Easter Sepulchre

[1] The Easter Sepulchre is only found in England and Wales, the practice having been peculiar to the Sarum Rite.

Following the doctrine of the Real Presence, i.e. that Jesus is physically present within the Host, on Good Friday the Host was taken from the tabernacle where it had been placed following the Maundy Thursday celebration of the Last Supper and, wrapped in linen cloths, 'buried' in the Easter sepulchre which was found on the north wall of the sanctuary.

Cut into the wall, it was sometimes ornately carved but within it was a wooden frame on which was hung a cloth pall often embroidered with scenes from the Passion.

Candles were lit around the sepulchre, burial clothes adorned it, and parishioners stood guard until early Easter morning at the first Mass.

[2] Like Roods and their lofts, Easter Sepulchres were the object of iconoclastic fury by the Protestant Reformers, and few are left.

Easter Sepulchre for an unknown member of the Denys family , 16th century, in Holcombe Burnell Church, Devon. Renaissance classical elements are shown such as a classical pediment and Italianate putti , but the whole is contained within a late Gothic arch.
A simple unadorned example from St Mary's Church, Grendon, Northants
Easter Sepulchre, Holcombe Burnell Church, Devon. Detail of central sculpted relief showing Christ stepping out of the tomb, with sleeping guards