with bands of vine leaves. The removal of some baize on the western side of the screen disclosed some similar carving, sharp and fresh as when the craftsman ceased from his work, but in which, it may be noted, the vermilion background introduced elsewhere is wanting. The screen which separates the Blundell from the Molyneux Chapel has been much injured, but the details of the ornament on all these screens furnish evidence that they and the carvings at Lydiate Hall were probably the work of the same hand.

The screens which divide the chancel from the chapels are fine specimens of open-work carving, but are surmounted by crestings of comparatively very recent date. Holes, now plugged with stone, can be seen at the spring of each arch, immediately above the capitals of the pillars. They, no doubt, received the ends of beams, and indicate either that the screenwork itself was originally higher than at present, or that they received the supports of canopies which have disappeared. Wooden

stanchions and saddlebars are now to be found in the compartments of the screens. It has been conjectured that they replaced others originally of iron (figures of which have even been published), but an examination of the woodwork does not give much support to the theory. The existing bars have, nevertheless, a very imitative character.

It would appear probable that at some time a screen or rood-beam crossed the chancel at the end of the arcade, as two holes, now filled with clay, are to be found in the wall on either side, close to the Morton and the opposite tablet. A border of oaken carved work still remains within the opening of the arch of the aumbry in the north wall of the chancel, but is of a different style and character to the other carved work in the church. A prominent feature is the frequent introduction of tendrils

into the design of vine leaves and grapes. Traces of old hinges indicate the existence of an earlier door, but this has disappeared, and is replaced by a panel door of modern workmanship.

A classical structure in oak, covering the east wall and rising above the level of the window sill, represents the outcome of the bequest of Mrs. Ann Molyneux, in 1729, for the erection of an "altarpiece." This instance of good intentions and disastrous results, although a fair example of the taste of its period, yet utterly incongruous with its surroundings, appears to have received further ornamentation in 1820, when a gilded representation of the Host, surrounded by rays, was affixed to the centre panel; and a certain Mr. Loyen, according to the wardens' accounts, received £14, " for a new carpet and fixing the Glory." This classical altarpiece bears a strong resemblance to the one in the University Church of S. Mary-the-Virgin, Oxford.

The bench-ends in both chancel and nave form one of the most remarkable features of the building. In the chancel, those attached to both the "decani and "cantori" stalls bear the initials I.M. with a twisted cord or "ceinture" between them. If these letters stand for James Molyneux, they fix the date of the stalls at about the concluding years of the fifteenth century. The bench-ends on the south side of the nave and in the south aisle severally display each a letter of an elaborately designed alphabet, wanting, however, w, x, and z. The "poppy-heads" of the whole are of bold design, and the carving on the ends shows the work of a skilful hand. The vine, the pomegranate, the rose, and the lily, the latter sometimes crowned, are favourite subjects frequently repeated. The grotesque element, rarely absent in such work, finds expression in the chancel in the figures of, an owl

attacked by two smaller birds; in two strange figures beneath a crown or canopy each playing upon a pipe; in the figure of a feeding goat, over which a second is taking a flying leap; while a goat, a griffin, an unicorn, and an eagle "displayed" are also represented. A curious example of a figure-subject occurs on a bench-end now near the door in the south aisle, on which a man or youth brandishing a scimitar is represented as seated upon a dromedary. The "points" of the animal could hardly have been so accurately rendered had not the carver seen a living specimen, and the temptation to connect his work with an entry in A Cavalier's Note-Book is strong. "A man," writes William Blundell, of Crosby, "who shewed a dromedary "in most parts of England, told me (1662) that "he found more profit thereby in Lancashire than "in any other county." On the stall-ends of a seat. appropriated to the wardens are carved the lion and the unicorn, and a shepherd's or pastoral crook crossed by a spear or goad. The material is old, but has been put together in its present form at a recent date. The linen pattern" on the panels is another indication that the date of the seating is to be placed in the fifteenth century.

In the north aisle several of the bench-ends bear representations of the instruments of the Passion, the pillar of scourging, on which a cock is conspicuous, the nails, hammer, and pincers, crown of thorns, and reed and spear. Two bench-ends at the east end of this aisle are somewhat enigmatical. On one appears a mitre, and beneath it either a chalice or a covered cup. The latter was a device of the Mascy family, and the name of James Molyneux, as a witness, appears on a Mascy deed of 1501. The other bench-end has upon it a head and shoulders, the face bearing somewhat of the expression of the usual representations of our

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