A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



of one below. It is possible the piscina may be made 

 up from portions of an olJ.r building. The bowls, 

 which are pl.iin and retain their drains, are contained 

 within the wall, the depth of the opening being I 2 in. 

 On the opposite side is a square-headed aumbry 

 I ft. gin. wide, 13 in. high and 17 in. deep, the 

 door of which ha; gone, beyond which, at a distance 

 of about I oft. from the east wall, the old masonrj' 

 ceases. On the south side the old wall extends some 

 1 3 ft. 6 in., and immediately to the weit of the window 

 is a recess 3 ft. 9 in. wide with splayed jambs and 

 segmental arched head. The recess commences about 

 3 ft. above the floor and has a plain sill forming a 

 seat which is made up of pieces of 18th-century 

 gravestones.' The top of the arch is about 8 ft. 

 from the floor and the whole of the west portion of 

 the masonry, including the respond of the arch 

 beyond, is modern. The wall here has been so much 

 interfered with in the last and perhaps earlier restora- 

 tions that its original aspect and the meaning of the 

 recess are diihcult to determine.^ There appears to 

 have been a narrow pointed window in part of the 

 space occupied by the recess, the western jamb of 

 which can be seen in the north-east corner of the 

 south aisle, the rest being now covered up by the aisle 

 wall. If the south aisle covers the same area as the 

 chantry chapel erected by Thomas Hesketh, c. 1500, 

 he appears to have put his east wall against this 

 window,' but how far west the south chancel wall 

 was originally an external one can only be surmi cJ. 

 The arches of the chancel arcade are low, and the 

 piers, which are octagonal with moulded caps and 

 bases, are of different heights.^ On the south side 

 the lower part of the arches has been cut away, 

 altering their proportions, and the pier has been 

 rebuilt and raised.' Originally the distinction 

 between the chancel and the nave was marked only 

 by the difference in the arcade and the wider built-up 

 piers at the junction, the roof being continuous. 

 The modern chancel arch, which is merely an inser- 

 tion, is of two orders, the inner hollow-chamfered 

 and the outer moulded, and springs from circular 

 shafts with moulded caps. A Jacobean screen which 

 existed when Glynne visited the church in 1859 has 

 disappeared. 



The north chancel aisle, which represents the 

 Becconsall chapel or chancel," is 30 ft. by 20 ft. and 



has two three-light windows on the north side and 

 one in the east walL There is an external door in 

 the north-west corner, and in the south-east a door to 

 the vestry. The east end of the aisle is now occupied 

 by the organ, which before 1866 was in the west 

 gallery, and the west end is seated with old oak 

 benches. 



The south chancel aisle, formerly the chantry 

 chapel of St. John the Baptist, is 29 ft. long by i I ft. 

 in width and has two three-light pointed windows on 

 the south side and one at the east end, the mullions 

 continued and forming pointed heads to the lights. 

 West of the second window from the east, in the 

 south-west corner, is a priest's doorway with four- 

 centred head. The chancel aisles having both been 

 rebuilt offer no points of antiquarian interest. 



The nave arcade consists of four pointed arches 

 on each side, of two chamfered orders springing from 

 octagonal piers with moulded caps and bases. The 

 caps, however, except to the responds, have apparently 

 been so much damaged in the 1 8 th century, conse- 

 quent on the erection and removal of the galleries, as 

 to have necessitated their being cut down to or 

 replaced by a single round and hollow moulding, and 

 the arches are cut away at the springing to fit them.' 

 The roof is of flat pitch and divided into six bays, 

 plastered between the roof timbers. The aisles are 

 67 ft. 6 in. long, extending at the west end nearly 

 20 ft. beyond the east face of the tower. Externally 

 the nave is divided into five bays by buttresses of 

 three st.iges, and diagonal ones at the angles, the first 

 bay from the west on the north side being occupied 

 by a four-centred arched doorway with square hood 

 mould, moulded jambs and head and carved spandrels. 

 Above the door is a low four-light window with four- 

 centred head and hood mould terminating in carved 

 heads. Over the door and immediately below the sill 

 of the window is a shield with the arms of the Heskeths 

 of Ruffbrd and their connexions,^ and on either side of 

 the window at the level of the sill are shields with 

 the arms of Ashton quartering Leigh on the cast, and 

 Dalton quartering Fleming on the west.' On the 

 battlement above the window is inscribed : ' This 

 church was new roof'd and beautify'd a.d. 1823.' 

 The windows are alike on both sides, with double 

 hollow-chamfered jambs and heads and hollow- 

 chamfered mullions under pointed arches, almost semi- 



mental stone pillar, a piece of stonework 

 projecting from the upper part of the 

 back of the niche being finished by a 

 wcll-cxccutcd *' rose " (j/f) at the point 

 where it had joined the pillar. The 

 basins arc each provided witli an outlet 

 at the bottom to drain ofFthc contents* ; 

 Gtii. Mjg. i866, ii, 4.-1. The aumbry' 

 in the north wall was laid bare at the 

 ?imc time. 



^ The course of stone immediately 

 below the sill is modern ; the old masonry 

 below ii 2 It. 2 in. in height above the 

 floor. 



' It may mark the space occupied by 

 sclllia. 



' This is supposing the present east 

 wall of the aisle occupies the position of 

 the original one. Compare, howcTcr, 

 Cinon Atkinson's statement already cited, 

 which would imply that before 1866 the 

 snmh aisle extended further eastward 

 than the chancel itself, which is very 

 unlikely. The blockcd-up window is 

 5 ft. 6 in. in height, and the sill i; 



5 ft. 6 in, above the floor of the south 

 aisle. 



* The arches on the north side arc 

 probably those 'adjoining' the Becconsall 

 chapel rebuilt by the rector in 171 5. 

 See note ante. 



^ The caps of the piers and responds 

 on the south side arc 7 ft. 8 in. from the 

 floor, and arc above those of the nave 

 arca:lc. On the north side the caps are 

 lower than these of the nave, the differ- 

 ence in height between the caps of the 

 north and south chancel arcades being 

 2 ft. The piers are 20 in. in diameter 

 and the width of the arch above 2 ft. 6 in., 

 the caps having a wide projection. 



* The Fleming coat-of-arms is cut in 

 the stcne over the archway between the 

 chapel and the north aisle of the nave 

 facing west. It was discovered under 

 the plaster in 1866. This arch was 

 rebuilt in 1715, but whether the arms 

 were in the same place before that date 

 can only be conjectured. 



' The two westernmost piers and the 



arches between them and the tower were 

 taken down and rebuilt in 1768. Sec 

 note antg, 



' Procter in Trans. Hist, Soc, Lanes. 

 andChcs. (new ser.), xxiv, 4. The shield 

 is quartered : (i) Hesketh ; {2) Banattrc ; 

 (3) Minshull ; (4) Twenge. 



' Ibid. These three shields bearing 

 the armorials of three families holding 

 property in the parish may have reference 

 to the benefactions of those families in the 

 rebuilding of the church. The heraldry, 

 however, seems to point to the end of 

 the 15th century, while the fabric here it 

 assumcdiy of 16th-century date. 



The first shield has the arms of Ashton 

 (Argent a cheveron between three gar- 

 lands gules) quartering Lea (Argent three 

 bars sable). The second bears Dalton 

 (Azure crusilly a lion rampant guardant 

 argent) quartering Fleming (Barry of 

 six argent and anire in chief three 

 lozenges gules). The third bears the 

 Hesketh coat (Argent on a bend table 

 three garbs or) quartering Banattrc 



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