repairs amounted to about one thousand eight hundred pounds, including one hundred pounds laid out in repairing and beautifying the organ.

A custom has immemoriably prevailed of raising the rates for the repairs of the church, in certain proportions from the different townships of the parish. There is the following entry in the Vestry Book of 1679" It is an ancient custom in the parish of Bradford thus to proportion the church lay. First, that the chapelry of Haworth pay a fifth part of the whole sume; then Bradford town a third part of the remaining sume; and the rest to be equally divided according the to ch wardens of the several towns of Thornton, Heaton-cumClayton, Allerton-cum- Wilsden, Great and Little Horton, Wibsey and Bierley, Shipley, Manningham, Bolling, Eccleshill." It is evident that this usage must have taken its rise in times when Haworth bore a different relationship to the other townships of the parish in wealth and population to that in which it stands in modern times The inhabitants of Haworth in 1785 refused to pay their ancient proportion; and in 1789 an action was brought in the Ecclesiastical Court of York against them, to compel them to pay it. It was afterwards discovered that the Ecclesiastical Court had no jurisdiction to enforce the payment of church-rates, and a mandamus was obtained from the Court of King's Bench, commanding the chapelwardens of Haworth to levy the rate according to the ancient custom. After some technical proceedings, an action to determine the question of the custom was tried at York, before Mr. Justice Buller and a special jury, in 1792, and a verdict given against Haworth. A motion was made for a new trial, which was unsuccessful. The inhabitants of Haworth after this paid their ancient proportion till the year 1810, when they again refused, and another mandamus was applied for without success, on the objection that the rate was retrospective, being laid to reimburse the churchwardens for sums expended by them. A rate was, however, shortly laid prospectively, and another action tried at York Lent assizes, in 1812, when Haworth was again worsted.

* Previous to the year 1800, the townships of Clayton and Heaton were associated together for (I believe) highway purposes. At the Quarter Sessions held in Pontefract, in that year, the connection was dissolved. Thornton and Denholme; and Allerton with Wilsden; remain associated to the present day.

The walls of the church are incrusted with a number of beautiful monuments. The undermentioned three deserve a notice here.

On the north wall of the upper chancel, and within the altar railings, is probably one of the finest pieces of sculpture that this age has produced. It is to the memory of Abraham Palme, a gentleman of Bradford; and by the chisel of the celebrated Flaxman. Cunningham, in his life of Flaxman, says that the great sculptor thought this monument, and one erected for the Yarborough family at Street Thorp, near York, to be "two of his most effective compositions." That to Mr. Balme is a choice piece of "motionless grace." It is a personation of venerable Age instructing Youth. Whether the symmetry, ease, and beauty of the figuresthe natural disposition of the drapery-or the happiness of the conception be considered, it must be regarded as a piece of almost unequalled excellence in English sculpture.

In the space which anciently formed "Bolling Chapel," and which is now enclosed with iron rails, there is an elegant marble monument to the late William Sharp, Esq, of this town, surgeon.-A female figure of excellent sculpture, and of the human size, is leaning in a sorrowful attitude upon a square pediment, on the front of which is a basso-relievo likeness of Mr. Sharp.

In the chancel, there is a marble monument erected by Miss Hartley to the memory of her parents, Samuel and Mary Hartley. The monument is surmounted by a beautifully executed figure in relief of a female in the attitude of submission to the dispensations of Providence.

Close to the west gate of the church-yard, there is lying a stone six feet in length, upon which is rudely sculptured the figure of a tree, branching at the top in the form of a

cross.

It is probable that anciently this stone stood in some part of Bradford churchyard; as, in former days, crosses were commonly erected in such places, before a church was erected.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF ST. PETER'S PARISH CHURCH, BRADFORD,

AS IT WAS BEFORE THE RECENT ALTERATIONS.

