Lesbury

Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a heraldic baptismal font of the Perpendicular period. Described and illustrated in the Parish website [www.btinternet.com/~styring/StMaryChurch.htm]: "The font is medieval and is one of the few in Northumberland to escape destruction in 1640 at the hands of extreme Puritans. Local tradition has it that its preservation was due to the devotion of the parishioners who took the font out bodily and buried it for safekeeping. In the process the original plinth upon which it stood was lost and the font, when it was returned to the church, was placed standing on the stump of its column just inside the entrance to the church on the left side. It was removed to its present position in 1950 when a new splinth was provided for it. Round the rim of the font are symbols of the Percy family." The basin is octagonal, but has the upper half of the arrises chamfered; the side panels are decorated with blank (?) shields and heraldic emblems [cf. supra]; the underbowl is rounded and plain. the stem of the base is octagonal and plain.