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Gentleman's Magazine 1849 part 1 p.257
anew, and the natural reddish hue of the stone brought to
light with warm and becoming effect, to which the plaster on
the walls was tinted to harmonize.
The roofs, which are of low pitch, were entirely
reconstructed, the expense of that of the nave, which is
open to the ridge, being defrayed at the general cost of the
parishioners. It is, together with the wood-work of the
whole, save the exceptions already and afterwards mentioned,
composed of the best Baltic deal, stained and varished to
look like oak. The tie-beams, which are triangular in form,
with the point hanging down, have many convex and ogee
mouldings; they rest on the walls, where their ends are
hidden by projecting architraves or cornices of wood, of
similar mouldings, that flank each wall and give an
appearance of greater height to the roof. Short curved
braces, resting on the tie-beams, support the moulded ribs
of the principal rafters, immediately underneath the
intersections of the purlins or bars; these, lying
horizontally, divide each bay into panels, that are
subdivided into narrow longitudinal divisions by the plain
inclined rectangular bars forming the common rafters, over
which they are boarded.
The chancel roof presents a continuity of form and design,
but the architraves and tie-beams being more massive and
ornately moulded, as well as embattled on their upper edges,
it offers a bolder and more enriched construction. It is
divided into four bays, and the first and last tie-beams
partly rest on curved spandrils that die away below into
stone corbels, which rest on carved heads that spring from
the walls.
The roofs of the aisles are like that of the nave, except
that there are neither tie-beams nor braces, and that the
architrave which flanks the top of each wall is of lighter
dimensions; they are likewise formed into panels by moulded
horizontal purlins, which, at the intersection of the
principal rafters, and also at the joining of the rafters to
the walls, are tied with ornamental bosses of carved flowers
and foliage, mingled with church emblems, and the shields of
arms of gentry in the neighbourhood. The roof at the east
end of the north aisle of the chancel, over the pew
belonging to Ormathwaite Hall, is more elaborately adorned,
the architrave on the flank wall of that part of the aisle
being deeper and more profusely moulded, and terminated at
each end by the graceful figure of an angel, finely carved
in wood; such enrichments being intended to replace the
ruder style of decoration that formerly distinguished this
pew.
At the western end of the south aisle is the vestry,
separated from the aisle by a high, close-paneled wainscot
or scrren, of characteristic design, surmounted by a
cornice, whose upper edge is likewise embattled.
The interior was newly seated; the benches in the nave,
which are all open except two, have plain, slightly-raised
frame-ends, and all but one face to the east.
The stalls in the chancel are twenty in number; eight of
them likewise look towards the east, and the remaineder,
together with the open benches in that division of the
church, which are further distinguished by high raised ends
terminated by carved finials, and those in its aisles which
have only slightly rasied ends, face either north or south.
The benches in the chancel have carved panels in front, of
uniform design, and, with the other seats and fittings-up in
this portion of the church and its aisles, are all of oak.
The turn of the arms of the stalls, and of the benches in
the chancel and its aisles, together with the poppy-heads of
the chancel seats, are adorned with carvings of foliage,
fruit, and flowers, intermingled with the heads of saints
and angels, and mystical devices symbolic of Scriptural
subjects, finely and even delicately executed, the whole
thus preserving an agreeable unity of style with the
architectural and ornamental embellishments throughout the
church.The Lord's table, chairs, and rails, are carved in a
corresponding pattern, and the cloth and cushions on the
table and around the rails are of murrey-coloured velvet,
the former being edged with gold-lace and fringe. The area
within the rails is boarded, and covered with a carpet of
the same colour; and in the south wall, near the angle
formed with the east endwall, is a plain and perfect piscina
with a segmental head. The screen or
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