South Shields

INFORMATION

FontID: 05601SHI
Church/Chapel: Parish Church [formerly a chapel] of St. Hilda
Church Patron Saints: St. Hilda [aka Hild, Hilde]
Country Name: England
Location: Tyne and Wear, North East
Directions to Site: Located on Marsden Bay, E of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Date: 1675?
Century and Period: 17th century, Restoration
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Robert Trllop [aka Trolop]
Surtees (1820) refers to the antiquity of the chapel, even though there are no records of its original foundation, the earliest extant record being of 1402. Surtees refers to church records on a number of expenses, including a font. Mackenzie (1834) quotes the purchase of a baptismal font from the church records: "1675, paid Mr. Trolop for the font, £3, 10s." Bond (1908) narrates the case of the font at St. Hilda's church in South Shields: "a disused font used to stand among the tombstones. Mr Pollard, a benevolent old churchwarden, happening to notice it, exclaimed in his dear old North country accent, 'Pair aud thing, that all of us wee bit bairns were christened in! Give it a coat of paint.' Which they did. It is now [ca. 1908] in the church." [NB: not clear whether both writers refer to the same font; not known whether an earlier font existed in this chapel]. [NB: Robert Trollop, aka Trolop, was a mason and the architect of Town Court of Newcastle, and was buried in Gateshead on 11 December 1686]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone

REFERENCES

Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908
Mackenzie, Eneas, An historical, topographical, and descriptive view of the county palatine of Durham: comprehending the various subjects of natural, civil, and ecclesiastical geography, agriculture, mines, manufactures […], Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Mackenzie & Dent, 1834
Surtees, Robert, The History and Antiquities of the county palatine of Durham, London; Durham: Nichols and Son, and Bentley; G. Andrews, 1820