A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



The church of ST. DUNSTAN con- 

 CHURCH sists of a chancel 36 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft. 

 6 in. with a modern organ chamber on 

 the north ; a nave 47 ft. 7 in. by 2 1 ft. 8 in. ; a north 

 transept 1 6 ft. 8 in. by 1 3 ft. 3 in. ; north and south 

 aisles respectively 9 ft. 10 in. and 10 ft. 2 in. wide ; a 

 south porch and a western tower 10 ft. by 10 ft. 8 in., 

 all measurements being internal. Owing to exten- 

 sive rebuilding in the late 1 4th and in the isth cen- 

 turies the early history of the church is somewhat 

 obscure, but the tower is of fairly early 14th-century 

 date, and at the time of its building the church con- 

 sisted of a nave of the same plan as the present one, 

 roofed with a high-pitched roof, the traces of which 

 are clearly visible on the east wall of the tower, and 

 presumably a chancel within the lines of the present 

 chancel. There is nothing to show whether the 

 nave had aisles at this time, but the north transept 

 evidently existed before the present north arcade was 

 built, and is possibly of 13th-century date. Towards 

 the end of the 1 4th century a period of rebuilding 



SCALE Of FEET 



PLAN OF ST. DUNSTAN'S CHURCH, MONKS RISBOROUGH 



and addition was entered on which lasted well into 

 the 1 5th century. The first work taken in hand was 

 the north aisle with its arcade, the eastern bay of 

 which is wider than the other three, in order to suit 

 the plan of the north transept. At the beginning of 

 the 1 5th century the south aisle was built, and a little 

 later on the chancel was rebuilt and the chancel arch 

 inserted. At the same time, or a little later, the south 

 porch was built, while the last work undertaken was 

 the clearstory and present nave roof. In modern 

 times the north organ chamber was added and a 

 certain amount of restoration carried out, including 

 the re-roofing of the chancel. 



The east window of the chancel is quite modern 

 and of three trefoiled lights with tracery of early I4th- 

 century detail. In the north and south walls of the 

 chancel are two 15th-century windows of three 

 cinquefoiled lights with tracery over, with four-centred 

 arches. Between the pair on the north is the modern 

 opening to the organ chamber, and between the south 

 windows is a small modern priest's door. The sill of 



the south-east window is carried down to serve as a 

 seat. The wide chancel arch is of two hollow-cham- 

 fered orders which are continuous, being stopped on 

 a large broach stop about 4 ft. above the floor. 



The north arcade of the nave is of four bays. The 

 arches are of two chamfered orders, the inner of 

 which is stopped with a cone-shaped stop, the outer 

 with a broach stop. The columns are octagonal with 

 moulded capitals and bases. There is no west re- 

 spond, but in its place a half-capital upon a corbel. 

 At the east end is the upper door to the rood-loft, 

 which was originally entered from the transept. The 

 south arcade, of the same number of bays as the north, 

 has arches identical with those on the north, but the 

 detail of the capitals and bases is somewhat later in 

 character. The east bay, as in the north arcade, is 

 wider than the rest ; perhaps in this case in order to 

 correspond to the north arcade. In both cases it 

 appears that the walls above the arcades were rebuilt. 

 The clearstory has four 15th-century windows a side, 

 each of three cinquefoiled lights under square heads, 



with deep hollow- 

 moulded external 

 reveals. 



The north tran- 

 sept has a very 

 good 1 5 th - cen- 

 tury east window 

 of three cinque- 

 foiled lights with 

 tracery under a 

 four-centred head. 

 In the north wall 

 is a similar win- 

 dow. To the 

 south of the east 

 window is an im- 

 age bracket of 

 15th-century date 

 with a carved head 

 corbel, and on the 

 north a mutilated 

 niche, also of 15th- 

 century date, wilh 

 shafted jambs, a 

 foliated projecting 

 bracket, and the 

 remains of a crocketed canopy. The arch to the 

 north aisle is of the same detail as the north arcade, 

 and rests on the south upon the first pier of the latter 

 and on the north on a corbelled half-capital. 



The north aisle has two windows to the north, the 

 first of three cinquefoiled lights, like the windows of 

 the transept but of later detail and date, and with a 

 straight-sided four-centred head. Following on this 

 is the north door of the same date as the aisle, with 

 an external label and continuously moulded jambs. 

 West of the door is a 15th-century window of three 

 cinquefoiled lights under a square head. The west 

 window of the same date, or slightly later, is small, 

 placed high in the wall and of two trefoiled lights 

 under a square head. 



The south aisle has a modern east window of three 

 cinquefoiled lights with uncusped spandrels, of early 

 1 4th-century detail. In the south wall are two two- 

 light windows. The first of these is of early 14th- 

 century detail, and having been apparently reset, is 

 probably one of the old nave windows moved out 



258 



