A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



arch is a lofty flat four-centred one, the full 

 width of the chancel, dying into the walls at 

 the springing, and the screen is of dark oak with 

 three divisions on each side of the middle 

 opening. The design is of mixed Renaissance 

 and Gothic character, with cornice and long 

 top panels and tracery in the heads of the 

 openings. On the south side of the screen 

 within the chancel are three stalls with carved 

 standards of Renaissance type, and on the north 

 side a pew. The altar rails consist of turned 

 oak balusters and the wainscoting is of a rather 

 plain classic type. The upper part of the walls 

 is plastered. The general effect of the chancel 

 with its lofty roof, tall Gothic windows, and dark 

 oak fittings is one of much dignity. 



The nave is 56 ft. long by 27 ft. wide and of 

 the same height as the chancel. It is divided 

 externally by buttresses into three unequal bays 

 and has three windows on each side of three and 

 two lights, similar in character to those in the 

 chancel. The walls are panelled to the height 

 of the window siUs with 18th-century oak 

 wainscot, and the gallery, which is 16 ft. in 

 depth, has a good panelled oak front. It 

 is approached by a staircase on the north side 

 of the tower. The nave roof is a flat boarded 

 one of six bays, and the walls are plastered 

 above the panelling. There are diagonal but- 

 tresses at the angles of both chancel and nave. 



The tower measures externally 14 ft. by 

 13 ft. 6 in. above the roof, but is wider at the 

 bottom where it forms a west porch, the outer 

 wall on this side being 5 ft. thick. The west 

 doorway is round-headed and above, in the 

 second stage, is a round-headed classic window 

 enclosed within a pointed hood mould, pos- 

 sibly part of the older building. The em- 

 battled parapet of the west wall is carried 

 along the face of the tower at the second stage, 

 from which the belfry rises above the roof. 

 The belfry windows are modern openings of two 

 lights with tracery in the heads, and the walls 

 terminate in an embattled parapet. On the 

 south side is a vice to the roof of the nave at 

 the south-west corner. The tower arch is a lofty 

 segmental one of two chamfered orders 16 ft. 6 in. 

 in width, the belfry stage contracting above. 



The font dates from 1875, but has an old 

 cover probably of early 18th-century date. An 

 organ was purchased in 1789 from the executors 

 of the rector of Houghton-le-Spring^^ and for- 

 merly stood in the west gallery. 



The tower contains one bell cast by G. Dalton, 

 of York, in 1 759." 



The plate consists of a chalice of 1 570-1 with 



^^ Surtees, op. cit. iv, 40. 



1^ Ptoc. Soc. Jntiq. Nfivcastle, iv, 1 25. It is inscribed 

 ' lames Bullock, Thomas Hanby Churchwardens 

 1759.' Temp. Edw. VI there were three bells in 

 the steeple. 



an interlacing band of leaf ornament ; two plates 

 of 1688 with the maker's mark FG above a 

 mullet, probably for Francis Garthorne, both 

 inscribed ' Ecclesiae Ball' Boreal' Dunelm 

 E : K : dedit A° 1689'"; a flagon of 1696, 

 with the arms of Spearman, inscribed ' Deo et 

 Ecclesiae Stse Marise 1' Bow in BaDivo Boreali 

 Dunelm. Submissa oblata Ao. Dom. 1703. Ex 

 dono Johannis Spearman generosi Parochiani 

 ejusdem Parochiae ' ; another flagon of the same 

 date, and a covered cup made at Newcastle in 

 1748, both inscribed ' The Gift of Eliz. daughter 

 of Wm. Aubone Esq"', and Relict of Wm. 

 Featherstonhalgh Esq'', to her grandchild Mary 

 Wilkinson & given to Bow Church by Mary 

 Wilkinson her Mother Anno Dom. 1734,' ^^^ 

 bearing the arms of Featherstonhalgh.** 



The registers begin in 1571. 



There is a small burial ground on the north 

 side of the church, but the original churchyard 

 no doubt extended to the south and west.'' 



The church of ST. MART THE LESS stands 

 in a retired situation on the west side of the 

 South Bailey, and consists of chancel and nave 

 under separate roofs, with a bell turret containing 

 two bells over the west gable. The chancel 

 measures internally 26 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 6 in., 

 and the nave 35 ft. by 20 ft. 6 in., the total 

 internal length being 64 ft. 6 in. The church is 

 of 12th-century date, but was almost entirely 

 rebuilt in 1846-7 in the ' Norman ' style, very 

 few of its ancient architectural features being 

 preserved, though it follows more or less the 

 old design. The only original window which 

 has been preserved is a small round-headed 

 opening at the west end of the south wall of 

 the chancel, now in the position of a low side 

 window, but it was formerly at the west end 

 of the nave. The modern windows, including 

 that at the east end, are all large round-headed 

 openings of ' Norman ' type. The waUing is 

 of rubble with quoins and ashlar dressings, and 

 the roofs are covered with slates overhanging 

 at the eaves. The south doorway is slightly 

 advanced in front of the main wall, its gable 

 giving it the appearance of a shallow porch. 

 The whole of the work on the north side of the 

 building, being little seen, is of a very plain 

 description, the jambs and heads of the windows 

 being of brick, and there is a small brick vestry 

 on the north side of the chancel. The building 

 had lost many of its original features some years 

 prior to the rebuilding, Sir Stephen Glynne, who 

 visited it in 1825, stating that it had been ' lately 



" On one of the plates ' dedit ' is spelt ' didit.' 

 E. K. was Edward Kirkby : Surtees, op. cit. iv, 42. 



1* Proc. Soc. Antiq. Newcastle, iv, 125. 



1' Traces of interment have been frequently found 

 under the pavement of the Bailey and even in digging 

 the cellars of the houses at the east end of Dun Cow 

 Lane : Surtees, op. cit. iv, 38. 



138 



