A hagioscope (from
Ancient Greekάγιος (ágios) 'holy', and σκοπεῖν (skopeîn) 'to see') or squint is an
architectural term denoting a small splayed opening or tunnel at seated eye-level, through an internal masonry dividing wall of a church in an oblique direction (south-east or north-east), giving worshippers a view of the
altar and therefore of the
elevation of the host.[1] Where worshippers were separated from the high altar not by a solid wall of masonry but by a transparent
parclose screen, a hagioscope was not required as a good view of the high altar was available to all within the sectioned-off area concerned. Where a squint was made in an external wall so that lepers and other non-desirables could see the service without coming into contact with the rest of the populace, they are termed leper windows or lychnoscopes.
Function
Where the congregation of a church is united in the nave there is no use for a hagioscope. However, when parts of the congregation separated themselves for purposes of social distinction, by use of walls or other screens from the chancel, or nave, and from the main congregation, such a need arose. In medieval architecture hagioscopes were often a low window in the
chancel wall and were frequently protected by either a wooden shutter or iron bars. Hagioscopes are found on one or both sides of the chancel arch; in some cases a series of openings has been cut in the walls in an oblique line to enable a person standing in the porch (as in
Bridgwater church,
Somerset) to see the
altar; in this case and in other instances such openings were sometimes provided for an attendant, who had to ring the
Sanctus bell when the Host was elevated.[1]
Though rarely encountered in continental Europe, they are occasionally found to serve such purposes as allowing a
monk in one of the
vestries to follow the service and to communicate with the bell-ringers.[1] Sometimes squints were placed to enable nuns or
anchorites to observe the services without having to give up their isolation. Anchorites could view the
Eucharist without being able to observe the congregation. The unusual design of the church of
St Helen's in
Bishopsgate, one of the largest surviving ancient churches of London, arose from its once having been two separate places of worship: a 13th-century parish church and the chapel of a
Benedictine convent. On the convent side of St Helen's Church, a "squint" allowed the nuns to observe the parish masses; church records show that the squint in this case was not enough to restrain the nuns, who were eventually admonished to "abstain from kissing secular persons", a practice to which it seems they had become "too prone".[2]
Surviving examples
Finland
There is only one hagioscope in Finland, at
Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle), in the town of
Savonlinna. Here, the squint has enabled some congregants to continue gathering at the dark, damp stone church tower through the dead of winter, despite forbidding temperatures and weather conditions.[3]
France
In France, the hagioscope of Notre-Dame in
Dives-sur-Mer,
Normandy, has the inscription trou aux lépreux (leper window). Other hagioscopes are known at St. Laurent in
Deauville, Normandy and at the old church of St. Maurice in
Freyming-Merlebach,
Lorraine.
Germany
In Germany, a number of hagioscopes still exist or were rediscovered in the 19th and 20th century. They are found mainly in
Lower Saxony which had a small population in the
Middle Ages and only a few bigger cities. In cities lepers lived together in housing estates which often had their own chapels. In
Georgsmarienhütte the hagioscope of church St. Johann belonged to the former
Benedictine convent Kloster Oesede, founded in the 12th century and reconstructed in the early 1980s. Nearby in
Bad Iburg a hagioscope was rediscovered at St. Clemens, church of former Benedictine monastery in the
castle and monastery complex Schloss Iburg. Other hagioscopes in Lower Saxony are found in
Bokelesch,
Westoverledingen,
Dornum,
Midlum,
Kirchwahlingen (Gemeinde Böhme) and
Hankensbüttel.
St Wilfrid's church,
Ribchester,
Lancashire has a squint on the north side permitting the high altar to be viewed from outside the church.* St Nicholas's Church,
Walcot, Lincolnshire
At
St Bees Priory a purpose-built squint was included in the wall of the 14th-century chapel to give a view of the high altar. The window was low enough to allow a person to kneel whilst looking through the aperture. The hagioscope at
St Mary the Virgin, Lytchett Matravers, is unusually large; although unknown in origin it provides a view to the communion table from the 16th-century north aisle. It is large enough that it is often used as a corridor for access to the chancel.[citation needed]
St Bees Priory, Cumbria: Squint window in the wall of chapel built 1270–1300. Window is infilled, but outline is shown, and cross hatch shows wall and floor abutments.
A partially blocked squint at
Grendon church, Northamptonshire