their sills being brought lower. The west arch of the south arcade has
been forced out of shape by the pressure of the tower piers and
arches; certainly the piers, which are little more than 4 feet square,
seem slender enough for the support of so lofty a steeple.

Attached to this south-east tower pier is the stone pulpit, one of the
two special glories of the church, the other being the brass eagle.
The pulpit is either contemporary with the pier or nearly so. There is
apparently some difference in the texture and colour of the stone, but
as it is probable that a finer-grained stone would be chosen for work
of this character, this need not imply a difference of date. It was,
however, probably added at the same time as the nave clearstory. The
authors of "English Church Furniture" assign it to 1470.[7] Before
1833 (when restored by Rickman) it had been hidden from sight by
wood-work and a clerk's desk at a lower level. The lower part is
boldly corbelled out and the junction of the octagon with the pier
shafts is well managed, but the upper open-panelled part is rather too
definitely cut off from the lower by the battlemented cornice. Very
few examples of this class of pulpit exist in England, and none equal
in importance.

The eagle lectern is a magnificent example of brass casting. It is
generally attributed to the late fifteenth century. This eagle
narrowly escaped being sold by the Puritans for old brass, as happened
to that of St. Michael's. It closely resembles one belonging to St.
Nicholas' Chapel, Lynn, save that the latter is not equal in
refinement of detail and proportion, and the bird is less vigorous in
pose and modelling. In 1560 there was "paid for skowring ye Egle and
candell styckes, 10_d_.," and "for mending of ye Egle's tayle, 16_d_."