Illustrated Dictionary of British Churches - Piscina Definition
History and Architecture
- Aisle
- Altar
- Ambulatory
- Angel Roof
- Apophyge
- Apse
- Arcade
- Arch
- Archivolt
- Base
- Battlement
- Bay
- Belfry
- Bell Tower
- Bellcote
- Bench End
- Board Bell Turret
- Body
- Boss
- Box pew
- Bracket
- Broach Spire
- Buttress
- Canopy
- Capital
- Cartouche
- Chancel
- Chancel Arch
- Chancel Screen
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- Chapter House
- Choir
- Clerestory
- Cloister
- Communion Rail
- Compound Column
- Consecration Cross
- Corbel Head
- Crossing
- Crypt
- Early English
- Easter Sepulchre
- Effigy
- Fan Vaulting
- Font
- Font cover
- Funerary Helm
- Gallery
- Gargoyle
- Gothic
- Green Man
- Grotesque
- Hatchment
- Herringbone
- Hogback Tomb
- Holy Water Stoup
- Hunky Punk
- Jesse Window
- Kempe Window
- Lady Chapel
- Lancet
- Lectern
- Lierne
- Lych Gate
- Misericord
- Monumental Brass
- Mullion
- Nave
- Ogee
- Organ
- Parclose Screen
- Parish Chest
- Pendant
- Perpendicular Gothic
- Pew
- Pinnacle
- Piscina
- Poor Box
- Poppy Head
- Porch
- Priest's Door
- Pulpit
- Purbeck Marble
- Quire
- Rebus
- Reliquary
- Reredos
- Retable
- Romanesque
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- Rood screen
- Rood Stair
- Rose Window
- Round Tower
- Sanctuary
- Sanctuary Knocker
- Saxon Period
- Scratch Dial
- Sedilia
- Spire
- Statue Niche
- Stoup
- Tomb Recess
- Tracery
- Transept
- Triforium
- Tympanum
- Undercroft
- Vaulting
- Victorian Gothic
- Wall Monument
- Wall Painting
- Wheel Window
Piscina
A stone basin used for washing holy vessels used during Mass or Communion services. Piscinas are usually set into a niche in the church wall near the altar (usually to the south side of the sanctuary or chancel). Infrequently, piscinas could be free-standing, on a column of stone. There is a drain hole at the bottom of the piscina to allow water to escape. Very infrequently you may see a pair of side by side piscinas in one niche. These so-called double piscinas are rare but not unheard of.
The term piscina is frequently, and erroneously, applied to a similar recess for holy water placed near the main door of the church. These are more correctly called a holy water stoup, and were used for washing hands by worshippers entering or leaving the church, whereas a true piscina is used for washing vessels used during services.
Related: Altar Chancel Sanctuary Holy Water Stoup Stoup
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St Mary's Chapel, Rothesay, Bute
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St Mary's Chapel, Rothesay, Bute
