Church of St. Lawrence. 303 



parish church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, be left with- 

 out some examination. It is a fine structure and well 

 worth attention, as specimens of all the various styles 

 of English architecture are to be seen in it. Mr. Torn- 

 linson (p. 408) gives these excellent hints regarding 

 the most interesting points in connection with it : — 



" The features most worthy of special notice are, the 

 Norman windows of the nave, the original groining of 

 the chancel, and the Norman triplet filled with modern 

 stained glass at the east end, and the chancel arch with 

 its singular and perhaps unique fan ornamentation ; the 

 old staircase for the ringer of the sanctus bell at the 

 north-east angle of the nave ; the cross-legged effigy of a 

 knight in the south aisle ; and a curious window in the 

 vestry composed of three narrow slits, through which it 

 is believed an anchorite inhabiting this chamber com- 

 municated with persons outside. The porch on the 

 outside is well peppered with bullet marks. Within it 

 is laid the opening scene of Mr. Walter Besant's stor}', 

 ' Let nothing you dismay ; ' the hero of the narrative 

 having to do penance in a white sheet before the con- 

 gregation entering the church." 



In speaking to some of the more intelligent inhabi- 

 tants I met of the facility with which the castle might 

 be restored, after the manner in which the Earl of 

 Moray restored Doune Castle, I was somewhat sur- 

 prised to find that the suggestion met with no encou- 

 ragement from them. They shrugged their shoulders ; 

 and said that it was better as it was. The Duke of 

 Northumberland had a splendid seat not very far off 

 — Alnwick Castle, namely — and they knew that were 

 Warkworth Castle restored, and the ducal family settled 

 even for a part of the year there, it would soon come 

 to be a heavy tax on the good folks of Warkworth, by a 



