Easter Sepulchre

Easter Sepulchre, in church architecture an arched recess, generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and sacred elements in commemoration of Christ's entombment and resurrection. It was generally only a wooden erection, which was placed in a recess or on a tomb. There are throughout England many fine examples in stone, some of which belong to the Decorated period, such as at Navenby and Heckington (1370) in Lincolnshire, Sibthorpe and Hawton (1370) in Nottinghamshire, Patrington in Yorkshire, Bampton in Oxfordshire, Holcombe Burnell in Devonshire, and Long Itchington and other churches in Warwickshire.