STOCKTON WARD 



HAkTLErOOL 



* neatly pewed with oak ' with a gallery at the west end. 

 In 1838 the tower buttre^scs, one of which had 

 fallen, were restored and the interior of the building 

 renovated. A further internal restoration took place 

 in 1 85 1-2, in which latter year the present south 

 porch was built.'''' In 1866-7 the nave was restored 

 again, the floor being lowered so as to show the 

 bases of the piers, a new roof was erected, and the 

 whole of the interior reseated. In 1869 the chancel 

 was rebuilt in its present form.*' Tlse tower was 

 restored in 1893. Subscriptions are now (1927) 

 being raised to restore the church to its ancient 

 gr.iiideur. Plans have been prepared by Mr. W. D. 

 CarOe, M.A., F.S..\., for carrying out the work at a 

 cost of j^3 3,000, towards which ^26,500 has been 

 raised, including j^ I 2,000 from Sir William Gray, 

 bart. The proposed wo.-k includes the extension of 

 the chancel to its original length, opening out of the 

 tower, rebuilding the south porch, restoration of 

 the G.ililee Chapel, repairs to the nave and new 

 heating appar,)tus. 



The church throughout is built of stone and the 

 roofs are covered with modern green slates. The new 

 chancel consists of three bays with aisles. Externally 

 the chancel stands 1 2 ft. in front of the east 

 walls of the aisles with windows north and 

 south, and all the modern work follows the design of 

 the older parts. The east end is lighted by two 

 triplets of tall lancets, one above the other, with a 

 smaller single light in the gable, as at Darlington ; 

 but here it is, of course, a purely modern arrangement, 

 no evidence existing of the original eastern termination 

 of the destroyed quire. Externally the whole of the 

 quire, with the exception of the aisle walls in the 

 western bay, is modern, the outside iaces of the western 

 clearstory windows having been rebuilt, but internally 

 the responds, arches and piers of the original western 

 bay remain, forming the only evidence of the original 

 plan of the ch.incel. It may have consisted of five 

 equal bays with aisles its full length, or of two com- 

 pound bays and a sacrarium projecting beyond as at 

 Tynemouth Priory. The existing evidence, how- 

 ever, is insufficient to make a definite conclusion 

 possible. The remaining western arches of the 

 arcade exhibit certain peculiarities which have given 

 rise to some conjecture as to the design and arrange- 

 ment of the destroyed portion. The capitals of the 

 western responds, which are attached to the chancel 

 arch piers, are considerably higher than those of the 

 nave arcade, but the capitals of the piers range with 

 those in the nave, the result being that the arch 

 springs from different levels and is consequently dis- 

 torted. The probable deduction is that this is the 

 remains of an original scheme for a central tower, 

 abandoned during the course of building. 



The piers consist of eight clustered shafts, alter- 

 nately round and keel-shaped, with moulded capitals 

 and bases, and the arches are of three moulded 

 orders. The west responds are similar in character 

 to the piers, and the modern eastern arches c.irry out 

 the same design. The clears:ory, though similar in 

 character to that of the nave, was of slightly smaller 

 dimensions ; the windows, judging from the two 



remaining in the west bay (which internally are 

 entirely original), were not placed immediately above 

 the centres of the arches, the east jamb, instead of 

 the centre line, coming immediately above the centre 

 of the arch, the window thus lying to the west.^' 

 The wall arcading is composed of richly moulded 

 triplets, both internally and externally, those outside 

 having rich floreated capitals to the shafts. Inside, 

 the mouldings and shafts are doubled between the 

 window openings, the outer shafts being carried on 

 projecting corbels, the whole producing, even in its 

 present fragmentary condition, an effect of great 

 beauty. The walls were 34 ft. in height, and the 

 arches of the clearstory arcade were acutely pointed, 

 and the clearstory windows themselves were about 

 6ft. 3 in. in height by 2 ft. wide. Internally, 'in 

 order to gain sufficient depth for the outer order of 

 the arcades the usual . . . method of construction was 

 reversed, the thicker part of the walling being placed 

 ... at the top. That is to say that although the inner 

 mouldings of the clearstory arcades and their shafts 

 are set back, the whole of the outer mouldings together 

 with the shafts that carry them, their hood moulds and 

 superincumbent masonry are set forward and com- 

 pletely overhang the pier arches and wall surfaces 

 below. '^^ The chancel arch is of three moulded 

 orders springing from groups of five clustered shafts 

 and rising to almost the full height of the clear- 

 stories. The shafts have richly carved capitals with 

 transitional volutes and square abaci. The arch, 

 which springs at a height of 20 ft. above the nave 

 floor and has a clear width of I 5 ft. 6 in., has a hood 

 mould on each side, and the orders consist of roll and 

 fillet and hollow mouldings set square, equally rich 

 on both sides. On the east side there is an additional 

 shaft carried up to the height of the west respond of 

 the chancel, with a smaller shaft above rising from the 

 capital. Towards the nave the middle shaft has a 

 corbel or lower capital similar in design to the 

 others, about 3 ft. below the main capital, the use of 

 which was prob.ibly to carry the ends of a rood-beam. 

 The whole of the eastern end of the old chancel 

 having perished, no ancient ritualarrangements remain. 

 The floor is tiled and raised two steps above that of 

 the nave, and there are three steps to the sanctuary. 

 The oak chancel screen was erected in 1 894, in 

 memory of Francis Green Morris (d. 1893). The 

 western bay of the north aisle is cccupied by the 

 organ. The 18th-century fillings of the arches 

 between the nave and quire aisles were removed 

 when the new chancel was erected. 



The nave internally consists of six bays with north 

 and south aisles, the tot.al width of the church at the 

 west end being 44 ft.'-' Like the quire, the nave is faced 

 internally with wrought stone, hut, though retaining 

 its beauty of detail, has suffisred in appearance at the 

 west end by the filling in of the tower arch and the 

 arches on either side. The arcades differ in det.iil in 

 many respects, and the dimensions of the bays vary, 

 but the general effect is one of complete unity and 

 harmony. The two arcades, though corresponding 

 exactly in their dimensions, are not identical either in 

 planning or decoration, the piers and the arch mould- 



^*' It was the gift of Elizabeth Vollum 

 in memory of William Vollum her hus- 

 band and William John Vollum her 

 ion. 



" The architect was Mr. J. B. Pritchett 

 of Darlington. 



'■** The modem windows in the new- 

 second bay are, however, set directly 



281 



over the arch like those in the 

 nave. *' Arch. Atl. xvii, 222. 



"' The north aisle is 9 ft. and the south 

 8 ft. 6 in. wide. 



36 



