A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



to have shown the evidence of a pointed roof on its 

 east wall,' and Glynne describes it as ' square below 

 and octagonal above, with a Decorated west window 

 and plain door and two-light belfry windows.' ^ The 

 original spire had been partly rebuilt in i S23. 



The font stands at the west end of the south aisle, 

 and consists of an octagonal bowl of yellow sandstone 

 with blank shields within sexfoils on each face. It is 

 probably of early 16th-century date, but stands on an 

 older stem of plain clustered shafts of hard greystone, 

 and the base, again, is of different stone and of later 

 date. 



The pulpit formerly stood on the south side of the 

 chancel arch, but in 1859 was moved to its present 

 position on the north side. It was presented by 

 Rector Leigh in 16 16, and is octagonal in shape, of 

 richly carved oak, each side being divided into three 

 panels of unequal size and form. It stands on a 

 tall stem and under the cornice on six sides is the 

 inscription in Gothic letters, necessitas | mihi 



INCU.SIBIT I V'" MIHI SI NON | EVANGELIZtM | EX SL'MP- 



TIBU3 I w. LEIGH REG. 1 6 1 6. On the remaining side 

 (one being open) is — 



' \V. Leigh Rect. 

 Donum Dei Deo 1616.' 



A panel on the north side h.T> a shield of eight pieces, 

 the arms of Ralph Standish, with his initials and crest, 

 and date 16 16. 



The rest of the fittings are mostly modern. There 

 are, however, two oak bench ends in the north vestry, 

 one carved with the initials and date 'E.H. 1625,' 

 and the other ' W'.R. 1626,' and under the tower is 

 a bench apparently of about the same date, one of the 

 ends of which has the Worthington crest and the other 

 the arms and cre.-t of Langtree. The altar slab is a 

 piece of yellow marble, given by Edw.ird Chisnall in 

 1693, and stands on an oak table with eight twisted 

 legs. 



On the north side of the quire is the altar tomb of 

 Richard Moody, with a recumbent effigy, cut appa- 

 rently from a block of local freestone,' but now, along 

 with the re3t of the monument, painted black and 

 grey, or lead colour. The figure represents .1 clerk 

 — pojiibly Gilbert de Standish, rcxtor 1357—96 — in 

 cassock, surplice and hood, the clo c-fitting sleeves of 

 the doublet appearing from within the sleeves of the 

 cissock.^ Below is a recess with Ionic columns and 

 entahl.iture, containing a bas-relief representing two 

 angels holding a winding-sheet which contains a 

 corpse, with the words, ' As you are I was and as 

 I am you shal be.' The marginal inscription, which 

 has the dates left blank, seems to indicate that the 

 tomb was erected by Aloody before his death.* 



On the opposite side is a good i yth-century altar 

 tomb, in yellow and black marble, with the recum- 



bent effigy of Sir Edward Wrightington, Lt., 'one 

 of the Council of the North,' who died 1658. On 

 the wall above is a monument to Edward Dicconson 

 of Finch Mill, in Shevington, vicar apostolic of the 

 northern district of England (1740) and Bishop of 

 Malla in partibus infidelium (1741), who died in 

 I752.« 



The oldest monument in the church, however, is 

 a sepulchral slab with the incised figure of Maud 

 Chisnall, wife of Robert de Chisnall, now in the 

 floor at the east end of the nave, partly hidden by 

 the platform on which the reading-desk stands. The 

 date has been obliterated, but the stone is attributed 

 to the 14th century.' 



On the south-HCit face of the north octagonal 

 staircase pier above the pulpit is a stone panel with 

 the arms and crest of Worthington and the initials 

 and date, E. W. 1584, and over the first pier of the 

 north arcade is a panel with the Stanley crest of the 

 eagle and child. Attached to the north-west side of 

 the south staircise pier, facing the nave, is an 

 elaborate mural monument to Edward Chisnall, who 

 was one of the defenders of Lathom House, and 

 died in 1653, with a long Latin inscription, and 

 opposite on the north pier a t.iblet to Thomas 

 Clayton, d. 1721. Over the south door in the 

 nave is a marble tablet by Nollekens to Cecilia 

 Towneley, d. 1778, and Edward Towneley Standish, 

 d. 1807.' 



There are several brasses in the floor of the chancel, 

 one to Mary Lathom (d. 1656), wife of Paul Lathom, 

 rector, and others of 18th-century date. There was 

 formerly a brass plate in the north aisle with a 

 Latin inscription to the effect that Robert Pjlkington 

 (d. 1498) had been custodian and chaplain to the 

 chantry of St. Nicholas. 



The only fragments of old glass now remaining 

 are in the top lights of the second window from the 

 east in the Standish chapel, one of which contains the 

 Standish coat of arms, a shield of eight quarters, and 

 crest. There was formerly, however, in the second 

 clearstory window of the north side a fragment of 

 1 5th-century glass which bore the inscription in 

 Gothic characters, richard lanctre made [a ciFr r] 



OF THE GLAZING OF THIS WINDOW. ANNO DO. 1590." 



There is a ring of six bells, five of which were 

 cast by A. Rudhall of Gloucester, two in I 71 4 and 

 three in the following year.' In I 846 another bell 

 was added, cast by Mears of London. 



The church plate is exceedingly handsome, and 

 consists of eight pieces, all of great merit and beautiful 

 workmanship. The earliest pieces are a chalice and 

 cover paten of 1607, the chalice inscribed in the 

 centre of the bowl, this cup and cover was given 



TO THE parish church OF STANDISH, IN THE COUNTY 

 OF LANCASTER, FOR A COMMUNION CUP BY ALEXANDER 



' Rector Pcrryn's notebook quoted in 

 ibid. 2^0. 



* Lar.cs. Churchei, no. 



^ Trans. Hist. S:c. xix-ix (new ser.), 275. 



* .M. H. BlLXam, On ceru-.n rare and 

 perhjps w.-.^ue :jf'gics of EncUsiasr.c--, lS->, 

 quoted in ibid. Bloxam say=, 'This is 

 the on^y recumbent effi^- of a parish 

 priest 01' the reign of Elizabeth I ha\e met 

 with represented as vested in the surplice.' 

 The explanation no doubt is that Moody 

 appropriated the effigy of one of his 

 pred^cc-sor:, which hiJ been d'ip.accd 



in the rebuilding. Mr. St. John Hope, 

 on being shown a drawing of it, said 

 it * belongs to the last quarter of the 

 l+th century.' The eiBgy ia well carved, 

 but the lettering of the inscription is 

 very badly cut on a rough edge. 



^ Inscription as given in Harland'i 

 Baines : * Hie jacet Richard Moodi qui 

 anos^ [38] Pastor erat vigilentlsiim' 

 JEids Standish ille ppo, siltu geodoetas 

 et saxi operatorcs victu ad .^dificae huj' 

 Tepli bis ruina ppesM alluit obiit I" die 

 Nov" Ano. Ddi. 15X6.' 



186 



* See above p. 172. 



' Tram. Hist. Soc. xix-xx (new ser.), 

 255, where an illustration is given. 



* This fragment was preserved by ihe 

 parish clerk when the old glass of the 

 clearstory was destroyed; ibid. 257. 



The first and second have the names 

 of the churchwardens. The other in- 

 scriptions are (3) ' Peace and good neigh- 

 bourhood,' (4) ' Prosperity to the Church 

 of England,' and (5) ' Prosperity to the 

 Parish.' 



