SALFORD HUNDRED 



RADCLIFFE 



was enlarged, and a new chapel was added on the 

 south of the chancel; in 1903 the north vestry was 

 enlarged, the plaster stripped from the walls, and the 

 interior refaced with Runcorn stone, the floor, which 

 had been raised 19 in. in 1846, reduced to its original 

 level, and the arches between the transepts and vestry 

 and chapel reconstructed. Since then the outside 

 wall of the south transept has been refaced in red 

 sandstone and the tracery renewed. The exterior of 

 the church is built of sandstone, with slated gabled 

 roofs to all parts except the nave, the roof of which is 

 of flat pitch and covered with lead. The clearstory, 

 south aisle, and chapel are finished with square para- 

 pets, the north aisle, transept, and vestry having over- 

 hanging eaves. 



The oldest details of the building are the piers 

 supporting the chancel arch, which are of 13th-cen- 

 tury date, but it is possible that the four angles of the 

 nave may belong to an older church dating from the 

 1 2th century. The south wall of the south transept 

 belongs to the 1 4th century, while the tower arch and 

 west wall of the nave are probably a century later ; 

 the nave arcade is of 16th-century date, and the 

 tower was rebuilt in 1665. 



The original church may 

 have been a rectangular 12th- 

 century building covering the 

 area of the present nave, with 

 a small square-ended chancel. 

 In the 1 3th century a new 

 chancel, of which the western 

 arch still remains, was built 

 round the former one, and in 

 the 1 4th century transepts were 

 added to the nave, their length 

 suggesting that the nave may 

 by this time have had aisles. 

 A tower may have been built 

 towards the end of the I4th or 

 beginning of the I5th century 

 against the end of the original 

 nave. In the early years of 

 the 1 6th century the present 

 nave arcades of two bays, with 

 the clearstory, were erected, 



and the tower, as before state:!, having apparently 

 become insecure, was rebuilt in 1665, many of the 

 old stones being used. 



The chancel has an east window of three lights 

 with modern 14th-century tracery, and an open arch 

 on the north and south sides to the organ chamber 

 and the south chapel respectively. The chancel arch 

 is of two plain chamfered orders with a label of 1 3th- 

 century masonry recently reset, and springs from 

 half-round piers with a fillet on the face, the capitals 

 of which have been renewed. The wall above the 

 chancel arch is probably of I 3th-century construction, 

 and shows the line of the older roof, which strikes the 

 side walls at the level of the crowns of the present 

 nave arches. 



The nave arcades are of two bays with pointed 

 arches resting on responds, and central piers of 16th- 

 -century date consisting of engaged clustered shafts 

 with coarsely-moulded capitals and bases, the arch 

 mouldings being composed of two rounds and a 

 Jiollow. Over each arcade is a clearstory of square- 

 headed four-light windows, three on each side. The 

 nave roof is modern, of flat pitch, but preserving the 



features of the older one. It consists of four princi- 

 pals, one against the tower wall, and one close to the 

 chancel arch, with moulded ridge and wall pieces and 

 intermediate ribs in the panels. The corbels carrying 

 the roof have figures of eight prophets, and the four 

 central bosses are carved with (i) a ship, (2) the 

 five wounds, (3) a dove, and (4) a hand. 



The north transept, which is entirely rebuilt, has a 

 pointed window of three lights with curious tracery 

 of flowing type with an external label. It is appa- 

 rently original, or at any rate not of recent reproduc- 

 tion ; but the jambs and head of the window have 

 been restored. The transept has diagonal angle but- 

 tresses of two stages, with gabled heads. The north 

 aisle has a modern three-light square-headed window 

 on the north with net tracery, and a similar flat- 

 pointed window at the west end, also modern. 



The south transept is now open to the church for 

 its full depth both on the east and west sides, but its 

 south wall is of 14th-century date, and has a three- 

 light pointed window with peculiar tracery into 

 which two human heads are introduced. The whole 

 of this wall has been refaced on the outside with red 



RADCLIKFE CHURCH : INTERIOR LOOKING EAST 



sandstone, and the window tracery renewed. On the 

 interior the wall retains its ancient facing, and there 

 is a 14th-century piscina in the south-east corner. 



The new south aisle replaces one about I o ft. wide 

 which was pulled down in the rebuilding of 1872, 

 and had a south porch over its doorway. It is lighted 

 at the west end by two two-light windows, and on 

 the south side by three square-headed traceried win- 

 dows of two lights each. Similar windows light the 

 modern south chapel, and there is an external door- 

 way at its south-west angle. 



The tower, which has a vice in the south-west 

 corner, was rebuilt in the 1 7th century, presumably 

 carrying out more or less the style of the earlier tower. 

 The internal arch is of 15th-century date, and consists 

 of two plain chamfered orders, and the two-light west 

 window appears to be old work retained in the re- 

 building. Externally the tower has a rather stumpy 

 appearance, and its three stages are unmarked by any 

 horizontal line or string-course. It has diagonal but- 

 tresses of seven stages, with plain weatherings, and is 

 finished with an embattled parapet with angle pin- 

 nacles, and a conical slated roof with a good 1 8th- 



63 