[I am able to present the reader with an Architectural Description of the Parish Church, drawn up by the late Rev. Joshua

Fawcett, M.A., Incumbent of Low Moor, and published by Mr. E. A. W. Taylor, Bookseller, in Kirkgate, in 1845.*]

The Church of St. Peter's consists of a "Tower, Nave with Aisles, Chancel with North and South Chapels. The general style of the building may be considered Perpendicular English, although it is of a debased character.

"TOWER.-The Tower consists of four stories, and is supported by stayed buttresses, square set. The upper story is lighted on all sides by windows filled in with loavering, over each of which runs a drip-stone, which is returned on the walls. In the second story are no lights. In the third, a window of six lights, cinq-foiled, the upper or subsidiary ones, which are divided by an embattled transom bar, trefoiled. The whole is surmounted by a drip-stone, or weather. moulding. Below this window is a door. way, with a depressed head, the character of which seems to indicate an earlier date than almost any other portion of the building. The Tower is terminated by an embattled parapet, with sunk tre-foiled panelling and meagre crocketed pinnacles.

"NAVE.-The Nave is lighted by windows on the north and south sides. Those on the north consist of three lights, cinq-foiled, the upper lights tre-foiled. The windows on the south side are in their general character similar to those on the north, but modern, forming part of the work of restoration carried on in the year 1832. The whole of these are under depressed heads. The buttresses on the north side are stayed, and of the style usually adopted in buildings of this class. Those on the south have nothing to recommend them except the solidity of their masonry. The north clerestory windows consist of two lights, tre-foiled. Two of them have had their mullions cut away, and wood sashes introduced, much to the disfigurement of the Church. The clerestory windows of the south side consist of three lights each, tre foiled, under heads similarly depressed with those of the aisles. The roof on the north side has no parapet, either on clerestory or aisle, and probably never had any; this, however, has been introduced on

"A Memorial, Historical and Architectural, of the Parish Church of St. Peter's, Bradford, Yorkshire; by the Rev. J. Fawcett, M.Á." Dedicated "To the Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D., F.R.S., etc., etc., President, and the Members of the Church Institution,' Published at their unanimous request.

the south. The roof is of its original pitch, and is covered with the grey slate of the country. The door-way on the north is of debased character, and the door of very modern and unpretending form. That on the south is more architecturally correct, and covered by a porch of good proportions and fair design.

"CHANCEL. The proportions of the Church deserve high praise, unlike the designs of modern times. In short, in this respect, the Parish Church of Bradford may be taken as a good specimen of the general arrangement of the parts of a Church, in the day when architecture was made the study and rule. On the north side, the Leventhorpe Chapel or Aisle is lighted by a three-light window, cinq-foiled, the upper, or, subsidiary lights, tre-foiled. The north-east window of the Chancel consists of three lights, similarly foiled. On the south side, the Bolling Chapel is lighted by windows of truly debased character, the heads circular, and the mullions running up in perpendicular lines without any foliation. The south-east window of the chancel of five lights, cinqfoiled, central-light disparting, the sub-sidiary ones tre-foiled. This is by far the best window in the Church. The east window is of eight lights,and of most debased character.. The Chancel is supported at the east by diagonal staged buttresses. The gable is surmounted by the remains of a cross, which has originally been in the form of a wheel. On the north side is a small door-way, called the Priest's Door, which leads by two steps to the floor of the Chancel. The door-way on the south is modern, and surmounted by a coat of arms. The pitch of the roof is much more elevated than the Nave, and is covered with the same material as the Nave. The South, Bolling Chapel, has been rebuilt at no very distant period, as the style of the masonry shows, and the absence of that architectural character which marks the other portions of the building. Over the east window of the Chancel has been an inscription which now bears the date 1616.

INTERIOR.

