AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



The north arcade of the nave is of six pointed arches 

 of two chamfered orders carried on octagonal piers 

 and responds with plain moulded capitals and bases, 

 the height to the top of the capitals being 6 ft. 2 in. 

 The north aisle, which is the full length of the nave 

 and continued beyond it some feet at the east end, 

 varies in width from II ft. 4 in. at the east to 

 12 ft. 3 in. at the west end. It has two square- 

 headed windows of two cinquefoiled lights on the 

 north side and a similar one at the west end, and a 

 built-up north doorway. 



The east end of the aisle was formerly the chantry 

 founded by the Singletons, and has a window on the 

 north side of two plain pointed lights. The chantry, 

 which is now known a* the Middleton Chapel, 17 * 

 is inclosed by a screen and has a recess with 

 segmental moulded arch in the north wall 3 ft. 

 high by 6 ft. in width. The east window is square- 

 headed of three rounded lights similar to those in 

 the south aisle. 



The south arcade of the nave consists of five pointed 

 arches of two chamfered orders on octagonal piers 

 and responds with moulded capitals and chamfered 

 bases, 6 ft. in height to the top of the capitals. At 

 the west end the arcade begins at a distance of 

 9 ft. 8 in. from the tower wall, 190 the south aisle not 

 extending the length of the nave at this end, and 

 the piers are thus not directly opposite those on the 

 north side. The windows of the aisle are all square- 

 headed and of two lights, except that at the east end, 

 which has three. The nave roof retains its four 

 original roughly wrought principals, and is boarded 

 between the spars ; but is otherwise, together with its 

 continuation over the aisles, almost entirely modern. 

 The porch, which is quite plain, measures internally 

 8 ft. by 10 ft. and has a slated roof and inner 

 pointed arch with double hollow-chamfered jambs 

 and head, and a wood seat on each side. The 

 outer arch is also pointed, with plain chamfered 

 jambs and head, and the gable above has been rebuilt. 



The west tower is 60 ft. in height with embattled 

 parapet and projecting vice in the south-east corner. 

 Externally the stages are unmarked, the north and 

 south sides being quite plain between the plinth and 

 the belfry windows. On the west side there are 

 diagonal angle buttresses of six stages reaching to the 

 middle of the belfry windows, and at the north-east 

 angle a square buttress of three stages. On the 

 second stage of each of the west buttresses is a plain or 

 obliterated shield, and on the west face of the tower, 

 about 12 ft. above the ground, a circular figure 

 1 8 in. in diameter commonly known as the 'spinning 

 wheel.' U1 The west door is round-headed with 

 hood mould and chamfered jambs, and above is a 

 pointed window of three lights with perpendicular 

 tracery and label. The belfry windows are also of 



KIRKHAM 



three lights and similar in detail, with slate louvres, 

 and there is a clock on the south and west sides towards 

 the village. The tower arch is of two chamfered 

 orders splayed off to one at a height of 8 ft. 6 in. 

 from the floor. 



The screen inclosing the Middleton Chapel has 

 turned balusters in the upper part and a door on the 

 west side. The top rail is carved and bears on the 

 south side the date 1622 and the initials of Alexander 

 Rigby, while on the west side are the initials of his 

 grandson Thomas Rigby and the date 1721. 

 Within the ' chapel ' are an oblong pew I o ft. by 

 4 ft. 6 in. of the same period as the screen which 

 forms part of it and an elaborately carved ridged 

 tombstone of late 1 5th-ccntury date, 6 ft. 2 in. long 

 and diminishing in width from 3 ft. to 2 ft., with two 

 parallel floreated crosses terminating in heraldic 

 shields. 181 The stone lies on the floor opposite the 

 recess, but does not belong to it. The initials A.R. 

 have been cut upon it at a later time. 



The lower part of the tower arch is filled in by 

 an oak screen 7 ft. high with turned balusters along 

 the top, and a door in the middle on which are 

 carved the initials R.C., I.L., i.i., j.w., and the 

 date l6j8, la and in the vestry is a loose panel with 

 the date 1708 and the initials I.T., R.W., I.P., 

 w.w. The old pulpit had the initials of the Rev. 

 Wm. Bushell and the date 1707, but this has given 

 place to a modern one of wrought iron. 



The font, which stands at the west end of the 

 south aisle, is a square block of stone 2 ft. 3 in. in 

 diameter and I ft. 5 in. high with a square bowl 

 standing on a modern pedestal, and may be of I 5th- 

 century date. The organ was formerly in the west 

 gallery, but the present instrument, which was built 

 in 1906, is at the east end of the south aisle. There 

 is a brass to the Rev. Wm. Bushell in the north aisle, 

 and a stone slab to Thomas Whittingham, who died 

 in I667. 184 



There is a ring of six bells, with inscriptions as 

 follows : Treble, ' God preserve the Church and 

 Queen Ann 1713'; (2) ' Prosperity to the Church 

 of England A.R. 1742'; (3) ' Abr. Rudhall cast us 

 all 1713'; (4) 'Christopher Swainson A.M. 

 minister, A.R. 1742'; (5) 'Presented by R. News- 

 ham esq. Mears and Stainbank 1883 ' ; tenor, ' I to 

 the Church the living call and to the grave do 

 summon all, 1753."" 



The silver plate consists of a chalice of 1 746 and 

 a paten ' Presented to Goosnargh Church in 

 memoriam Charles Osborne Gordon, vicar of the 

 parish, who died Aug. 19, 1892." There arc also a 

 plated chalice and flagon and a plated breadholder 

 inscribed ' Presented to the Parish Church of Goos- 

 nargh by Townley Rigby Knowles esq. in memory of 

 the late William Shawe esq. 1872.' 



ln In 163; the Rccordi of the Sworn 

 Men mention 'the Middleton Chapel con- 

 taining all the uppermost arch from the 

 eaitward wall of that aide into the middle 

 of the uppermntt pillar.' The pew in 

 the chapel wat repaired by Alexander 

 Rigby. The precile position of every 

 other pew and the name of the owner 

 liable for its repair are alto given. 



'* A window formerly in this length of 

 waU, between the vice of the tower and 

 the west wall of the aisle, is now built up. 



'"' The tradition is that an old lady, 

 by the proceeds of her industry at flax 



spinning, defrayed the expenses of building 

 the tower to the height thus indicated ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 24. 



'* The dexter shield has three cheve- 

 ronels, differenced by a mullet (Singleton), 

 but the sinister is indecipherable. The 

 stone it illustrated in Whitaker's Ric/i- 

 mondihire, ii, 438, and in Fishwick's 

 Gcoiiurgt, 2J. 



la Fishwick, op. cit. 25, says that this 

 was formerly the 'rood screen,' but it it 

 not likely that it wat ever across the chan- 

 cel. The upper part of the tower arch is 

 filled with modern glazed wood tracery. 



203 



184 All the monumental inscriptions, in 

 the floor and elsewhere, were retained in 

 the restoration of 1868-9, and are given 

 in Fishwick, op. cit. 1 1 3-18. Two belong 

 to the 1 7th and six to the 1 8th century ; 

 the rest are modern. 



IM In 1677 it was ordered that the 

 ringers should on Sunday ring one bell at 

 7 A.M., two at 8, and three at 9 ; alto 

 one bell at 12 noon, two at I r.M. and 

 three at 2 ; ibid. 76. In 1682 the clerk 

 wat ordered to look after the clock and to 

 ring the bell at 8 o'clock (daily) j Fish- 

 wick, op. cit. 77. 



