22 CROSBY GARRETT (F.d)
(O.S. 6 in. (a)XXIII, S.W., (b)XXIX, N.E.,
(c)XXX, N.W.)
Crosby Garrett is a parish and village 3 m. W. of
Kirkby Stephen. The church and the early village
settlements are the principal monuments.
Ecclesiastical
a(1). Parish Church of St. Andrew stands at
the end of a steep spur N. of the village. The walls
are of local sandstone rubble with dressings of the
same material; the roofs are slate-covered. The
remains of the narrow early chancel-arch indicate that
a church with an aisleless nave and probably a small
square chancel existed here late in the pre-Conquest
period. The Nave was probably of about the same
size as the existing building, but the N. arcade was
built and a N. aisle added late in the 12th century,
and the thickness of the S. wall perhaps indicates that
it also was re-built at the same period. Probably in
the 13th century the W. end of the nave was re-built.
The Chancel was re-built and enlarged in the 14th
century. The chancel-arch was re-built in the 15th
century, and the South Porch was added probably in
1662. The Vestry was added probably late in the
18th century. The North Aisle was re-built in 1866
and the bell-turret in 1874; the chancel was restored
in 1883.
The church is of interest for its early chancel-arch
and 12th-century arcade. Among the fittings the bells
are noteworthy.
Architectural Description—The Chancel (27½ ft. by
16 ft.) has a modern E. window incorporating some
old stones. In the N. wall is an 18th-century doorway to the vestry and above it remains of an earlier
square-headed window; farther W. is a 14th-century
lancet-window and cutting into its W. splay is a
square-headed squint from the N. aisle. In the S.
wall is a blocked window of which only the splays and
segmental rear-arch are visible; the external face has
a modern patch; farther W. is an early 14th-century
window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a
two-centred head with a moulded label; the lights
are carried down below an embattled transom to form
a 'low-side,' rebated for shutters; the 14th-century
chancel-doorway has moulded jambs and segmental-pointed head, partly cut away by a later rebate. The
15th-century chancel-arch (Plate 91) is two-centred
and of two chamfered orders; the inner order springs
from moulded corbels, that on the N. largely modern;
above the arch but not central with it is part of the
head of a round arch of one plain order; it was about
5 ft. wide and the crown is about 12 ft. above the
floor; it seems probable that this formed part of a
late pre-Conquest chancel-arch, and traces of the
junction of the former N. chancel wall can be seen to
the N. of it; partly covered by the existing N. wall
and cut into by the squint are remains of the quoins
of the early aisleless nave.
The Nave (33 ft. by 14 ft.) has a late 12th-century
N. arcade (Plate 96) of three bays with round arches of
two square orders with a chamfered label on the S. face;
the heavy cylindrical columns have moulded bases on
high square plinths; the capitals have square chamfered abaci and are carved with water-leaf and other
foliage with a male and beast heads on the second
capital (Plate 14); the responds have each a more
slender attached shaft with moulded base and capital
carved with water and other leaves and a human head;
above the first bay is a row of four corbels. In the S.
wall are two windows, the eastern perhaps of the 16th
century and of two square-headed lights with a label;
the late 14th-century western window is of two trefoiled ogee lights in a square head with a label; the
15th or early 16th-century S. doorway has moulded
jambs and segmental-pointed head. The W. wall is
thickened at the base and has two buttresses supporting
the bell-turret.
The South Porch was built or re-built in 1662. The
outer archway has hollow-chamfered jambs and segmental-pointed head. In advance of the S. doorway
are two square sockets in the side walls as though for
the insertion of a heavy bar.
The Roof of the nave is of 16th or 17th-century
date and of five bays, with tie-beams and raking
struts; it is ceiled on the soffit. The S. porch has
two trusses, with tie-beams, king-posts and raking
struts; one truss is inscribed M.Y. 1662.
Fittings—Bells: two; 1st with nearly straight sides
and square lip, probably 13th-century; 2nd inscribed in
Lombardic capitals "Campana sancti Andree," probably
14th-century. Chair: In chancel (Plate 39)—with
turned front legs, shaped arms, enriched panelled back
and cresting, 17th-century. Communion Rails: with
turned balusters and moulded top-rail, probably early
18th-century. Font: square bowl with deep moulding or cornice at top, octagonal stem or pedestal on
a moulded base, bowl 17th or early 18th-century.
Locker: In chancel—in N. wall, recess over 4 ft. long,
fronted with thin stone slabs and with square rebated
opening in middle, mediæval. Piscinæ: In chancel—
recess with trefoiled head and octofoiled drain, 13th-century. In N. aisle—in E. respond of arcade, part
of respond cut away for piscina, with round drain,
mediæval. Recess: In chancel—at W. end of S. wall,
probably lamp-niche, with round head cut irregularly
from a single stone, possibly the head of an early
window re-used.
