Roods

A rood is a crucifix or image of Christ used in Christian church interiors, typically positioned on or above a rood screen that separates the nave from the chancel. The term comes from the Old English rood, meaning cross. In medieval worship the rood served as a focal point for devotion and processions.

In church architecture, the rood screen is a carved or painted partition that allows passage between the nave and the chancel while marking a visual boundary. Above the screen, the rood beam or lintel often carried the actual cross, sometimes accompanied by statues or figures of saints. In some churches a loft or gallery—the rood loft—was built atop the screen to provide space for readers or singers during services. The combination of screen, beam, and cross defined a distinctive liturgical and aesthetic feature of many medieval churches.

Across Europe, especially in England and parts of the continent, roods and rood screens diminished in visibility after the Reformation, when their religious imagery was often removed or destroyed. In later centuries some roods were restored or preserved as important records of medieval craftsmanship and religious practice. Today surviving roods remain notable artifacts in the study of ecclesiastical art and architectural history.

Rood also refers to a unit of land measurement. One rood is commonly defined as a quarter of an acre (that is, about 40 square rods), so four roods equal one acre. This usage is unrelated to the ecclesiastical cross but shares the same Old English root.