"To wit the basis of the said intended gallery to be 2 yds. and 2 ft. from the floor or pavement of the said church, and the length of the said gallery from the west end wall of the said church eastward to be six yards, and the breadth thereof from the north wall to the Main Pillar southwards five yds. two feet and a half." The expression "vacancy at the west end" and the term "Main Pillar" are of importance, as will be seen hereafter. The number and sizes of the pews are given with the dimensions of the staircase, and mention is made of breaking a hole or passage through the east wall of the steeple to the said intended gallery. After due notice being given to all who might claim any right or title to the east wall of the said steeple or vacancy above described wherein the said gallery is to be erected, these gallery seats are "confirmed " to those applying for permission to erect the gallery, &c., for their "Uses of sitting, standing, kneeling, and hearing Divine Service and sermons therein on Sundays, Holydays, and other opportune times without molestation of any other person or persons whatsoever." It then states the pew belonging to each person, and it appears from the contract dated June 6th, 1741, that in accordance with the amount subscribed by each was the position of his pew. He who gave the most had the front pew, and he who gave the least the back. One William Herd was the contractor, who undertook to do the whole of the work for £32, out of which he had to pay £2 15s., the charge for the faculty. The highest sum subscribed was by William Pearson, £3 16s., and the lowest by John Herring and Isaac Dickinson, each 18s. 2 d. In describing the gallery, this contract speaks of its being placed in the "west end of the north side," and that its breadth be from the "north wall" to the "south wall" of the said church. Again, in giving the size of the front beam to support the gallery, it states it had to be "12 ft. by 10 ft. square, and so long as to go across the said church and one foot into the wall on each side." In ART. XVI.-The Parish Church, Egremont.* By T. LEWIS BANKS, A.R.I.B.A., Finsbury Circus, London. Read at Egremont, August 30th, 1881. RING the pulling down of this ancient Parish Church many things unknown, and unsuspected, were revealed, and although the building no longer exists, these new revelations may prove interesting to lovers of church architec ture. The story can be best told as it was first told. The building shall speak for itself in the order it spoke before, and each stone unravel its own mystery. The church in our day was in appearance severely Puritan, square on plan, with an uninteresting tower in the middle of the west front, and a still more uninteresting chancel at the east end. The north, south, and west walls were pierced with square windows, devoid of proportion and regularity. The roof was tie-beamed and flat-pitched. Rough-cast had once covered the walls externally, but by the kindness of the rains of many seasons, such as this, had nearly disappeared. Internally, the walls were thickly coated with plaster. The ceiling drooped and bagged, and threatened to come down at any moment, giving one a favourable impression of the courage of the worthy rector and his parishioners, who dared to worship amid such imminent peril. A gallery surrounded three sides of the church. It was approached by a dangerous stone staircase, and when reached had not a comfortable pew in it. The pulpit, a wooden structure, (said to have been designed and built by a tramp,-if so, it did him credit,) like everything else, * Confer an account of this Church by Canon Knowles, vol. i. these Transactions, p. 300. |