Condition—Good.
Secular
Monuments (2–7)
The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys.
The walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered.
Some of the buildings have exposed ceiling-beams.
Condition—Good or fairly good.
a(2). House, 160 yards W. of the church, was built
early in the 18th century and has a projecting staircase
and porch. The lintel of the porch-doorway has the
initials and date I. C. 1714. Inside the building is an
original fireplace with a moulded surround and cornice.
a(3). House, on the W. side of the road, 250 yards
S.S.W. of the church.
a(4). House, 50 yards S.S.W. of (3), retains one
original window. Re-set in an outbuilding is a stone
with the initials and date L.R. 1694.
a(5). Outbuilding, 65 yards E. of (4), is modern, but
incorporates a lintel with the initials and date I.T.,
E.T. 1686.
a(6). House, on the S.E. side of the road, 400 yards
S.S.W. of the church, retains some original panelling
and a cupboard with the initials and date E.T. 1703.
In the adjoining farm-building is a stone with the
initials and date I.T. 1691.
a(7). The Yews, house, 100 yards S.W. of (6), has
been heightened. The E. front has two original
windows and a doorway with a triangular arch in a
square head; on the lintel are the initials and date
I.S. 1684. Inside the building is a little original
panelling.
Unclassified
Settlements at Crosby Garrett.
a, b & c(8). Village Settlements (about 1,000 ft.
above O.D.), mounds, etc., in the S.E. angle of
the parish. The settlement-area is situated on the
southern slope of Crosby Garrett Fell and covers
an area of roughly 160 acres. The site is bounded
on the S. by a steep limestone outcrop, the line of
which is carried on in a south-westerly direction by
a dyke which terminates at Severals Gill. The E.
side is bounded by a precipitous slope towards Smardale Gill. Along the N. side there is a rapid slope
upwards in the form of another limestone scarp along
the top of which is a modern field wall. The whole
of the W. side is bounded by the foundation of a wall
which on approaching the southern extremity of the
site turns in a south-westerly direction and crosses
Severals Gill; beyond this point it terminates in a
length of cross-dyke which possibly continued S.E.
to join up with the dyke forming part of the S.
boundary. The site has never been excavated, and
it may be that this western wall is of later date, but
the way in which the western outworks of both the
Severals and Intake I villages terminate against it
implies some connection with the settlement.
Severals
Within this area are three separate villages, Severals
the most southerly, Intake I in the middle, and a
northerly one, Intake II, which is rather smaller and
suggests a farm rather than a village. Radiating from
these and linking them together is a series of foundations of field-systems.
Severals Settlement, which probably covers an area of
about 3 acres, is of irregular shape with the usual
conglomeration of huts and cattle-enclosures found
in this type of work. From the surface indications,
the huts do not appear to be of the perfect circular
form seen at Kentmere. The actual entrances into
the village are not clear, but there is a sunken way
leading up to it from the S.W. There is another
trackway, with traces of wall-foundations on each
side, running from the W. boundary-wall of the site
to the N.W. angle of the village; while there are also
suggestions of the existence of an entrance on the E.
In the S. angle of the S.E. enclosure is a small, roughly
rectangular building with two orthostats clearly indicating its entrance from the adjoining enclosure.
Immediately against this building, in the angle between
it and the S.W. wall of the enclosure, is a larger rectangular building. The latter may perhaps be of a later
date. Radiating from the village are a number of
'fields' and from the N.E. angle are traces of a wall
running E. to the edge of the scarp above Smardale
Gill. There is a good deal of limestone outcrop on
the site, and where this is overgrown it is in places
difficult to distinguish it from artificial scarping.
Intake I Settlement, about 1¼ acres in area, is situated
at the E. end of a natural ridge. The village is
irregular in shape and again has traces of huts and
cattle enclosures. There would appear to have been
an entrance on the N. side and probably also on the
S.W.; a wall from the latter runs in a westerly direction along the top of the ridge and there descends to
join up with the W. boundary of the site. At the
junction of these walls there is a roughly rectangular
structure, probably of much later date. Field systems
or walls link up Intake I with Intake II and extend
S. as far as the modern field-wall just N. of Severals.
Intake Settlement No. 1
Intake Settlement No. 2
The Intake II Settlement, just over 1 acre in extent,
is placed at the E. end of a natural ridge. It is more
regularly rectilinear than the others and consists of a
square enclosure, with smaller rectangular enclosures
and buildings on the W., and an irregular enclosure
with traces of several huts on the E. Immediately N.
of the enclosure is a small precipitous outcrop or bluff
which, with the scarp of the ridge on which the settlement stands, forms a small hollow or valley. There
are traces of walls, carried down from the settlement to
the face of the bluff, thereby closing the valley in and
making a further enclosure. Running W. from the
S.W. angle of the settlement, along the top of the
ridge, is a trackway with traces of wall on each side.