"CHANCEL.-The floor of the Chancel is elevated above that of the Nave by three steps, and rises by a regular ascent to the platform on which are fixed the Altar-rails. This floor has been lowered, as also that of the Nave, as the bases of the piers show; but the one probably held the same relation to the other which it now bears. On the south side, the Bolling Chapel is separated from the Chancel by two arches of larger

Now replaced.

dimensions than those of the Nave. The same may be said of the Leventhorpe Chapel, on the north side. The space in front of the Altar is enclosed by strong balustre rails, and the walls surrounding it, are cased with wooden panelling, of domestic rather than ecclesiastical form. The writer of this has carefully examined the wall of the Chancel now concealed by this panelling, but has not been able to discover the least traces of the ancient appendages of an Altar, -viz., a piscina, or aumbrie, or sedile. The roof of the Chancel deserves especial notice, from the mode of its construction, and the beauty of the ornaments which are introduced into it. It is open, and of wood, and rests on embattled hammer beams, and spandrils; the intersections of the beams, and thewall plates are well carved, but now so thickly coated with whitewash as almost to conceal their beauty.† In some cases the bosses and terminations of the spandrils have been removed.

"ROOD SCREEN.- The screen which formerly separated the Chancel from the Nave, was doubtless elevated to its present lofty position, at the time when the gallery was erected. It is of excellent workmanship, but of that style which renders it very unsightly in a Gothic edifice. Probably the original Rood Screen, which stood in this position, was entered by a staircase, which yet remains, in the north wall of the Church, in a direct line with the Chancel Arch.

"NAVE.-The Nave and Ante Church are separated from the aisles by nine arches, of somewhat similar character, though smaller dimensions than those in the Chancel, and of unequal span. These arches rest on clustered columns, the capitals of which are of meagre pretensions, and those on the south different from those on the north side. The south aisle was taken down and re-built in the year 1832, at which time the south clerestory windows of the Nave, and the dormer lights of this aisle, which before had been dissimilar in form, were made to assume a more regular appearance. The north clerestory windows (as has been observed,) with the exception of two, preserve their original form. The bases of many of the piers have been most shamefully cut away, in order to make additional accommodation for the pews; and thus public safety is endangered to procure a little private convenience.

"ROOF.-The roof of the nave is an object deserving of attention, and is a very

Windows in a sloping roof. † 1845.

beautiful specimen of perpendicular work. The original roof appears perfectly sound, and is all formed of solid oak. The roof of the north aisle is very good, and probably of the same date with that of the Chancel.

"DIMENSIONS.-Extreme length, 172 ft., extreme breadth, 54 ft.; Tower-north to south, 19 ft 5 in., east to west, 18 ft. 6 in. ; Nave-length, 99 ft. 1 in., breadth, 23 ft.; North Aisle- breadth, 12 ft. 10 in.; South Aisle-breadth, 13 ft. 7 in.; Chancellength, 44 ft. 5 in., breadth, 23 ft. 7 in.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ALTERATIONS MADE IN ST. PETER'S PARISH CHURCH, BRADFORD.

THE desirability of effecting many needful improvements in the arrangements of the Church had impressed her officers many years; plans for this object were made in 1845, and subsequent periods, but various obstacles presenting themselves, they were laid aside till 1860 and 1862.

The nave of the Church was the portion with which it was deemed advisable to commence, leaving the chancel to be dealt with at a later period: accordingly (having made choice of Mr. Thomas Hill, of this town, as the contractor,) the workmen proceeded to take down the west gallery, and shortly after re-erected it in an enlarged state, at the extreme west end of the nave, to the great distaste, no doubt, of those who had the opportunity of seeing the whole length of the nave unencumbered by so unsightly an appendage. The side galleries at the same time were extended westerly, an increase in the accommodation being necessary to compensate the pew-owners of the east gallery, now removed. The organ, which extended to within such a small distance of the ceiling, that some of the pipes were useless, was completely removed, portions being transmitted to Messrs. Holt's factory, at Leeds, there to undergo the treatment which has made so marked an improvement in its powers.

