Burton / Burton-in-Wirral / Burton near Neston / Burton on the Wirral

Ellis (1902) notes: "At the west end of the south aisle of Burton church is a massive but extremely simple font, of very uncertain date, but resembling some Lincolnshire fonts of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It is of local sandstone, and in shape represents two cylinders, the upper and smaller forming the bowl, the lower, which four or five inches greater in diameter, standing on a circular plinth. It is devoid of ornamente, except a double groove below the rim, and its surface is well preserved that it would appear to have been re-cut within recent years. It is leal-lined and has a water drain." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The Parish itself [www.burtonchurch.org.uk/history.html] [accessed 11 December 2012] does not seem to share the dating views of the sources above, and notes: "The carved wooden font cover in Gothic design is much older than the font".