St. Peter & St. Paul Barnby Dun - Part 3

A detail of the reredos

On entering the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Barnby Dun through the north door, I immediately realised that I would have to come back another day to get a proper look, with it being full of artwork and craft stalls. Nonetheless, even with limited space to take photographs, I did manage to get a good appreciation of its principal features. 

A view east along the north aisle

Looking along the north aisle, the exposed roughly squared masonry contrasts with that used in the arcades, where precisely squared and coursed blocks merge seamlessly into the clerestory above – providing evidence of a single phase of construction in the C14. 

A general view of the stonework to the north arcade and north aisle

The arcades have quatrefoil columns but, whereas the capitals of the north arcade are all quatrefoil with a gentle curve linking the columns, those of the south arcade have very distinct overhangs and one of the capitals is octagonal. 

The chancel arch and stair turret

Moving into the chancel, there is an unusual cylindrical stair turret projecting from the north side of the chancel arch, which once led to the rood screen and then to the roof. Once inside the chancel, the crowd of people and the craft stalls prevented any close inspection of the features. 

The piscina and sedilia in the chancel

The masonry to the lower parts of both walls is mediaeval and may have been recycled during the major work that was undertaken in the later part of the C19 by Hadfield and Goldie, but the piscina and sedilia are in their original position. 

The reredos

Obviously Victorian stonework in the chancel are the large, ornate, dolomitic limestone reredos, which is in the form of a blind arcade with the lower sections decorated with dark veined marble columns, and the large corbels supporting the roof timbers are in the form of angels. 

Memorials in the chancel

Apart from the memorials scattered about its walls, there are two large monuments. The Sutherland Memorial has the white marble busts of Sir Thomas Hodgson (d.1693) and his daughter Frances (d.1732) beside a black veined marble sarcophagus surmounted by gadrooned vase. Next to this is a standing monument to Francis Gregory (d.1671), which is carved in a yellow dolomitic limestone that looks like it has been painted. 

The font

In the south aisle, there is a war memorial plaque and the font, c.1450, at its east end but the Chantry Chapel of Our Lady, at the east end of the north aisle has several very interesting mediaeval stone carvings.

Corbels with angels in the north aisle

Here, there is a large recess with a crocketed ogee arch and two heads forming corbels to the sill at its base and, on the jambs to the adjoining window, there are two corbels with angels that have no practical function and have been probably placed here during the C19 restoration. 

A carved corbel forming part of the sill to the recess in the north aisle

I finished my investigation of the church by going up the spiral staircase to the bell ringing chamber, where I was interested to see the method diagrams, and then stopping briefly in the belfry before going up to the roof of the tower. 

A view up the spiral staircase in the tower

With its lowland setting, I was looking forward to see if I could identify other churches in the surrounding landscape; however, although there had been glimpses of sunshine throughout the morning, it had become very cloudy and I therefore only took a few general photographs and made my way back down.

A view from the tower