Crosby Ravensworth

A font here is described in Cox & Harvey (1907): "At Crosby Ravensworth is a 15th-cent. octagonal font bearing the Greek inscription already referred to as found on several of its fellows up and down the country, which can be read either forwards or backwards". [NB: C&H refer no doubt to the Greek palindrome NIPHON ANOM HMATAMH MONA NOPHIN, such as is found also on the font at Dedham, etc.] Curwen (1932) writes: "The Church dedicated to St. Laurence was granted to and appropriated by the Abbot and Convent of Whitby", and goes into great detail to expose supporting documentation on the grant since the title was questioned and taken to arbitration; he further provides a list of incumbents in this church, the first of one, "Alexander", occupied the place ca.1132-1161. Curwen (ibid.) mentions the font and its inscription: "The ancient font is inscribed:—"NIΨON. ANOMHMATA. MH. MONAN. OΨIN.," which reads the same both ways, and in English means "Wash not only my face, but my sins." It is rather interesting to compare this with the Greek inscription concluding with the date A. Ψ. B. for 1702, above the door at Reagill School, and wonder whether or no the same ingenious hand wrote them both in that year." Pevsner (1967), however, notes: "Font. Completely plain octagonal bowl, dated 1662." [NB: is the inscription on the cover? elsewhere?]. English Heritage (1968) [Listing NGR: NY6214214842] reports the 1662 octagonal font only. The Euroguides web entry for Crosby Ravensworth notes: "two fonts dating from the 13th and 17th centuries." [NB: we have not been able to sort out this discrepancy yet. The visible font inside this church is the 1662 font topped with a semi-painted wooden cover said to be dated 1818. One side of the has been incised with the date 1662; this may be the date of the font, or, perhaps, the date in which the font was restored into the church, a practice that occurred often during the Restoration period].