ar Pickering.]

The inscription has now perished, but Bishop Browne tells us[1] that when
he had photographs taken of the stone in 1886 "there was only one rune
left, the 'Oi' of the king's name." "I have seen, however," he says, "the
drawing made of the letters when the stone was found, and many of them
were still legible when the Rev. Daniel Haigh worked at the stone." There
seems little doubt that this most valuable inscription might have been
preserved if the stone had been kept from the action of the air and
weather.

[Footnote 1: Browne, Rt. Rev. G.F.: "The Conversion of the Heptarchy," p.
151.]

There are several other pre-Norman sculptured stones at Kirkdale. They are
generally built into the walls on the exterior, and are not very apparent
unless carefully looked for. In the vestry some fragments of stone bearing
interlaced ornament are preserved.

Not only at Kirkdale are these pre-Norman stones built into walls that
appear to belong to a date prior to the Conquest, but also at Middleton
there is a fine cross forming part of the fabric of the church tower. The
west doorway now blocked up is generally considered to be of Saxon work,
but the quoins of the tower, though bearing much resemblance to the pure
"long and short" work that may be seen at Bradford-on-Avon, are composed
of stones that are almost equal in height.

[Illustration: Cross Slab inserted in West Wall of Kirkdale Church.

The runes which gave rise to the belief that this was the gravestone of
King AEthelwald have perished.

Slab with Interlaced Ornament at Kirkdale Church.

(_Both crosses are from the Associated Architectural Societies' Reports_.)
]

The Rev. Reginald Caley has suggested that the original Saxon tower of
Brompton church may have been incorporated into the present structure
whose walls are of unusual thickness, the stone work in some places
showing characteristics of pre-Norman workmanship. At Ellerburne the
curious spiral ornaments of the responds of the chancel arch have also
been attributed to pre-Norman times, but in this case and possibly at
Middleton also, the Saxon features may have appeared in Norman buildings
owing to the employment of Saxon workmen, who did not necessarily for
several years entirely abandon their own methods, despite the fact that
they might be working under Norman masters. There is a very roughly hewn
font in the little chapel of Ease, in the village of Levisham. It bears a
cross and a rope or