AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



GARSTANG 



led formerly to a stone staircase, the underside of 

 three of the steps of which are still visible above 

 the opening. The lower steps have been removed 

 and a skew passage-way cut through the masonry to 

 the nave, the pier having been rebuilt and the stair- 

 case done away with. Previous to the restoration of 

 1868 the south aisle was blocked from floor to 

 ceiling by a large stone ' vault,' and a faculty had to 

 be obtained for its removal, the materials being used 

 in the restoration of the church. 



The nave, which is 5 5 ft. 6 in. long by 21 ft. 9 in. 

 wide, has an arcade of five pointed arches of two 

 chamfered orders on each side, springing from circular 

 piers 2 ft. in diameter, with plain moulded capitals and 

 bases. On the north side the height of the piers to the 

 top of the capitals is 10 ft. 3 in., but on the south 

 the height is 6 in. less, and the top member of the 

 cap is octagonal in plan instead of circular as in the 

 north. The north-east respond is half-octagonal, 

 but the others are of the same type as the piers, 

 those at the west being something less than half a 

 circle, and the westernmost pier on the north side 

 leans badly to the west. The arches are of later 

 date than the piers, belonging probably to the 15th- 

 century rebuilding. All the stonework of the arcade, 

 both of piers and arches, has been re-chiselled. There 

 are three square-headed clearstory windows of three 

 pointed lights on each side, and the roof, which is 

 of five bays, is modern. The north aisle is 1 3 ft. 3 in. 

 wide, and has two pointed three-light windows, with 

 perpendicular tracery on the north side and a pointed 

 doorway in the second bay from the west, of two 

 hollow-chamfered orders and external hood mould, 

 above which is a niche with a crocketed canopy, 

 now much worn. The west window is of red sand- 

 stone, with three trefoiled lights and straight bar 

 tracery and quatrefoils in the head, but without a 

 hood mould. At the west end of the south aisle, 

 which is 12 ft. wide, is another pointed sandstone 

 window of three cinquefoiled lights, with quatrefoil 

 tracery, the mullions crossing in the head ; both these 

 windows, which, as already mentioned, are of 14th- 

 century date, have plain chamfered details. The 

 south aisle is open to the chapel at its eastern end 

 by two wide pointed arches of two chamfered orders 

 springing from an octagonal pier and responds, to 

 the west of which and 1 3 ft. from the west wall is 

 the south doorway, with segmental head and square 

 splayed jambs. The chapel, formerly the chantry ot 

 the Blessed Virgin, is 33 ft. 3 in. by 12 ft. 8 in., the 

 floor being raised two steps above that of the nave. 

 In the south wall is a piscina with trefoiled head and 

 wide chamfered jambs, and the roof is the original 

 flat one of oak divided into seven bays by moulded 

 beams, with intermediate moulded pieces, forming 

 in all twenty-one squares. On the south wall are 

 stone corbels, lower than the crown of the window 

 arches, carrying portions of an older beam moulded 

 on the edges, above which, carved along the wall- 

 plate, is the inscription ' sancta maria ora f nobis 



DEMON SCRIBIT IBI CVNCTA LOCVTA SIBI A DNI 

 M°D°XXIX HOC OPVS AGITAT IN TEMPLO GENTES 



caveant simvl esse loqventes.' The chapel has two 

 pointed windows of three trefoiled lights, and with 

 perpendicular tracery and external hood moulds on 

 the south side, and on the east a window of later 

 date, with four-centred arch and three plain pointed 

 lights. 



The porch is 12 ft. 10 in. by 8 ft. 6 in. wide, 

 with a stone seat on each side, and open outer arch 

 of two chamfered orders 6 ft. wide by 10 ft. high, 

 with plain gable above set between the higher wall 

 of the south chapel and the wider gable of the hearse- 

 house, which is flush with it. 



The west tower, the centre line of which is about 

 2 ft. to the south of that of the nave, is 1 1 ft. square 

 inside, and has a projecting vice with stone spirelet 

 in the north-east corner, and diagonal angle buttresses 

 on the west side of six stages going up to the string 

 immediately below the belfry windows, which are of 

 two trefoiled lights under a square labelled head. 

 The embattled parapet has been rebuilt apparently 

 in the 1 8th century and is poor in detail. There 

 is a clock on the north side towards the village, but, 

 except for a small square-headed window to the 

 ringing chamber, the north and south walls below 

 the belfry are quite plain. The west door has a 

 pointed arch of two hollow-chamfered orders and 

 external label, and the window above is a pointed 

 one of three trefoiled lights with perpendicular 

 tracery. The tower arch is of two chamfered orders, 

 the outer one dying into the wall at the springing. 



The north-east vestry is built of large blocks of 

 squared stone, in contrast to the rubble masonry of 

 the rest of the building, and is entered from the 

 north chancel aisle by a four-centred arched doorway. 

 It measures internally 10 ft. 6 in. square, with a bay 

 window 3 ft. 6 in. deep on the east side, and is now 

 open to the roof, the original upper floor having 

 been removed. 26 



The pulpit is of oak, dated 1646, with a new 

 stem and top mould, and is a good piece of Jacobean 

 woodwork with square moulded panels. At the east 

 end of the north quire aisle are preserved portions of 

 oakwork said to have been originally round the stalls, 

 bearing the inscription ' Bona consuetudo excutiat 

 quod mala extruxit. Minus semper dicito qua facias.' 

 The stalls themselves have been restored, four of the 

 six on each side having carved misericordes. There is 

 a good 18th-century brass chandelier in the nave, 27 

 but the font and the rest of the fittings are modern. 



There is a ring of six bells by T. Mears of London, 

 1828. 



The plate consists of a chalice ,s of 1658 inscribed 

 ' Garstang,' with the maker's mark T C linked ; a 

 chalice inscribed ' Garstang 1 690 ' without date letter, 

 but with the maker's initials R M thrice repeated ; a 

 paten of 17 19 without inscription; two flagons of 

 179;, both inscribed 'The gift of Isabella Pedder, 

 wife of John Pedder, vicar of Garstang, for the use 

 of that church, 1795'; and a paten of 1872-3 

 without inscription. 



The registers begin in I 567, but there are gaps 

 from January to June 1 601, January to March 1609, 



'In 1836 the vestry underwent some 

 repairs, and over the ceiling was dis- 

 covered a small room. In it were some 

 of the brasses now on the church walls ' 

 (Fishwick, Hist, of Garstang, 92). A list 

 of the mural tablets and inscriptions 



is given by Fishwick. They are 

 chiefly of 17th and 18th-century date. 

 The earliest brass commemorates George 

 Ainsworth, who was vicar from 1575 to 

 1 610. 

 27 It was given by the contractor for 



295 



the 1746 restoration ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 

 1836), iv, 460. 



28 The churchwardens in 1 6 80 gave a 

 report on the state of the church and its 

 furniture. There were a silver chalice and 

 two pewter flagons. Visit. Ret. at Chester. 



