A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



there was no division between the nave and 

 chancel, a space at the east end being simply railed 

 off for the holy table, but about the year 1800 a 

 small projecting chancel was added. This remained 

 till 1872, when the whole of the present east end 

 of the church, which is faced all round with genuine 

 timber and plaster, was added. 



The interior is almost entirely modernized, the 

 division of the bays alone marking the original 

 arrangement. A gallery, which still remains in a 

 modernized form, was set up at the west end in 1728 

 with a baptistery and churchwardens' pew under. 

 A large family pew was built out at the north-east, 

 but was done away with when the transepts were 

 -dded. The east end of the chancel projects 10 ft. 

 beyond the walls of the transepts, the western pArt 

 being open on each side to the transepts and fitted 

 with wooden screens, against which the quire seats 

 are set. It is lit by a five-light window at the east 

 and two-light square-headed windows on the north 

 and south. 



The nave has three modern square-headed windows 

 of three lights at each side, placed high in the walls, 

 with a five-light window at the west on each side to 

 light the gallery. Under the gallery are two small 

 windows on the north side, and one on the south. 

 The roof is the original one of plain timber restored, 

 with a ceiling at about half its height. The gallery 

 is gained by a staircase on the south of an inner 

 wooden porch, but seems to have been originally 

 approached from the outside by a door which still 

 remains."" 



The church was re-seated in 1859," but the two 

 square pews at the west end under the gallery still 

 remain. That on the north side has a good 18th- 

 century stone font on a new shaft, and the church- 



wardens' pew on the south side has a portion of a 

 well-shaped 18th-century pew back, which formerly 

 bore the date 1726 on a plate. The seats north of 

 the central passage were originally allotted for the 

 exclusive use of the inhabitants of Denton, and those 

 on the south to Haughton and Hyde. 



The fittings are modern, but in the chancel are 

 ten oak panels, of late Gothic style, now much 

 obscured by paint, measuring 2 ft. by I ft., let into 

 the front and ends of the modern quire stalls. They 

 are said to have been, in the i8th century, in the 

 front of the gallery, but there is nothing to show 

 whether they were originally made for the church. 



In the north and south windows of the chancel, 

 and in the window under the gallery on the south 

 side, are collected fragments of 16th-century glass, 

 and other smaller pieces occur in the middle lights of 

 the transept windows. In 1855 *° these were all in a 

 five-light window at the east of the chancel, but not 

 in their original position. They are evidently parts 

 of a very interesting set, but are too fragmentary to 

 make it possible to discover their original arrangement. 

 The window on the north of the chancel has a shield 

 in each of its lights, one made up of fragments being 

 quarterly, and over all a bend with three escallops 

 (perhaps for Spencer), with helm, mantling, and im- 

 perfect crest, while the other has Argent on a 

 cheveron between three lozenges sable, a crescent of 

 the field (probably intended for the arms of Hyde 

 though the tinctures are wrong), and underneath it 

 a female (?) figure in purple with hands uplifted, 

 kneeling before an altar on which is an open book, 

 and with a label bearing the words ' Miserere mei.' 



The window on the south side has in its eastern 

 light an angel with a label on which is inscribed 

 ' Ave Maria gratia,' and in the second light the figure 



St. Laurence's Church, Denton 



*** The outer door, which is now 

 blocked up, at one time gave access to 

 the churchwardens' pew. 



^ There had been a partial renewal ol 



the seats in 1768. A citation was issued 

 on 6 October of that year for repewing 

 the south side, 'the seats, stalls, and 



320 



Digitized by IVIicrosoft® 



forms therein having by length of time 

 become old, ruinous, and decayed,' 

 " Booker, op. cit 43. 



