How long the enlarged church remained under a double roof cannot be said. Trouble would be sure to come from the long, deep valley, where snow would lodge and drip slowly inside. Clearly there was urgent need for action and radical alteration when the powerful Mr. John Benson, of Baisbrowne, made his will in 1562. A clause of this runs: "Also I giue and bequeath towardes the Reparacions of the church of gresmyre XXs so that the Roofe be taken down and maide oop againe." But how to construct a single roof over the double space? This insoluble problem (to them) was met by the village genius in a singular manner. The arched midwall was not abolished. It was carried higher by means of a second tier of arches whose columns rest strangely on the crowns of the lower. These upper openings permit the principal timbers to rest in their old position, while the higher timbers are supported by the abruptly ending wall. Thus a single pitched roof outside is attained, sustained by a double framework within. The result is unique, and remains as a monument of the courage, resource, and devotion to their church of our mountain dalesmen. * * * * * [Since this chapter was written the stone face--p. 104--has been returned by Kendal to Grasmere.--ED.] THE FURNITURE Of early furniture there is, of course, no trace within the church. All the accessories of the ritual of the mass, whether in metal, wood, or textile, as well as such as would be required for processions on Rogation Days, were swept away at the Reformation. A reminder of these processions may perhaps be found in the field at the meeting of the roads near the present cemetery, which goes by the name of Great Cross, for here, doubtless, a Station of the Cross stood where the priest and the moving throng would halt and turn. Another field is named Little Cross. [Illustration: Date on Bench End] One upright piece of oak, roughly cut with the date 1635, remains to show us the style of the old benches--or forms as they were called--which filled the space above the earthen floor. The bench itself, to judge by the aperture left in this end-piece, would appear to have been no more than six inches wide, and almost as thick; the bench-end, which was further steadied by a slighter bar below, was sunk into the ground. [Illustration: BENCH END.] These benches could not have been fixed with any permanence, for the earthen floor was often broken up for the burial of parishioners. The custom of burial inside the church was a favourite one, and was continued down to the nineteenth century. While the choir was reserved for the knight or gentleman (and of the former there were none within the parish) and for the priest, the statesman was buried in the nave or aisle; and only