PETERBOROUGH SOKE 



CASTOR 



about 1270 the east and south walls of the south 

 transept were taken down, and assuming that the 

 original south transept was of the same depth as the 

 north, i.e. 13 ft., it was built of exactly twice that 

 depth, with the addition of an aisle 9 ft. wide on the 

 east side. It will also be noted that the width of the 

 old south transept regulated that of the 13th-century 

 south aisle. The north aisle was added to the nave 

 about 1330, and an arch cut through the west wall 

 of the north transept. This was partly filled by a 

 stone screen, and a stone vice built inside the north- 

 west angle of the transept. Towards the end of the 

 century a stone vault was added to the ground stage 

 of the tower, which was at the same time heightened 

 by an octagonal stone spire with an open parapet at 

 its base. 



The site falls considerably from north to south, and 

 also from east to west, and there is an ascent of four 

 steps from the tower to the chancel. The east gable 

 of the chancel was originally of steeper pitch than 



the middle point, and two lancets, like those in the 

 north wall, are set close together west of the doorway. 

 One of them was destroyed when the east aisle of the 

 south transept was built, and only part of its rear arch 

 is now to be seen. Towards the cast end of the 

 south wall is a i jth-century window of three trefoiled 

 lights, with mullions intersecting in the head, forming 

 quatrefoils. Below the window is a fine double 

 piscina, with moulded pointed arches, and marble 

 shafts in the jambs. The labels and jambs are orna- 

 mented with dogtooth, and the capitals and bases 

 well moulded. The sedilia take the form of a recess 

 in the wall under two semi-circular moulded arches 

 springing from a central corbel. East of the piscina 

 is a recess covered with a low arch, and partly blocked 

 at the west, now containing part of a 14th-century 

 grave-slab, and there is a similar recess in the same 

 position in the north wall. Between the first and 

 second lancets in this wall is a 14th-century recess, 

 with a cinquefoiled ogee head, of great interest from 



Castor Church 



10 3 o 



now, and contained three tall lancets ; the outer 

 jambs of the northern and southern lancets remain as 

 part of the jambs of a wide five-light window of the 

 second half of the fourteenth century, which has a 

 low four-centred head, wide trefoiled lights, with two 

 rows of transoms, and trefoiled tracery in the head. 

 It is of poor design and out of scale with the chancel, 

 and the loss of its original glass tends to emphasize its 

 weak points. In the north wall of the chancel are 

 three tall lancets, 14 in. wide, with wide internal 

 splays and moulded rear arches with a low segmental 

 curve. The wall has been set out with a buttress in 

 the middle of its length, and the middle lancet is 

 moved westward far enough to avoid it. On the 

 south side the position of the doorway seems to have 

 ruled the rest, as the buttress is considerably cast of 



having, in addition to a drain in its sill, a small flue 

 in its head, as if to carry off the smoke of a l.imp. 

 The south doorway of the chancel is semi-circular, of 

 two moulded orders with detached shafts in the 

 jambs, and above it is a trefoiled recess, with a head 

 formed by an inscribed stone which records the dedi- 

 cation on 17 April, I I 24.' A moulded string runs 

 round the chancel inside and out below the window- 

 sills.' 



The central tower stands on four moulded semi- 

 circular arches of two orders, with half-round responds 

 and shafts in the jambs.' The vault inserted in this 

 stage has di.agonal and ridge ribs, and a central bell- 

 way, and springs from quarter-round shafts in the 

 internal angles. The second st.ige of the tower is 

 pl.iin, except for round-headed openings which 



1 For the inscription see p. 196 of this 

 volume. 



■^ In the western half of the north 

 wall of the chancel, above the string on 



the outside, a row of shafts, 6 in. in 

 diameter, together with some stones of 

 half-round section, 9 in. wide, are to be 

 seen built in. They arc, no doubt, 



479 



materials from the destroyed iztb-ceotury 

 chancel. 



^ The finely carved capitals are described 

 at p. 197 by Mr. J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A. 



