The Earl is dressed in a rich suit of full armour, with collar of SS., and the ladies in kirtles, with jewelled girdles and sideless surcoats and mantles. Their arms have been destroyed. The Earl died in 1426.
The remaining monument is to the memory of Henry Neville, fifth Earl of Westmorland, who died in 1564, and his two first wives—Anne, daughter of Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, and Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Cholmondeley.
The monument is of oak, and ornamented with effigies of the Earl’s children and armorial bearings. The Earl is dressed in armour, and an inscription states that the tomb was made in the year 1560.
In addition to the churches already mentioned, the south and south-east districts of the county are rich in churches, worthy, if space availed, of more than passing notice.
At Barnard Castle the church dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin carries evidence that it was in early times a large and important edifice, and in the twelfth century consisted of chancel and nave, with north and south aisles. Rebuilding and structural alterations were carried out from time to time until the middle of the fifteenth century, when both transepts were rebuilt. The vestry is probably of the same date, and the chancel arch, which is very fine, slightly earlier. The tower is modern, and replaced a fifteenth-century structure. The floor of the chancel is much higher than that of the nave, and evidence of a similar difference in levels is found at Lanchester Church. Two arched recesses, one of which contains an effigy of a priest, are in the north wall of the north transept, and a mutilated piscina is in the south wall of the same transept. In this church there were four chantry chapels dedicated respectively to St. Catherine, St. Helen, St. Margaret, and the Trinity, and referred to in old records, but their exact position cannot now be ascertained.
The church at Winston has several sepulchral brasses, but, with the exception of the walls of the chancel, which contain two remarkable single-light windows, and the arcade and north wall of the nave, is modern.
Nearer to Darlington is the Church of St. Andrew at Haughton-le-Skerne. The whole of the edifice is of one period, and dates from the second quarter of the twelfth century. Its most striking feature is a massive tower, surmounted by a battlemented turret of later date. The richly carved woodwork of Restoration date is interesting. In the east wall of the nave is a monumental brass, and a stone slab in the floor of the tower commemorates the death of Elizabeth Naunton, Prioress of Neasham, 1488-89.
The only medieval pulpit in the county is in the Church of St. Michael at Heighington. It is of oak, and carved with the linen pattern design and flowing tracery, with an inscription on the cornice.
The church dates from the twelfth century, and considerable remains of that date still exist.
At Aycliffe, the Church of St. Andrew is substantially a building of Norman date. It now consists of a chancel, nave with north and south aisles, south porch, and western tower, the latter and the south aisle dating from the beginning of the thirteenth century. Remains of several pre-Conquest crosses are in the church and churchyard.