Lancashire

Churches

A long history, excellent furnishings, and a churchyard with 3 Saxon crosses

The Domesday book records that "the church of Saint Mary had in Wallei two carucates of land free of all custom", so it is likely that a church existed here in Saxon times. The existence of no less than 3 Anglo-Saxon crosses in the churchyard supports this view. It has been suggested that their Celtic style of decoration associates them with the visit of a mission from Iona in the C10 or C11. Today's visitor finds the church next door to the ruins of Whalley Abbey.

Fragments remain from the Norman church that was built around 1080, the most obvious being the scalloped capitals in the south doorway. This church was destroyed, probably by fire, and the next building erected on the site dates from c.1200. The chancel exemplifies the work of this period. It has characteristic Early English lancet windows and gabled buttresses. Inside is a three-seat sedilia with pointed arches and detached shafts. The piscina and the roof timbers are also of this date.

The nave has four bays and aisles to north and south. The columns are round on the north side and octagonal to the south. It has been suggested that they are of the same date i.e.. late C13. Is this likely?

Of the many interesting furnishings in the church the pinnacled choir stalls are particularly noteworthy. Made for the monks of Whalley Abbey between 1418 and 1434, they were carved by a man called Eatough (a surname still common in Lancashire) and have been the subject of only slight restoration. The twenty one medieval misericords are described by Pevsner as "one of the most rewarding sets in the country", and depict: a green man, Alexander's Flight, St George and Dragon, Reynard stealing the goose, the Trinity (three faces on one head), swine beneath an oak tree, and other subjects. The stalls also have C15 poppyheads of angels with shields. The screens to the chancel and north and south chapels have much Perpendicular work.

Further excellent woodwork is found in the nave, notably "The Cage" - a large screened pew bearing the a number of inscriptions, the earliest of which is "Made by Roger Nowell Esquire, in the year of our Lord 1534." Other inscribed dates - 1610, 1697 mark the erection of the openwork screen, and a further date of 1830 records a renovation. The Starkie pew in front of the pulpit is of 1702, and has fine carving. Other notable woodwork includes the organ case, built originally for Lancaster Priory, by Gerard Smith in 1727. It was presented to Whalley in 1813, and was a rarity at that time, parish church music usually being provided by a band in a gallery.

The stained glass includes in the south aisle windows of 1847 by Hardman, designed by A.W.N. Pugin (the Virgin with Saints Anne and John), and by Morris & Co. (The Good Shepherd flanked by angels). The latter is post-1891, and not to the standard that the firm achieved in earlier decades.

The church displays three chained books in an oak case made of re-used timbers: "Jewell's Apology" (1611 ed.), "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" (1684 ed.), and "Book of Homilies" (1623 ed.).

View from the east

The Perpendicular east window is set in a chancel that dates from the Early English period.

Magnificent choir stalls

The stalls are initialled W.W. (Abbot William Whalley) which dates them to 1418-1434.

Misericord

The misericords are exceptional - here a man shoes a goose, with an inscription below.

Anglo-Saxon Cross

The crosses date from the C10 and C11. This one may represent the Tree of Calvary.

West tower

Dating from 1440, the west tower is twenty feet square and sixty six feet high.

Chancel

The chancel has characteristic lancet windows, and a priest's door with original ironwork.

Photographs and text © Tony Boughen