Definition of "sacristan"

And hence the custom and law beganThat still at dawn the sacristan,Who duly pulls the heavy bell,Five and forty beads must tellBetween each stroke

1816, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “(please specify the page)”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […]

[…] every evening as the temple was closed for the night the sacristan paused: "Pindar to supper with the god!" he cried.

1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 3, page 32

The church was looked after by an old sacristan who lived in a cottage on the shore of the lake.

1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 10, in Friday's Business‎