a church-warden.
churchwardenism, the rule of churchwardens, used contemptuously in reference to the damage done to the architecture, art, etc., of many churches under the direction of illiterate churchwardens.
churchwardenize v. trans., to treat (a church) in ‘churchwarden’ style.
| 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 43 A new painted, and church⁓warden'd fane. 1865 Cornh. Mag. June 737 The genius of churchwardenism ruled in the vestries, and presided over the destruction or defacement of much. 1880 Puckle Ch. & Fortress of Dover Castle i. 1 Remnants of Mediæval Churchwardenisms..often as bad as any of the Nineteenth Century. 1881 Jrnl. R. Archæol. Inst. 353 The doctrine of ‘conservative restoration’..has been more destructive than the axe of the Puritan, or the century and a half of churchwardenism which came after it. 1831 Fraser's Mag. IV. 284 To think of churchwardenising the Alhambra. 1863 Sat. Rev. XV. 669/1 Buildings..although much churchwardenized, still possessing great architectural interest. 1894 Murray's Handbk. Oxfordsh. 172 Tadmarton..with a small Dec. church terribly churchwardenized. 1902 Murray's Handbk. Berksh. 120 The chancel windows have been..churchwardenised. |