that part of the choir of a church between the altar or communion-table and the balustrade or rail that incloses it, or that part where the altar is placed. The word is derived from the post-classical Latin cancellus, from cancelli, lattices or cross-bars, with which the chancels were anciently encompassed, as they now are with rails. It corresponds with the bema of the ancient basilica, and is generally represented by the apsis in romanesque and early pointed architecture. In Britain the possession of a chancel in some shape or other is generally the distinction of a Romish or Episcopal from a Presbyterian church. In England, the right to the chief pew in the chancel is one of the privileges which belong to the rector or impropriator, but he is not entitled as of right to make a vault, or affix tablets in the chancel without leave of the ordinary.