282 REPORT OP MEETINGS POR 1905 



remains. The indentations visible on many of the stones of 

 the gateway are believed to have been made by him, a 

 number of the balls used on the occasion having been since 

 discovered amid the ruins. Within the curtain-walls may 

 still be seen the point of the chancel gable of the church, 

 bearing three lions passant, the arms of Henry II. 



The day's time-table indicated eleven o'clock as the hour 

 of assembling at the Parish Church, so that after a brief 

 space spent within the garden of the Castle, members were 

 hurried thence by the road leading from Newcastle to the 

 North, along whose side runs the " church -peth," a raised 

 pathway to afford those attending service immunity from 

 prevailing mud. At a point not far distant from the entrance 

 to the churchyard stands the " Stob-cross," at which funeral 

 processions in the past awaited the ringing of the church 



bell. A modern lichgate forms the entrance to 

 Church of the churchyard, which presented a very orderly 

 St. Mary. and well-kept appearance. On the South wall 



of the church a simple dial, consisting of a 

 bent rod of iron from four to five feet long, attracted 

 attention, while a handsome stone cross, the base and pillar 

 of which are old, though redressed, awakened regret that the 

 authorities did not seem to bestow sufficient care upon it 

 to preserve it from further dilapidation. The members were 

 received by Canon Bulkeley, who, after a general description 

 of the building by Mr Fergusson, supplied a few valuable 

 notes. The church, which succeeded an older Norman edifice, 

 some of whose remains can still be traced, dates from the 

 year 1350, and acquired its present-day and commodious 

 aspect in 1856, when the area was cleared out, and square 

 pews gave place to those now in use. The chief features 

 of interest in the chancel are the stone canopied sedilia, on 

 whose pillars are carved figures of cherubim carrying alms, 

 and of the devil depositing in a bag the faults committed by 

 the priests at the altar ; a low side-window on the right, 

 regarded by some as a means of dispensing the Eucharist 

 to infected persons, or perhaps, in view of the rubbed 

 condition of one of its sides, an opening for the 

 accommodation of a bell-rope, pulled by a ringer occupying 

 a small stone ledge which was removed at the time of the 