A short while after this the flat plaster ceiling, which so much detracted from the appearance of the building, was removed, and the old open timbered roof exposed to view. The woodwork being in a tolerably fair state of preservation, but few repairs were necessary: the curved brackets and wall posts at the end of the trusses, which were wanting, have been added, sufficient proof of their former existence being afforded by the mortice-holes in the old beams

corbels of Caen stone, representing angels, with different instruments of musie, have been added to support the brackets; the intersections of the roof-ribs have been covered with carved oak pateras, and the spaces between them plastered to exclude any draughts of air-coloured patterns may probably hereafter be introduced in these spaces, and will heighten considerably the effect. Now that the roof is freed from the additions of our beautifying forefathers, and we see it in its probably normal condition, we cannot conceive what reasons could have induced them to hide it by such an unecclesiastical object as a flat ceiling.

The unsightly floor in the lower part of the tower, used by the bell-ringers, was taken away, the clock room being allotted to them for their purpose; the old, useless chimney machinery being removed from this room, as also the old, and nearly equally useless, clock, which was in about the last stage of mechanical consumption. Another new and excellent clock has since taken its place, as it was necessary to provide a first-rate timekeeper, in a town which is almost proverbial for variations in time between the public clocks it already possesses Amongt other improvements to the tower we may mention that of the cleansing of the interior face of the walls from the whitewash and dirt which thickly coated it.

The interior of the tower walls is the only portion of the whole Church which is clear of plaster, being constructed of large courses of squared masonry, which greatly adds to its strong and massive appearance. Nearly the whole of the monumental tablets which disfigured the nave walls were removed (with approval), and fixed against the tower walls: perhaps the best position that could be chosen for the purpose, although some of the inscriptions, on account of the change of situation, read rather inconsistently.

A new bell frame being greatly needed, some of the timbers having in parts decayed almost through their substance, the bells were removed from their places till the completion of a new frame. The great difficulty experienced in obtaining English oak for this purpose, will explain the delay which arose before the bells were again rung I he bell-frame has been raised a few feet above its former level, in order to allow of the proper length of rope required by the ringers: no deterioration in the sound is, however, perceptible through this.

The vacant space to the west of the old pews of the nave. which formerly served as a kind of ante-chapel, and was in fact almost

lost room, has been floored and furnished with low, open seats of deal, affording accommodation for about 270 worshippers. The west door communicates with these seats, through a door in a closed screen, which extends across the tower, and forms a lobby to the tower staircase.

A new hot water heating apparatus was supplied by the Low Moor Company: the heat is distributed by flat D pipes, level with the aisles, and though the circuit is of great length, an agreeable temperature is maintained, with remarkable efficiency even on the coldest winter's day.

Arrangements with the pew-owners in the east gallery having been made, a faculty was obtained for its removal, it being certainly the greatest blemish in the whole Church. This having been accomplished, the chancel roof was taken under hand, the timbers, which had seemingly held frequent acquaintance with the whitewasher, were divested of several successive coats; the intermediate spaces were boarded in deal, stained, and varnished

Owing to some constructional failure, the hammer-beams in most cases have broken from the other portions, and the result is that with the heavy weight of the slate roof in pressing against them, the side walls, the south particularly, have been forced considerably from the perpendicular. It thus became necessary to rebuild the north and south pillars, between the chancel and sidechapels. The east gallery being removed, the unsafe condition of the chancel arch. piers became apparent, and it was necessary to re-build these, together with one of the pillars on the north side of the nave, which it was found had been cut half-way through near the base, by some individual who consulted his increase of comfort more than his safety. The westernmost pillar of the south aisle had been so completely cut away in attaching mural tablets that fractures occurred whilst erecting the west gallery, and unless it had speedily been remedied, it is probable that a considerable portion of the south wall would have fallen. The foundation of the pillars, &c., appears to have been executed in a very careless manner, it seems singular that the rock should not have been reached, it being but a few feet below the surface of the ground. The numerous vaults with which the whole area of the Church is honey-combed, however, would greatly tend to render the fabric still more unstable, and they occasioned much difficulty when shoring up the arches whilst the new work was inserted. The chancel arch, which, through the failure of the piers, had assumed a not

