A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



now opening into the vestry, the western part 

 of the wall being open to the organ chamber. 

 There was originally a tall square-headed 

 opening of two lights with low transom in the 

 south-west corner, the bottom lights of which 

 formed a low-side window, and a priest's doorway 

 below the middle window, but neither of these 

 features was reproduced in the rebuilding." 

 No ancient ritual arrangements have been pre- 

 served and all the walls are plastered internally. 

 Some oak stall work of 15th-century date with 

 traceried panels remains ; but the chancel 

 screen is a modern one of poor design erected in 



and bases. The eastern responds are keel-shaped 

 and those at the west end half-octagonal. All 

 the arches are of two chamfered orders with 

 hood moulds towards the nave and spring from 

 a height 12 ft. above the floor level. On the 

 north side there is a transverse arch across the 

 aisle opposite the first octagonal pier, with a 

 buttress on the external wall, in line with the 

 west end of the 12th-century nave. The two 

 easternmost windows of the north aisle are old, 

 though the muUions and tracery have been 

 renewed ; they are of two cinquef oiled lights and 

 have segmental heads with hood moulds, and 



Church of St. Oswald : Exterior from the South 



1834. The chancel arch is pointed and of two 

 chamfered orders to the nave, springing from 

 half-round responds with carved capitals of late 

 transitional type. On the chancel side the outer 

 order is square and dies into the wall, and there 

 is a hood mould on the nave side only. 



The nave is of six bays, the arcades consisting 

 of three semicircular and three pointed arches 

 on each side, the round arch of the original fourth 

 bay having been taken down when the nave was 

 extended westward. The arcades are similar 

 in character on both sides, the round arches 

 springing from circular and the late pointed ones 

 from octagonal piers, all with moulded capitals 



'" They are shown in Surtees' view of the church 

 {Hist, of Dtir. iv, 74). 



double chamfered jambs. A square-headed 

 aumbry with rebated jambs remains at the east 

 end of the north aisle wall : the door has gone. 



The clearstory has five three-light windows on 

 each side with four-centred heads and external 

 hood moulds, separated by buttresses running up 

 to the full height of the embattled parapet. The 

 aisles have modern lean-to leaded roofs behind 

 straight parapets and the nave roof is a flat 

 pitched one of five bays corresponding with the 

 clearstory windows. The roof destroyed in 1834 

 appears to have been a handsome one of hammer- 

 beam type erected by William Catten, vicar in the 

 early years of the 1 5th century. It was described 

 by Surtees as a fine vaulted roof of wood, the 

 rafters springing from brackets ornamented with 

 angels bearing blank shields and joined with rose 



