Our Churches and Chapels: Their Parsons, Priests, & Congregations: Being a Critical and Historical Account of Every Place of Worship in PrestonAtticus
History
Our Churches and Chapels: Their Parsons, Priests, & Congregations: Being a Critical and Historical Account of Every Place of Worship in Preston
Atticus
Preston (Lancashire, England) -- Church history
The church can be approached by a doorway at the eastern end of the
transept; but the bulk of the worshippers pass through those at the
southern or front end--three in number, and rather heavy and dim in
appearance. The centre one leads into the body of the building, and
we may as well take advantage of it. We are just within; above there
is a serious looking groined roof, with a lamp suspended from the
middle of it; before us there is a screen, filled in with clear
glass, through which you can see the worshippers who seem thin and
scattered. Formerly the back of a sharply drawn up, dangerous
gallery, for scholars, over which careless children might have
fallen with the greatest ease, occupied the place of this screen,
and a series of hot water pipes--apparently intended for warming the
doorway and the churchyard in front, for they could have been of no
use to people inside the building--were fixed there. In 1866, when
the church was renovated, they were carried about fifteen yards into
the edifice, where they may be seen to this day. We sat close to
eight of them, with a top coat on, one Sunday evening, as a
compensation for being nearly starved to death in one of the back
side wings in the morning, and felt charmingly cooked at the end of
the service. On the left side of the central entrance, and near the
glass door and the screen, there is an elaborately carved box of
Gothic design, intended for missionary contributions; but it is
fixed in such a dim corner that nobody can see it. We have
recommended the beadle to place this box in a more prominent
position, for it is worth looking at as an ornament, even if nothing
is put into it. The aperture in the lid might be closed, and the box
could then be hung up beside the doorway lamp, so that its
proportions might be fairly realised. The interior of the church is
broad and lofty, but through its Norman configuration it is stiff
and coldly ponderous in effect. Massive bare walls, high narrow
windows, and a semi-sexagonal ceiling dependent upon rather ungainly
beams and rafters, like a series of hanging frames, chill you a
little; but on looking northward, to the end of the building, the
chancel and transept arches, which are strong and elegantly moulded,
relieve you, and as you advance the place seems to gradually assume
a finer and more imposing aspect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account