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Object type: Impost blocks of chancel arch [1][2]
Measurements:
a (north): H. 20 cm (8 in); W. 86 cm (34 in); D. 49 > 43 cm (19.25 > 17 in)
b (south): H. 16.5 cm (6.5 in); W. 77 cm (30.5 in); D. 41 > 23 cm (16 > 9 in)
Stone type:
a (north): Yellowish grey (5Y 7/2), moderately sorted, clast-supported, quartz sandstone. The sub-angular to sub-rounded clasts range from fine-grained (0.2 mm) to coarse-grained (1.0 mm), but are mostly medium-grained in the range 0.3 to 0.5 mm. Millstone Grit, Carboniferous.
b (south): Yellowish grey (5Y 7/2), finely bedded, clast-supported, quartz sandstone. The sub-angular to sub-rounded clasts range from 0.3 to 1.0 mm, but are mostly in the range 0.4 to 0.6 mm. Ward's Stone Sandstone Formation, Millstone Grit, Carboniferous
Plate numbers in printed volume: Ills. 543-4
Corpus volume reference: Vol 9 p. 209
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Both blocks have rounded corners and carry three orders of bold cable mouldings. On the north side the upper moulding projects some 4 cm (1.5 in) over the lower; on the south side the equivalent projection is 2.5 cm (1 in).
The present chancel arch is of uncertain date, though Potter and Andrews (1994, 101) argued that it was probably remodelled in the seventeenth century. The impost blocks are patently out of character with the arch above and could have been part of an original Norman construction, but, if so, then they appear to have been re-used from an earlier structure since they do not exactly match each other (Taylor and Taylor 1965, i, 316). It is possible that both stones originally belonged to a complete rectangular object, with triple mouldings around the edge, which has been cut in half to form two imposts.
[1] The difficulties of distinguishing between the original provenances of sculpture from this site have been emphasised by recent excavations (Potter and Andrews 1994, 104, and fig. 2). The following list therefore combines material from both St Peter's church and St Patrick's chapel.
[2] The following are general references to the Heysham stones: Robson 1850, 28; Jackson 1889, 33; Allen 1894, 4, 8; Micklethwaite 1898, 348–9; Taylor, H. 1898, 42; Howarth 1899, 9, 21; Nicholson 1899, 21; Grafton 1904; Ditchfield 1909, 117; Grafton 1909; Farrer and Brownbill 1914, 110; (–––) 1923, 288; Curwen 1925, 30; Collingwood 1927a, 15; Hogarth 1934; Bu'lock 1972, 67; Fellows-Jensen 1985, 402, 405; Crosby 1998, 30; Higham, N. 2004a, 27; Blair 2005, 216, 218, 309, 376, 457; Salter 2005, 42; Newman, R. M. 2006, 103.
The following are unpublished manuscript references: BL Add. MS 37550, items 617–46, 735–6; BL Add. MS 37551, items 72–5; Lancaster Public Library, no. PT 7; Manchester Public Library, Hibbert Ware S. MSS: Msf 091 H21, V, 64 (no. 5), 82 (no. 1); vol. 8, 98v. For the Hibbert Ware collection see Henry and Trench-Jellicoe (2005, 239–60).
