Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/421

Rh a chapel, the central bay of each east window containing a canopied niche of stone, and on each side of these windows were brackets. In the chancel was an ancient tomb-stone reared against the wall, on which was the figure of a lady with an infant. I think that the tower and spire of this church, although on a much smaller scale, are of the same date, and perhaps designed by the same hand as that of Laughton.

"I now proceeded to the village of Thorpe Salvin. The font and the south doorway of this church are well known to antiquaries, having been figured in 'Archæologia' and in Hunter's 'Deanery of Doncaster.' I was gratified to find that by the taste and good feeling of the present incumbent the font has been cleared of whitewash, and it is now a beautiful specimen of Norman work, the sculpture being nearly as sharp as it ever was. The various subjects afford some useful information respecting the costume of the twelfth century, ecclesiastical and civil.

"In this church also the altar-slab remains within, the altar-rails, but broken into several pieces. There are three sedilia, level, with trifoliated heads, under ogee hoods, and an embattled cornice above. The sedilia at Anstan are of the same character. The piscina is a small square recess; the orifice plastered. There is a lychnoscope, an Early English window widely splayed internally, with a transom near the sill. The lower part as well as the upper has been glazed. It commands a small square recess in the opposite wall, which, I think, were the plaster removed, would be found to have pierced the wall. In the north wall of the chancel is an aumbry with a segmental-arched head. North of the chancel is a pretty chapel of Decorated date. It has a piscina with a trifoliated head under an ogee arch, and a shelf above it, which is rather unusual; and east of this, close to the ground, a square recess in the wall, slanting westward. In the south-east window of the nave, in its eastern splay, is a trefoiled niche. The general character of this church is Norman, but it has many later additions. This was the limit of my excursion."

2. A letter from Archdeacon Jones of Llanfachroth rectory, Bangor, in reference to the statement made to the Committee by the Rev. H. L. Jones on the condition of several churches in Anglesey. In consequence of a communication from the Committee the Archdeacon writes:—

"I considered it my duty in my new capacity of Archdeacon, to go and inspect the condition of Llanphangel Ysceifiag church. Accordingly I requested the dean of Bangor, the patron, the incumbent, and the rural dean, to meet me on the premises last Tuesday. The dean could not attend, but the rural dean and myself went over the interior of the church, and after examining it thoroughly, we came to the conclusion that the walls were in such an unsafe condition as barely to admit of any improvement or repair; in fact they project in several places so much from their perpendicular, as to give the appearance, at least, of being unsafe. However, of this any common mason or builder would be a better judge than either the rural dean or myself. If the walls can be depended upon, I do not doubt but that the roof and other disrepairs could be sufficiently set right by an outlay of perhaps a £100 or at least £150 or so. But I very much doubt the safety of the walls. We found what Mr. H. L. Jones called the south transept roof in a shocking state and ready to fall in. This is entirely owing to the leaden gutter on the roof having been so long neglected, and indeed the whole church bears evident marks of neglect, wilful or otherwise, on the part of those whose