Barnoldswick / Bernulfesuuic / St. Mary-le-Ghyll / St. Mary-le-Gill / Gillkirk

INFORMATION

FontID: 03421BAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary-le-Ghyll [aka St Mary-le-Gill], Barnoldswick
Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin
Church Location: Ghyll Ln, Skipton Rd/Church Rd, Barnoldswick BB18 6JH, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1282 812028
Country Name: England
Location: Lancashire, North West
Directions to Site: Located off the B6252, 4-5 km N of Colne, 16 km N of Burnley, just E of the county border with Yorkshire
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Leeds
Historical Region: formerly West Riding of Yorkshire -- hundred of Amounderness [in Domesday]
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Century and Period: 14th century, Gothic
Church Notes: Original Saxon church dated probably from the 9th century and is believed to have existed in Monkroyd, today a housing state in Barnoldswick (Saxon name=Bernulfswick). Present church is located in the "Ghyll" (="green") and of a much later date, probably started in the 12th cent., and has a 14th cent. font and a 16th cent. (1524) tower [info. from Barnoldswick Town Guide 2000-2001].
Font Notes:
Barnoldswick [variant spelling] is mentioned in a multiple entry in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SD6671/barnoldswick/] [accessed 2 April 2025], where all entries are categorised as "Possibly waste". Noted in Glynne's visit of 1 March 1860 (in Butler, 2007): "The font has a circular bowl on a stem of like form." Baptismal font of the 14th century, urn-shaped and with little decoration; has "beautiful" 20th century lid done by a young local craftsman [info. courtesy of Robert Rawlinson, churchwarden at St Bridget's, Bridekirk and the Barnoldswick Town Guide 2000-2001 supplied by same [cf. Barnoldswick and Bridekirk files in BSI Archive] [NB: Barnoldswick is located in Lancashire, near the border with Yorkshire]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 53.9282, -2.1644
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 53° 55′ 41.52″ N, 2° 9′ 51.84″ W
UTM: 30U 554867 5975857

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: round (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

LID INFORMATION

Date: 20th century
Notes: "beautiful modern cover (work of a young local craftsman)" (town guide)

REFERENCES

Glynne, Stephen Richard, The Yorkshire notes of Sir Stephen Glynne (1825-1874), Woodbridge: The Boydell Press; Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 2007