Thurlby / Thurlby by Bourne / Torulbi / Turoluebi

There are four entries for this Thurlby [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TF0916/thurlby/] [accessed 11 October 2015], none of whci mentions cleric or church in it. Described in Paley (1844): "a very curious Early English Font, and, perhaps, unique in its design". Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy example of Early English fonts. The basin is round, bucket-shaped, with eight vertical mouldings which end in mask-like motifs at the upper rim, otherwise totally plain. The base consists of a central plain octagonal pillar and four square shafts adorned with vertical mouldings. The plinth is round. Paley ibid.) identifies the material as "Barnack stone" and gives the present (ca. 1844) location as the centre of the nave, in the west end of the church; he reports, however, that "formerly it was against the westernmost pillar of the south aisle, and opposite the south door" and dates it to late into the 13th century. The entry for this church in English Heritage [Listing NGR: TF1050316800] (1968) notes: "C12 tub font with octagonal shaft and ribbed sides terminating in anthropomorphic capitals." In Pevsner, Harris and Antram (1989): "Font. E[arly] E[nglish], a curious piece with attached shafts and with convex panels between. Base of core and four shafts, an early example." The font and cover, as well as the church itself, are well illustrated in the entry for this church in Great English Churches [www.greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/thurlby.html] [accessed 11 October 2015]. A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 29 September 2023) notes the cognate fonts of Hallaton and Thurlby in the UK with the one at Jumet in Belgium