The Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Elsdon : Interior
The internal walls of the church are now bare of plaster; they are largely of rubble, with little attempt at any coursing.
The 19th century window in the west wall of the nave is set inside a large arch of a single square order and without any imposts; it has large roughly alternating blocks in its jambs and a clumsy and heavy hoodmould, of square section. The suggestion is that this is a 12th century arch, originally semicircular, reconstructed in its present quite steeply pointed form. Above the arch are two shallow vertical grooves in the wall, just beneath the apex of the roof that must relate to the bell ropes and bell cote.
The nave has five bay arcades, each made up of four narrow arches on octagonal piers, then a fifth rather wider arch to the transepts, with larger square piers between the two sections. The arches are all of two-centred form, and of two chamfered orders; the octagonal piers have moulded capitals and chamfered bases, set on either square or octagonal plinths, and the heavier eastern piers have chamfered angles.
The central of the three octagonal piers on the south has high-relief foliage carved on the four principals faces of the abacus of its capital; the southern of the larger square eastern piers has small caryatid-type figures as stops at the top of its chamfered angles, whilst the northern, and the eastern responds of both arcades, have has small trefoiled arches in the same position. All this looks of 14th century date, except for the western responds which are of 12th century character, semicircular in plan with a beaded moulding to their bases (that on the north the better preserved) and simple capitals of rather different proportions.
The nave roof is of 19th century date and of hammer-beam form, the braces springing from shaped and moulded ashlar corbels. The aisles have remarkable quadrant-section vaults of coursed and squared stone; series of corbels above the arcades, just beneath these vaults, must relate to an earlier phase of aisle roofing.
In the South Aisle, the west window has an internal lintel formed by a medieval cross slab set on edge. Both of the 19th-century windows in the south wall have jambs cut through the rubble of the wall, and lintels formed by large slabs, some of which seem to have been medieval cross slabs, their designs erased by re-tooling, except for one over the eastern window, which retains remains of its incised design. The rear arch of the south door is ancient, and has a peculiar three-sided head (its central portion renewed in the 19th-century); the inner lintels are formed by cross slabs, the former one of the best-preserved in the church. The small west window of the North Aisle has a crude shouldered rear arch; the north wall of the aisle is completely featureless.
The Transepts each have western arcades of three narrow bays, with architectural detail very similar to the nave arcades; the outermost arches spring from the end walls, without any corbel or respond. Both arcades are considerably lower than the nave arcades, and that in the south transept is lower than that in the north; its piers have no plinths, as if the floor level in this transept may have originally been at a lower level than that of the remainder of the church. It is clear internally that he south window of the South Transept replaces a considerably larger opening, of which parts of the jambs and rear arch are visible. The present window is set rather to the east of the centre-line of its predecessor; between the present west jamb and that of the earlier window a straight joint seems to indicate a narrowing of the latter, before its 19th-century replacement. The side walls of the transept are featureless, except for two cross slabs re-set on the east.
The North Transept is very similar in having remains of its earlier gable-end window visible, but here is only seems to have been slightly wider than its 19th century successor; what can be seen of its rear arch suggests that this was of four-centred form. On the east of the transept is a tall blocked window with a shouldered rear arch, its sill cut away by a 19th-century two-centred arch (with a chamfer only to its head) to the Organ Chamber.
The Chancel is entered under quite a large arch of segmental-pointed form, of two chamfered orders; the inner dies into the jambs whist the chamfer of the outer is stopped against square jambs, which have stopped chamfers to their lower portions, and a variety of cuts and sockets for earlier screens etc.
On the south side of the chancel the westernmost window has a shouldered rear arch and a level sill. Re-used above the plain internal lintel of the priest’s door is a long slab with a moulded upper edge, which is probably another grave cover. The single-light window has a chamfered internal lintel, and then comes a set of three sedilia with simple chamfered two-centred arches. The easternmost window has a four-centred rear arch with a chamfer to its head only. The upper section of the wall, from the single-light window eastwards, is corbelled out in an odd manner; might this relate to at least an intention to vault this section of the building?
At the west end of the north wall of the chancel is a 19th century arch to the organ chamber, of segmental-pointed form with a chamfer only to its head. Above its apex is a vertical break in the fabric, with the short section of wall to the west set back c 0.10 m. The door to the vestry is a 19th-century one with a chamfered shouldered arch; around 1 m from the east end of the wall is what appears to be the east jamb of a blocked window. Its west jamb is no longer apparent, suggesting that there has been a considerable amount of rebuilding in this area.
The east wall of the chancel has a rough set back c 1.2 m above the floor, above which the wall seems to have been largely rebuilt in the 19th century; all the rear arches of the large east window looks of 19th century date.
The five-bay roof of the chancel is of 19th century date, its trusses springing from ashlar corbels like those in the nave, although behind and above them are earlier corbels, those on the south two-stepped.