The altar or communion rail is part of the Victorian renovation work and separates the chancel from the sanctuary. During the civil war the use of the sanctuary and chancel was largely abandoned in favour of a communal table in the Nave. At the end of the civil war and the restoration of the rites of the Church of England, it became customary to fix the altar rail into place to prevent the altar being removed into the Nave.
Today, every time Holy Communion is celebrated, the congregation stand or kneel at the rail to receive consecrated bread and wine in memory of Jesus’ words to his disciplines at the Last Supper.
