NOTES ON ASHBURNE CHURCH. 105 
the walling, in order to procure a level surface, and every window 
in the nave and south aisle was either partially or entirely 
concealed by the wood-work of the gallery. (See Plate IX.) 
Now that the floor has been reduced to its original level, we 
can admire the peculiar grace of the nave arcade; and special 
attention should be called to the elegant shafts which are 
developed from the springing, and perhaps formed in ancient 
days brackets for images. 
The miserable western window has been removed, together with 
the gallery which necessitated its erection, and in its place we 
' have designed a window of five lights, partaking of the same 
character as those in the north wall; the battlements have been 
renewed, and across placed on the centre of the gable. Much 
damage had been done to this part of the Church by the erection 
of a vestry, in 1720. The font was then first moved from its 
normal position, and a brick flue cut through the wall. I should 
mention that under the original western windows a string course 
had once run from north to south; this had been cut away in 
order to admit of the gallery planking, but fortunately I dis- 
covered a small whitewashed fragment zz stu, and was thus 
enabled to reproduce the mold and ascertain its original 
position. 
The doorway itself has been faithfully reproduced by the aid 
of the fragments found hidden in the wall, or built in by the 
1840 “restorers.” Some idea of its grandeur may be given by 
the statement that it is 14 feet high by seven feet wide ; and the 
worshipper who enters by this doorway finds himself, in spite of 
the irregularity of the building, exactly opposite to the altar. 
From the top to the bottom of the western wall of the south 
aisle gaped a crack three or four inches in width ; the stone had 
split asunder, and the window arch had been thrust out by a 
rude entrance, evidently excavated for the purpose of interments. 
Moreover, I found that the internal wall-stone was quite black 
and rotten for several feet, and discovered, on inquiry, that this 
end of the Church had been used as a charnel-house prior to 
1840. The skulls and bones from the adjacent yard had been 
