The trustees are the bishop
of Lichfield and Coventry, together with the Earls of Warwick and
Aylesford, assisted by other respectable gentlemen in the county, who
have placed the whole institution under the immediate charge of a
master, with a salary of L150. per annum, who is at this time the Rev.
J. Short.
To those who admire antiquity, Balsall church will be a pleasing
object, as it now remains nearly in the same state as it was when
first erected, about seven hundred years back. Its dimensions are one
hundred and two feet long, thirty-eight broad, and fifty-seven high.
At the east and west ends are lofty windows, extending from the roof
nearly to the ground, and on each side are three noble windows. The
heads of all the windows are ornamented with beautiful tracery, and no
two of them resemble each other. There are no divisions withinside,
and what distinguishes the chancel from the body of the church is
an ascent of three steps. The walls are very substantial, and so
clustered with ivy, that it forces its way through any small fissures
into the interior. Over the west door there is a low turret, and below
the cornice is a row of ten heads, in a good state of preservation,
which are considered to be of excellent workmanship.
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