Lowestoft / Lothu Wistoft

There is are two entries for Lowestoft [variant spellibg]in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TM5593/lowestoft/] [accessed 7 December 2022], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. A font here described in Neale (1825): "The font is particularly curious, but has been much defaced; several figures of saints, with which it had been adorned, were damaged, under an ordinance of the Long Parliament, in 1644. There is an ascent of three steps to it, the uppermost of which formerly bore an inscription, but it is now illegible." Noted in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (no. 969, vol. xxxiv, 21 September 1839: 186) as a font with "some fine remains of sculptured figures, representing kings and queens." Illustrated with an engraving by Orlando Jewitt in Suckling (1846-1848). Noted in Paley (1844) as a baptismal font bearing an inscription. In Lewis' Dictionary of 1848. Illustrated in Parker (1855) [the same Orlando Jewittt engraving as above], with reference to Rickman. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a good example of 15th-century font, raised on beautiful steps. James (1930) writes: "a font with pairs of figures on the bowl, much broken". Knott [www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/lowesmarg.html] describes the font cover as "gorgeous" and identifies the creator of the towering 19th-century work as Sir John Ninian Comper (1864-1960). The font itself appears octagonal, mounted on a similarly shaped base; the basin is ornamented with a double arch on each side with two figures in it; the separation of the sides is marked with buttress-like colonnettes at the angles. The design of the base is similar but the sides have a single arch each. [NB: the 19th-century baptismal font in the church of St. John was probably lost when the church was demolished after the 1977 fire; a photograph of it from the Eastern Daily Press can be seen in Knott's web site for that church www.suffolkchurches.co.uk -- St John's font is not indexed on account of its late date]. [We are grateful to Simon Knott, of www.suffolkchurches.co.uk, for the photograph of the font at Lowestoft St. Maragaret's]