Memorials of old Derbyshire

by Unknown

Horsley.—In or about the year 1825 it was noted by Rev. R. R. Rawlins that “a screen of rudely ornamented open-work surrounded a portion of the north aisle.”

Kirk Langley.—There were originally three screens in this church, namely, the rood-screen and two parcloses. All three of them have been so repeatedly altered and mixed up that it is difficult to follow their history with certain accuracy. The year of darkest tragedy in the annals of the fabric was 1839, when a devastating “restoration” ravaged the ancient wood-fittings. Hitherto the parclose-screen of the Meynell chantry, standing at the eastern extremity of the north aisle, and extending as far as the centre of the first arch, had remained; but it was then removed, and certain portions of it made into a reredos. These fragments, and whatever else could be found belonging to the same parclose, were diligently gathered together by Rev. Frank Meynell, and are now incorporated in a new parclose encompassing the first bay of the north aisle. The cornice, much repaired, contains a handsome border, 4¾ inches deep, of vine and grape ornament upon a wave basis; and there are, in all, fourteen of the old panels, carefully patched together and mounted on canvas backing to strengthen them. They comprise seven (or, to count one slight variant as additional, eight) distinct patterns of late Perpendicular in point of date, but such that so far from being jaded or commonplace, give the lie to the “correct” view of the decadence of later mediæval art, and testify to the inexhaustible vitality and resourcefulness of Gothic fancy to the end. The other parclose stood between the south aisle and the south chapel, screening the Twyford chantry. In 1710 Bassano noted the screen, with the arms of Twyford over its entrance doorway. By 1879 this parclose had been demolished, and parts of it made up with the rood-screen, which yet stood in situ, presenting an incongruous blend of Perpendicular and earlier woodwork. Even this, however, has since given place to a brand-new screen, and whatever still remains of the ancient screenwork is now embodied in the box-door in the west tower, as above described. The abolished rood-loft must have been approached from the south, for, although there are no longer any traces to be seen of it, in 1879 it was noted that “the squint from the Twyford quire is within the doorway of the old stairs leading to the rood-loft.”

Kirk Langley Church: Details from Parcloses of North and South Aisles.

Long Eaton.—“Within the chancel (now used as a vestry),” writes Rev. Dr. Cox in 1879, “is a piece of old oak carving, which was found, in 1868, used as a joist under the floor. It looks as if it had been part of the cornice of the rood-screen, and is carved with three four-leaved flowers and two heads. Its date is circa 1460.” This carving was probably displaced and abused in the manner described, in 1731, when the church is known to have undergone re-pewing and other “repairs.” The ancient rood-loft extended from side to side of the nave, which is 20 ft. 6 in. wide—or rather it should be, if the whole building had not been tampered with and falsified in 1868.

Longford.—The eastern extremity of both the aisles was formerly partitioned off by carved oak parcloses to form chantry chapels, but in 1826 both these screens were demolished. “From the east wall of the nave, close to the north side of the chancel archway, projects” a stone corbel, which must have had some connection with the ancient rood arrangements, as a support either for the loft or the rood-beam.

Longstone.—“The east end of the south aisle is” [1877] “shut off by an old oak screen, so as to form a family pew. It has a finely carved cornice, and on the north side has the arms of Eyre impaling Stafford ... and over the door which forms the west entrance to the screen is the well-known crest of the Eyre family—an armed leg.”

Mackworth.—Some old oak carving, portions, apparently, of ancient screenwork, were made up into the wainscot at the back of a seat within the porch. The ancient rood-loft may be assumed not to have exceeded the width of the nave, i.e., 21 ft. 3 in.

Melbourne.—At the general restoration of the church in 1859–60, the rood-screen was so unsparingly treated as to make it difficult to tell what its original design could have been. It is 13 ft. 9 in. long, and stands at the entrance of the chancel in the eastern crossing. A drawing, published in the Anastatic Drawing Society’s volume for 1862, represents the church in the process of “restoration.” The screen, as there depicted, though it cannot have been even then in its original condition (having lost its vaulting, gates, and solid part at the bottom), differs considerably from the screen in its present state. It dated from the Perpendicular period, and consisted (as in fact it does still) of three bays, the middle one, for the entrance, being the largest. But the three main arches, which once constituted its most prominent feature, have since been replaced by obtuse chevrons, the ungainly massiveness of which is barely relieved by the ill-designed tracery underneath, or by a recent attempt to amend the bungling “restoration” of thirty years previously. It was in 1890, or thereabouts, that this unavailing re-restoration took place. The fact is that nothing can be done with Sir Gilbert Scott’s clumsy framework. To overlay it with applied ornament is only to emphasise its defects. There is but one satisfactory remedy, and that is to remove it altogether, and to replace it by something else fashioned on the beautiful flowing lines of the old Gothic design. The upper part contains eight pierced ornaments, 21½ inches in height from the crown of the two-centred arch to the base of the tracery, and 15 inches in width. Beyond these there is practically nothing of the original work left in the whole screen, which not only gives a very poor idea of what the majestic structure of the fifteenth century must have been, but also is in every way unworthy of the grandeur of its surroundings.

Mickleover.—Rev. R. R. Rawlins, in 1825, described the entrance from the nave as being “through a wooden arch,” near to which were the remains of a piscina. Whether this wooden arch represents the ancient rood-screen or not, it is impossible to tell. At any rate, the piscina shows that an altar must anciently have stood against the front of the screen.