Page:County Churches of Cornwall.djvu/99

THE CHURCHES OF CORNWALL 73 quires, but the seats are fastened down. Chief glory of church is the rood-screen, which was dismantled in 1 8 14, and after remaining in fragments for about a century was ingeniously reconstructed in 19 10. By a singular error of judgment, the true pro- portions, in restoring coved work for support of rood-loft, have been falsified, although traces of true levels are most obvious. New work is excel- lent of its kind and well adapted to the original fragments ; it is a thousand pities that the whole screen is now about 2 ft. too high. Tracery in heads of arched bays remarkably good, and so are scroll and foliage panels of base. Double cornice richly carved, upper part with usual vine pattern, lower with various amalgam of beasts and birds. Much of original painting and gilding remains on old parts. At back of stalls are portions of bases of two side-screens, and cornice beams of the two sides have been raised to wrong levels. Rood-stairs in S. wall are of quite exceptional size, with wide doorways, showing that in this, St. Buryan being a collegiate church, the rood-loft was used for ceremonial purposes ; lower doorway measures 6 ft. 10 in. high by 31 in. broad, and opening of steps is 4 in. There are fairly large coffin-shaped openings in arcades for transit from rood-loft. A fine 13th cent, gravestone with cross in relief under tower, and inscription in Norm.-French to Clarice, wife of Geoffrey Bollest, promising ten days of pardon to those praying for her soul.