BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



RIBCHESTER 



dormer windows on the south side which break into 

 it awkwardly, the principals being still in front of 

 each window with a space above the rafters where 

 the line of the roof is raised. A moulded wall plate 

 now whitewashed runs round the building, on a por- 

 tion of which at the north-west corner i3 the date 

 1527 in Gothic characters. 



The south aisle is 10 ft. 6 in. wide and has three 

 square-headed windows on the south side, the eastern- 

 most of which is modern, a three-light modern 

 pointed window at the east end, 13 and a small two- 

 light window at the west. The south doorway is in 

 the west bay and is a good piece of 1 3th-century 

 work, now unfortunately painted and varnished, with 

 pointed arch of two moulded orders, square chamfered 

 inner jamb and outer shafts with moulded capitals 

 and bases. The door is modern, probably of 18th- 

 century date. The aisle retains its original 16th- 

 century oak lean-to roof with shaped wind braces, 

 and its east end is occupied by what is known as the 

 ' Hoghton choir ' or chapel, inclosed by an oak screen 

 probably of early 16th-century date but much 

 restored. It has eleven openings with traceried 

 heads on the north side and eight on the west, with 

 an embattled cornice. The chapel is now filled with 

 square pews. 



The porch has a pointed 14th-century arch of two 

 orders with wave moulding springing from moulded 

 imposts, and with external hood mould and moulded 

 jambs. The gable, however, is quite plain above, 

 and the roof in common with all the roofs of the 

 church has overhanging eaves and is covered with 

 stone slates. The walling is of rough stone with 

 large angle quoins. There is a small window on 

 each side and a wood bench on the west side. In 

 the south-east corner is an altar tomb cut from a solid 

 block of stone with three shields, one of which bears 

 the arms of Hoghton. 14 



On the north side the nave is open, for something 

 like half its length at the east end, to the north 

 chapel, but west of this is a built-up doorway 

 3 ft. 6 in. wide. The rest of the wall is blank, 

 except for a square-headed three-light window under 

 the roof inserted in the 1 6th century when the wall 

 was raised. Externally the north nave wall retains 

 its two original angle buttresses with gabled heads 

 and a portion of the former west wall of the building 

 above the straight joint in the masonry showing 

 where the north wall was raised when the old steep- 

 pitched roof was removed. 



The north chapel, or ' Dutton choir,' is 34 ft. by 

 14 ft. and is open to the nave on the south side by 

 an arcade of two pointed arches of two plain 

 chamfered orders with hood moulds on each side, 

 springing from a central pier of three clustered shafts 

 with large circular moulded cap, and from half-round 

 responds at each end with moulded caps and bases. 

 The terminations of the outer chamfer over the pier 

 on both sides are ornamented with roughly carved 

 heads, but the arches and shafts, as well as all the 

 other stonework in the chapel, are much spoiled by 

 repeated coats of whitewash and paint. The chapel 



has a separate gabled roof, and on the western gable 

 are the remains of a bell-turret. The wall plate on 

 the south side is carried over the tops of the arches 

 by four stone brackets, and there is one rough 

 principal to the roof which is plastered under the 

 spars. At the east and west ends the chapel is lit 

 by two good 14th-century windows with moulded 

 jambs and mullions, traceried heads and externa] 

 hood moulds. The north wall has a square-headed 

 window of three trefoiled lights and a 1 3th-century 

 lancet with inner arch on corbels, probably re-erected 

 here from the north wall of the nave when the chapel 

 was built. The piscina which remains at the end of 

 the south wall has a moulded segmental head and jambs. 



The west tower is 1 3 ft. 6 in. square inside and 

 has a projecting vice in the south-east corner. The 

 western buttresses are of seven stages, set square and 

 finishing just above the sill of the belfry windows. 

 The tower is faced with rubble masonry with quoins 

 at the angles and is very plain in character, its stages 

 being externally unmarked. On the north and south 

 sides the walls are blank below the belfry except for a 

 small square-headed window to the bell-ringing stage. 

 The belfry windows are pointed and of three lights 

 with tracery in the head, external hood mould and 

 stone louvres. The walls finish with an embattled 

 parapet and string course, and there is a clock on the 

 east side facing the village. The west door has a 

 pointed arch with continuous moulded jambs and 

 head, and above is a three-light window similar to 

 those in the belfry. The tower arch is of two 

 chamfered orders, the outer one dying into the wall 

 at the springing, but the lower part is now filled by 

 a wooden screen with turned balusters at the top 

 and a modern door. The upper part of the opening 

 is hidden by the organ, which occupies the west 

 gallery. This gallery, which is described in the 

 faculty of 1736 as 'for the use of the Singers of 

 Psalms,' has a plain 18th-century wood front grained 

 and varnished, and is approached by a staircase on 

 the north side within the tower. 



The font is of 14th-century date, and stands in its 

 original position near the south door. It is octagonal 

 in plan with ^straight sides and chamfered angle shafts 

 dying into a splayed plinth, and has a flat wood top. 

 Like the south door it has unfortunately suffered from 

 successive coats of paint. 



The pulpit is of oak and octagonal in plan, with 

 pilasters at the angles, richly carved panels and pro- 

 jecting cornice carried by shaped brackets. On the 

 door are the date 1636 and the initials of Christopher 

 Hindle, vicar, and attached to it is an oak reading- 

 desk, probably of equal date, forming a two-decker. 



The seating is composed principally of modern 

 straight-backed benches, but some of the 18th-century 

 square pews still remain, two in the nave having the 

 name or initials of Jas. Dewhurst and the date 1761. 

 Another in the north chapel has the initials R C A and 

 the date 1729. 



There is a little old stained glass in the head of the 

 east window of the north chapel, but it has been 

 spoiled with paint on the inside. 15 



13 These two modern windows had been 

 •recently erected ' in 1869 ; W. A. 

 Waddington, Sketches on the Calder and 

 Ribble. 



14 This stone is mentioned as being in 

 the chancel in 1877 (Dobson's Rambles 



by the Ribble, ii, 108), but Mr. Smith says 

 that in 1890 it was 'nowhere visible' 

 (Hist, of Ribchester, 20;). Canon Raines 

 in 1850 speaks of it as in the north 

 chapel ; Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc. xxii), 

 472. 



39 



15 In the windows were formerly 

 memorials of John Talbot and Isabel his 

 wife, and of Thomas Lenox (Lynalx) 

 and Elizabeth his wife, together with the 

 Lynalx arms ; Whitaker, Whalley (ed. 

 Nicholls), ii, 459 n. 