It terminates suddenly at the W. end of the ridge.
Lining roughly with the end of this track and against
the N. wall of the site is a trackway leading up the fell,
but there are no signs of any intervening work on the
low-lying land between them. About 40 yards S.W.
of the W. end of the ridge are the foundations of a
rectangular building 23 yards by 8 yards.
The following cairns and mounds exist either in or
in the neighbourhood of these settlements: (a) A
much disturbed cairn 50 yards N. of Severals village.
(b) A turf-covered circular mound, 150 yards N. of
the rectangular building W.S.W. of the Intake II
settlement. It is 40–41 ft. in diameter and 4 ft. high
with a flat top. (c) An oval turf-covered mound, 620
yards N.E. of (b). It is 20 ft. by 14 ft. and 2 ft. high.
(d and e) Mounds on Bull Flat, almost in a direct line
240 yards and 340 yards N.N.E. of (c). The former
is roughly circular and turf-covered, 2 ft. high and
19 ft. in diameter; it has a slight disturbance at the
top. The latter is turf-covered, 17 ft. in diameter
and almost 18 in. high.
Condition—Fairly good.
b(9). Tumulus or Cairn, on Bents Hill, a few yards
N.W. of the old lime-kiln and over 2¼ m. S.W. of the
church. The cairn is about 34–36 ft. in diameter and
about 4 ft. high. It would appear to be that opened
by Greenwell in 1873 and numbered clxxiii in British
Barrows, p. 387. At the centre, and only 1 ft. below
the apex of the cairn, was a burnt body "undoubtedly
that of an Angle" as was shown by the iron knife,
buckle, shears and bridle-bit (now in Brit. Mus.) which
accompanied its interment. This body was a later
interment. The state of the cairn presented evident
signs that, with the exception of the introduction of
this secondary burial, it had been untouched since it
was first thrown up. Scattered in various places
through the cairn were the disjointed bones and skulls
of a number of bodies. There was no appearance of
a body in its entirety ever having been placed within
the mound, the inference being that the bodies had
originally been deposited elsewhere and had afterwards
been removed here.
Greenwell examined three further cairns which he
describes, perhaps erroneously, as being N.E. of the
above. Actually they would appear to have been
alongside the boundary-wall of the parish which runs
S. of the above. He states that most of the cairns
had been robbed to provide stone for the wall.
Apparently they have been still further despoiled in
the same manner, and no sign of them can now be
seen.
Condition—Fairly good.
b(10). Long Barrow at Rayseat Pike, on the S.W.
border of the parish and 3½ m. S.W. of the church.
It is constructed of stones, some of them of large
size, and now forms a considerable heap, only roughly
indicating its original shape. It was examined in 1875
by Greenwell, who states (British Barrows, p. 510)
that its original dimensions were 179 ft. long by
62 ft. and 36 ft. wide at its S.E. and N.W. ends
respectively. The highest part (10 ft. 8 in.) was 30 ft.
from the S.E. end. Close to the S.E. end was a
transverse fire-trench filled with burnt earth, stones,
charcoal and two small pieces of calcined bone. From
this trench along the medial line of the barrow was a
structure of piled wood and stone placed upon the
ground and terminating, a short distance beyond the
highest part of the barrow, in a sandstone slab or
menhir 6 ft. high. Nearly two-thirds of the way
along the medial structure was a small hollow dug
in the ground, presumably to aid the draught; for
which purpose, too, flues were constructed at close
intervals. Between this hollow and the menhir were
found all the primary interments. These were six or
seven in number (three adults and three or four younger
persons) and, with the possible exception of two, had
been placed in the barrow as deposits of disconnected
bones placed upon the ground or on flat slabs. To
the W. of the menhir were found many unburnt bones,
principally of children, belonging to secondary burials;
also a few feet W. of the menhir and at a height above
the original ground-level of 7 ft. were found a few
burnt bones which appeared to have been burnt elsewhere. This W. portion of the barrow was of larger
stones than that in which were the primary burials.
Condition—Bad.
a(11). Lynchets, on a S.E. slope ¾ m. S.S.E. of
the church, are about 120 yards long and 10 yards
wide with a drop of some 3 to 5 ft.
Condition—Good.