Crosthwaite / Crossthwaite / Great Crosthwaite

Butterworth (1841) reports: "the font is curious". Described in Mannix & Whellan's 1847 Directory of Cumbria: "The baptismal font is octagonal, and bears on its sides the arms of Edward III, with several curious and well executed devices." The March 1849 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine includes a full description of the font: "The font, displaced from its ancient symblical position near the door, stands a little towards the north side of the west end of the nave, and immediately below the gallery. It is of stone, about four feet high, and has a pyramidal cover of deal [i.e., pine or fir wood], painted to look like oak. Through efflux of time and much rough usage it is partially defaced, and further disfigured by continuous applications of lime and white paint. The head, which is octagonal, rests upon a stem, whose lower portion is of similar shape, though the upper part is quadrangular, and it rises from an incline placed upon a square base. The four sides of the incline have each had a carving of some grotesque figure, now all but obliterated; and beneath the head are four other sculptures, all likewise so much mutilated as not to be defined, but whose position, exactly over the sculptures at the base, cause them to be regarded as having been the capitals of four small columns, that afforded further ornamental support to the overhanging head. Seven of the faces of the lower part of the stem are ornamented in high relief with carvings of windows of the Decorated period of architecture, of three lights each; and the remaining face is carved in the same bold manner, to represent a window of the like number of lights, but of Early Perpendicular style. Above the upper set of sculptures are inscriptions in Latin in old characters, that extend round the bottom of the bowl. They have been deeply cut; but so few of the letters are now legible that nothing can be learnt from them, though probably they had reference to the subjects rudely sculptured in raised figures on each of the compartments or faces of the head. On the first of these faces is a representation of the tree of life. The second, upon a triangular shield, displays the emblems of the crucifixion. The third face represents the word proceeding out of the mouth of the Almighty to all parts of the world. The fourth symbolizes the Trinity. The fifth is difficult to decipher, but some appearances like vine leaves may be traced. The sixth, within a triangular shield, has Aaron's rod, and in the corners are smaller shields of the same shape, that on the dexter base of the larger shield being charged with the armorial bearings of the Multons, lords of Egremont and Cockermouth; but the one next the sinister base is not to be deciphered with precision. The seventh face represents the tree of knowledge of good and evil, with the tempter of minkind in the form of a dragon passing through the trunk, the meaning of which rudely executed symbols are by the intelligent sexton of the church quaintly construed to be, 'the effects of a good sermon cut through, and rendered to no avail, by the Devil.' On the eighth face, within an escutcheon of triangular form, are the royal arms of England as borne by Edward III; and in the corners are two smaller shields, that next the dexter base of the royal achievement being charged with the armorial coat of Gilbert Umfreville, Earl of Angus; while the other, next the sinister base, shows the arms of the Lucys, successors to the Multons in the lordships above named. From these various architectural and heraldic devices it has been inferred that the font is as old as the reign of the chivalric sovereign above named, and that it was given to the church by the Earl of Angus and his wife Maud, the lineal descendant of Alice of Romeli, and sister and sole heiress of Antony Lucy, feudal lord of the barony of Egremont and seignory of Cockermouth." An article on 'The Ecclesiology of the Lake Diistrict', by the Rev. Owen W. Davys, in The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal (vol. 15, 1852: 122) notes: "The font is very beautiful and most richly ornamented". The Antiquary (July 29th, 1871, p. 79) reports on a visit of the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society to Crosthwaite, where the visitors' attention was directed to "the royal arms of Edward III. Among these are the tree of life, emblems of the crucifixion, with the scourge and lantern in the lower corner, the words proceeding from the mouth of God, symbols of the Trinity, vine leaves, a triangular shield with Aaron's rod, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On the base are the fetter-lock and crescent, the badges of the Percys." Geldart (1899) notes the 'flowering lily' on this font. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907): the four principal sides of the octagon bear shields, the other four ornamental devices of masks [Green Man?] and foliage: 1)shield of the Holy Trinity (with inscription); 3)lily pot (with inscription); 5)shield of England and France (with inscription); 7)shield with the symbols of the Passion (with inscription). The sides 2, 4, 6, 8 bear the inscription begging for prayer for a former vicar, probably the donor of the font. Dated in Cox (1913) to the late 14th century; Cox (ibid.) cites the interpretation of the devices and inscriptions by Sir A.W. Franks in 1880: "Scutum Sancte Trinitatis; Scutum Matris; Scutum Regis Anglie (Edw. III.); Scutum Domine Christi. The remaining space has on it: Orate pro anima Thomas D'Eskhede, olim ecclesie hujus vicarii." Noted in Betjeman (1958) as a "finely carved" font of the 14th century. Pevsner (1967) notes: Font. Given between 1396 and 1400. The square shaft has blank windows with tracery, mostly Dec[orated] in pattern. The octagonal bowl has leaf and the sign of the Trinity. It looks Late Perp[endicular], and as the shaft is of different stone, it may well be later."