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By the mid 19th century, sounding boards — designed to amplify the preacher's oratory — were seen as ugly, out-dated, and even dangerous.
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At Penarth, 1865, Rev. D. Morgan described the 'grotesque pulpit' & 'even more absurd sounding board over the head of the preacher, suspended like a large extinguisher and awakening in the minds of the congregation the fear that it will fall upon the expounder of Gospel truths.'
The fears might have been well-founded; a report from America in 1855 described the moment when an 'old-fashioned sounding board of huge dimensions' whizzed down, causing the minister to duck his head under the pulpit just in time to avoid being 'extinguished'!
