Ante-choir, the term given to the space enclosed in a
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
between the outer gate or railing of the
rood screen and the door of the screen; sometimes there is only one rail, gate or door, but in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
it is equal in depth to one bay of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
. The ante-choir is also called the "fore choir".
See also
*
Retroquire
In church architecture, a retroquire (also spelled retrochoir), or back-choir, is the space behind the high altar in a church or cathedral, which sometimes separates it from the end chapel. It may contain seats for the church choir.
An example of ...
, the space behind the high altar.
References
Architectural elements
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