A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



parapet with angle pinnacles. It is built of 

 coursed rough stones with quoins at the angles, 

 and has a projecting vice in the south-east 

 corner, sloping back below the belfry stage. 

 The west window is a pointed one of two 

 cinquefoiled lights cutting into the string 

 between the first and second stages, the sill 

 being lo ft. above the ground. On the north 

 and south sides the two lower stages are blank, 

 the third having a small square-headed opening. 

 The belfry windows are pointed openings of two 

 lights. The tower arch is a lofty one of two 

 hollow chamfered orders dying into the wall at 

 the springing, and is the full width of the tower. 

 The first floor is carried on a groined vault with 

 hollow chamfered ribs, at the intersection of 

 which is a blank shield. 



The font stands below the tower and consists 

 of a circular bowl of Frosterley marble on a 

 cylindrical shaft. It is lined with lead and may 

 be of late 12th-century date. The pulpit and 

 seating are of oak and date from the time of 

 the last restoration. 



In the floor of the nave is a blue stone slab to 

 Sir John Duck, bart. (d. 1691), with arms, helm, 

 crest and mantling ; and in the chancel floor is 

 an armorial slab in memory of Mary, widow of 

 Thomas Mascall (d. 1736). The chancel also 

 contains various 1 8th and early 19th century 

 mural monuments.^ 



There is a ring of three bells, two of which are 

 probably of 15th-century date. The third was 

 cast in 1624. The inscriptions are : (i) ' Vox 

 Agustini Sonet in Aure Dei'; (2) 'Sauncta Mer- 

 gareta Ora Pro Nobis ' ; (3) ' Jesus be our 

 Speed Anno Domini 1624.'*' 



The plate^ consists of a chalice and cover, 

 the former being inscribed ' Calix Benedicttionis 

 Sanctae Margaretae Dunelmensis Anno Domini 

 1675,' and the latter 'Anno Domini 1675'*'; 

 a paten of three feet made by Isaac Cookson, of 

 Newcastle, without date letter, but inscribed 

 ' 1753, Given to the Chapel of Saint Margaret in 



** The inscriptions are given in Surtees, op. cit. 

 iv, 128-30. 



*' The inscriptions on the two mediaeval bells are 

 in Gothic characters with Lombardic capitals. They 

 bear the same founder's stamp and initial cross, and 

 a shield with the Royal Arms (i and 4 France, 2 and 3 

 England). They maybe by John Danyell, of London, 

 c. 1450. The third bell is probably by Thomas 

 Bartlett, of Durham. Below the inscription are the 

 initials AT, IP, RG, IR, at intervals. Pro. Soc. Ant. 

 {Nezvc), new ser. iii, 195. 



*8 Ibid, iii, 431. 



*' The vestry book records (Easter Tuesday 1676) 

 that Mr. Samuel Martyn, minister, has presented 

 a silver chaUce with cover ' in lieu of the old chaUce 

 formerly used and the said Mr. Martyn hath desired 

 that two new patens for y* bread may be p'vided 

 by the Chappelry to be used therewith.' The chahce 

 has three hall marks, one illegible, but no date letter. 



Crossgate for ever'; and two chalices, two patens, 

 and a flagon of 1849, all inscribed ' Sanctae 

 Margaritae Capella Dunelmii MDCCCL.' 



The registers begin in 1558. The marriage 

 entries have been printed down to 181 2.'" 

 There is a complete set of vestry books in seven 

 volumes, beginning in 1665. 



The church stands high above the road, 

 which passes close to it on the north side, the 

 churchyard being chiefly to the south. The 

 churchyard was extended in 1820 by the purchase 

 of a large orchard in South Street,** and in 1845 

 the Dean and Chapter gave about two acres 

 attached to the church for a further enlarge- 

 ment.*^ 



The church of ST. 

 ADVOWSONS OSWALD, Elvet, with its 

 chapels,** was granted by 

 Bishop Hugh Pudsey, subject to the incum- 

 bent's life interest, to the Prior and Convent 

 on condition that they should maintain priests 

 at the mother church and at the chapels of 

 Witton and Croxdale. In 1359 Bishop Hat- 

 field ordered that the vicar of St. Oswald's 

 should have the manse by the churchyard 

 which he occupied, 16 marks of silver a year, 

 two wainloads of hay, various minor profits and 

 the offerings, baptismal and other, except from 

 the vills of Croxdale, Sunderland and Beautrove. 

 After the Dissolution the patronage was vested 

 in the Dean and Chapter of Durham. 



The earliest chantry in this church was that 

 of Our Lady, founded** and endowed by Ralph, 

 chaplain of St. Oswald, at the altar of the B.V. 

 Mary at the south of the church, probably in 

 the 13th century. The patronage of the chantry 

 after the founder's death was vested in the 

 Prior and Convent of Durham. There were 

 later augmentations** in 1360 and 1392. The 

 gross annual value** at the Dissolution was 

 £6 T,s. ^d., the net about ^^5 gs. 



The second chantry in this church was that 

 of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan- 

 gelist, founded by a member of the Elvet family 

 in 1404, as appears from a licence from Bishop 

 Skirlaw to Richard de Elvet, clerk, John de 

 Elvet, clerk, and Gilbert Elvet. The endowment 

 included the manor of Edderacres in Easington 



•0 Dur. and North. Par. Reg. Soc. vol. ix ; transcribed 

 by the Rev. H. Roberson, M.A. (1904). 



^^ Surtees, op. cit. iv, 128. The new burial ground 

 was consecrated 23 Sept. 1820. 



** Fordyce, op. cit. i, 383. Consecrated 7 Nov. 

 1845. 



** Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv, 81. 



^ Ibid. 80. 



** Ibid. ; Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 33, m. 9. 



** Injunctions and Eccl. Proc. Bp. Barnes (Surt. 

 Soc), App. vi, p. Ix. Cf. Harl. R. D 36. There is, 

 however, a somewhat different estimate of the value in 

 Surtees, op. cit. iv, 81. 



180 