very graceful or symmetrical form, was altered piecemeal, and now presents if not a geometrically correct curve, at least a better form than before. We must mention that in removing the old foundation of the chancel piers, several portions of window jaumbs were discovered built amongst other materials, this would seem to favour the idea of a preexisting Church. A small recess was exposed in the south pier, though its use was by no means apparent. Discoveries of another nature were also made, viz., the existence of a coloured decoration in various parts of the building. Over the chancel arch the remains of a figure in coloured drapery, and an inscription in black letter, were brought to light, though so much were they obliterated that it was impossible to decypher anything. Such being the case it was considered advisable to cover them up again. On several of the nave caps also, a pattern in dark red colour, of very straggling and indefinite form, was found; some of the Church arch-stones were also covered with a succession of small red crosses. These remains are interesting, if only in partially showing to what extent colour was made use of in medieval days; we trust that the practice of this kind of decoration, which was then the almost invariable rule, may not remain an exception in our later times.

The levels of the chancel floor have undergone various modifications, in place of the former continuous slope, steps having been laid at convenient intervals. the gravestones which form the pavement being laid, as nearly as possible, in their original position. In removing the old pews in the chancel and elsewhere portions of an ancient oak screen and the upper portion of a standard to a stall desk were found, having been cut and sawn so as to be of use in repairing the Church. From the appearance of these relics we may conclude that the workmanship must have been of very remote description.

The

chapels north and south of the chancel have been separated from the latter by new oak screens, the lower portion of which are closed panels, with open tracery and cresting of elaborate pattern in the upper part. The organ is placed in the western half of the Leventhorpe Chapel, and has been reconstructed with the addition of several new stops and movements, the bellows being worked by an hydraulic engine by means of the pressure of the town's water pipes; perhaps the greatest achievement of the whole alterations is the removal of the choir from the west gallery to their proper location in the chancel; oak stalls and desks, arranged longitudinally, with traceried panels and

carved finials, have been provided for the accommodation of choir and clergy. All who have had the pleasure of hearing the choir since their change of place will not fail to observe the striking advantage consequent thereon, which advantage, we think, is fully appreciated by the choir themselves, who strive successfully to maintain the high character of the choral service. The chancel is illuminated by gas standards of polished brass, with numerous burners to each, two at either end of the stalls and two within the altar-rails, which when lit give a most brilliant effect to this part of the Church. nave is lighted by brackets fixed to the pillars.

The

The foregoing remarks penned by one of the architects* who designed the renovations in our Parish Church, may very properly be supplemented by the following reflections and observations, by the late Mr. John James, F.S A., on the same subject.

In passing into the Church, through the great South portal, one is struck with the wonderful transformation which has been effected, developing, in a large measure, the august proportions of the original interior. The exceedingly fine oak roof, one of the finest specimens in Yorkshire, hidden before by an ugly plaster ceiling, is now thrown open and restored. The unsightly east gallery has been entirely removed, the chancel arch cleared of its excrescences, and restored and ornamented, thus exhibiting the whole of the chancel and east window. A handsome carved pulpit, placed more in the middle of the nave, has been substituted for the former plain one. But the most important improvement consists in setting back to the tower arch the west gallery, thereby adding two bays each to the north and south galleries; and in appropriating to the nave, the floor of the tower, and the large space formerly excluded from the Church, known as the vestibule or baptistry. These portions, greatly enlarging the nave, have been fitted with suitable seats, and the ringing chamber having been constructed higher in the tower, the grand west window has been exposed, and affords abundant light to that quarter of the edifice. The stone work of the inner face of the lower walls of the tower has been dressed, and around it are placed

* Messrs. Mallinson and Healey, of Bradford.

The font, with its quaint canopy of fretwork, has been removed from its position there, unto the lower end of the former nave.