Primate’s Screen

The Primate’s Screen is one of the perforated partitions that define the chancel inside the Mynster. It is associated with the Primate and marks that office’s place within the hall.

First Appearance and Context

During a solemn aut of Voco, the congregation gathered in the Mynster behind various screens; a door through the Centenarians’ screen was opened to admit the named avout. In the same period, the Warden Regulant instructed a penitent that, if Voco rang again, he was to attend and view it from behind the Primate’s Screen rather than mingling with the nave crowds.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Serves as the Primate’s dedicated screen within the chancel, anchoring the office’s position during rites.
• Acts as a designated vantage for observers under penance when attendance at Voco is required, per guidance from the Warden Regulant.

Relationships

• Office: Identified with the Primate and the seat associated with that office inside the Mynster’s chancel.
• Architectural peers: One of several named or implied chancel screens (e.g., the Centenarians’ screen) that manage sightlines among groups gathered in different naves.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Part of the Mynster’s octagonal chancel enclosure of perforated screens—dark on the nave sides and bright within—so that each group sees “its” chancel.
• No distinctive physical ornamentation has been described beyond its association with the Primate’s place and function during rites.

Current Status/Location

Standing and in use within the Mynster’s chancel. When Voco is called, it may serve as the viewing point for those directed to attend without joining the general body of avout in the naves.