Chorley / Cherle / Cherlegh / Cherley / Chorlegh

No individual entry for this Chorley found in the Domesday survey. Cox & Harvey (1907) list a baptismal font of the Early English period in this church. Bond (1908) lists a Post-Reformation font cover in this church, but does not mention the font itself. Pevsner (1969) mentions neither, but Hartwell & Pevsner (2009) actually note two fonts: "In the chancel, a crude tub, probably medieval. S[outh] aisle, another of mismatching pieces, with medieval and later elements". The entry for this township in the Victoria County History (Lancaster, vol. 6, 1911) notes: "in 1362, one of the plague years, there was a chapel there, for the inhabitants desired the bishop that it might be dedicated; the bishop allowed that all sacraments and sacramentals might be administered therein [...] Only the chancel, nave and tower, however, belong to the original structure, and of this very little of the ancient work remains externally except in the stonework of the tower and in the nave gable and north wall of the chancel. [...] The tower is practically all that now remains externally of the old church [...] A stone of large dimensions with a cavity in it lies behind the church, and was probably once used as a font." [NB: not clear whether or not this refers to the old tub-shaped font, but it is the only font mentioned in the VCH entry for Chorley -- The source reference appears to indicate that, though once used as a font, it may been originally the socket or base of a cross]. The website of the Chorley St Laurence Historical Sociey [http://www.chorleyhistorysociety.co.uk/nwsvws0711.htm] [accessed 6 May 2010] notes: "The old font in the church is possibly Anglo Saxon and 1000 years old" [NB: the dating here to be taken cum grano salis]. [NB: the fonts at Chorley's other churches are all modern]