A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



insiJe. In 1720 a tower was erected at the west 

 end and the west wall rebuilt, and in 1824 a small 

 chancel was built. In 1857, h<'\'. e.er, as the result 

 of an appeal to commemorate the name of Jeremiah 

 Horrocks, the chancel appears to have been taken 

 down and an extension of the church made east- 

 ward, known as the Horrocks chapel, beyond which 

 the chancel w.is rebuilt with a small vestry on the 

 south side. The internal dimensions are : chancel, 

 10 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in. ; Horrocks chapel, II ft. by 

 21 ft. 6 in. ; nave, 55 ft. by 21 ft. 6 in. ; and tower 

 (at clock stage), 6 ft. 9 in. by 7 ft. 9 in., the longer 

 dimension being from north to south. The brck 

 walls of the older part of the building were relieved 

 by blue diaper patterns, as in other brick buildings of 

 the period in the district ; but lately the whole of 

 the exterior brickwork has been painted red all over, 

 and the old distinction temporarily lost. A portion 

 of the south nave wall at the east end seems to have 

 been rebuilt at the time that the Horrocks chapel 

 was erected, but the window is the original I 7th- 

 century one. The extension of i"^59 is in the same 

 style as the original building, and the roof, which 

 is covered with green slates, is merely carried east- 

 ward without a break. The general appearance of 

 the building outside is therefore, with the exception 

 of the tower, very uniform. 



The chancel, the rocif of which is lower than that 

 jf the rest of the building, has a three-light pointed 

 .\indow, and is separated from the Hurrocks chapel 

 by a pointed arch 8 ft. wide. The ch.ipcl is prac- 

 tically p.irt of the chancel, though not so styled, and 

 has a three-light square-headed window with round- 

 headed lights on each side. The floor is level ■.^ ith 

 that of the nave, from which the chapel is separated 

 by a pointed arch S ft. 6 in. wide, the centre line of 

 which, like that to the chancel, is 2 ft. north of the 

 axis of the nave, so as to allow for the small 

 entrance vestry south of the chancel. The nave, 

 which is flagged, has four windous on each side, each 

 of four round-he.ided lights under a square head, 

 with a doorway in both north and south walls, and 

 one at the west end under the tower. The roof is 

 ceiled with a segmental plaster vault erected in 1 S 1 2. 

 There is a wide organ galler)- at the uest end, and a 

 narrower one containing square pew . along the south 

 side, carried on iron columns, and gained by a 

 staircase at the west end. The north doorway, 

 which externally shows the same detail as that on 

 the south porch, is now made up. The south door- 

 way bears the date 1628 on the stone head, and the 

 door itself is the original oak nail-studded one. 

 The porch has an open outer doorway under a seg- 

 mental arch, with moulded jambs and square head 

 and label over. Over the label is a modem panel 

 with text, and the wall finishes in a brick gable with 

 stone coping with urn ornaments. On one of the 

 arch stones are cut the initials P. H. 



The tower is built of stone and stands inside the 

 building, carried by semicircular arches on Tuscan 

 columns i ft. 9 in. diameter with pedestals 4 ft. high. 

 It is of a somewhat nondescript architectural character, 

 the upper stages being in a pseudo-Gothic style, with 

 a two-light stone-louvred window on each face 

 and embattled parapet with angle pinnacles. The 

 west arch is filled in, and the wall pierced with a 

 square-headed door with circular window over. 

 Above the keystone of the arch and below the belfry 



window is a two-light square-headed Gothic window 

 to the ringing chamber. The whole of the west 

 wall of the building was apparently rebuilt in stone 

 when the tower \vas erected, and has the charac- 

 teristic 18th-century urn ornament at the angles. 

 On the south side of the tower, under a square string 

 below the belfry window, is a painted sundial with 

 the inscription, ' Sine sole sileo,' and on the north a 

 clock,' round which is cut in the stone, ' In memoriam 

 Horrockii, 1639-1859. Ut hora, sic vita.' 



The font, which is of stone and oct.igonal, was 

 the gift of John Stones of Carr House, and bears 

 the inscription, 'Deo Donum Johanis Stones An. 

 Dom. 16^3.' For a long time it was painted, but 

 has now been cleaned. 



In the north-east corner of the nave is a two- 

 decker oak pulpit and reading desk with rich carving 

 and octagonal canopy over. On the canopy is the 

 date 1695, with the names of the minister and 

 chapel-wardens.* The pulpit has been tampered 

 with in the early years of the 19th century, when 

 small Gothic panels were introduced. The back 

 and canopy, which are the original 1 Jth-century 

 work, were taken down and cleaned in 1859. The 

 front of the desk has good carving with 18th-century 

 top. Two bench ends at the west end of the nave 

 bear respectively the initials R. O. and F. O., but 

 to whom they refer is not known. There are two 

 old square pews at the west end of the north side 

 under the galler)' and two at the east end of the 

 <outli side, but the rest of the seating is modern. 



At the east end of the nave, in front of the 

 Horrocks chapel, is .t stone, with inscription, 

 marking the burial-place of the Rev. Thomas 

 Leigh, rector (d. I 703), and on the north wall of the 

 na\e is a marble tablet to the memory of Horrocks, 

 erected in 1859, with a long inscription, and a brass 

 in the Horrocks chapel states that the chapel was 

 ' erected by subscriptions from Lancashire, Oxford, 

 and Cambridge.' The chancel window is also a 

 memorial to Horrocks, the centre light containing at 

 the top the symbol of Venus, and at the bottom the 

 figure of the astronomer observing the transit, with 

 his own words, ' Ecce gratissimum spectaculum ut tot 

 votorum materiem.' In the window by the pulpit 

 is an allusive figure representing a Bible and tele- 

 scope, with the motto, ' The word of God shall 

 stand for ever. 1639. Religion and science in 

 fellowship. 1874..' 



On the north wall is a hatchment with the arms 

 of James Rothwell of Moss House (d. 1825). 



There is one bell, by John Rudhall, 181 3. 



The plate consists of a chalice inscribed, ' The 

 gifte of Margaret Warner, the wife of John Warner, 

 1629'; another chalice, 'The gifte of Elizabeth 

 Wheat, the wife of William Wheat, 1629' ; both 

 chalices have inscribed on foot, ' Belonging to the 

 Chappell in Hoole in y' parish of Croston, 

 Lancashire' ; and a breadholder, 'The gift of 

 Katherine Stones, y= wife of Andrew Stones.' 



The registers begin in 1676. 



' The clock was given by pariahioners in memory of Hor- 

 rocks in 1859. The mottoes ' Sine sole sileo' and 'Ut hora, 

 sic vita ' are said to have been inscribed by Horrocks on the old 

 church clock and sundial ; Rev. A. B. Whatton, Memoir cf ihi 

 Rev, Jeremiah H'.rrox (1859), 79. 



''.\:;'. D. 1695. Richerd Foicroft, Miners!. Jams Idoo, 

 William Wilding, Ch. Wardans.' 



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