Scarborough / Chardeboht / Escardeburc / Scarberuc / Scardeburg / Scardeburgh / Scartheburch

No individual entry found for Scarborough in the Domesday survey. Bulmer's Directory of 1890 informs that a new font, in the Early English style, the gift of R. Champley, Esp., was used for the first time, and goes on to describe the new font. No mention is made however of the old font which it replaced, which seems to have disappeared without trace. The entry for this borough in the Victoria County History (York North Riding, vol. 2, 1923) notes: "The church of St. Mary was of royal patronage [...] until Richard I before 1189 granted it to the Abbot and convent of Cîteaux with all its chapels and appurtenances, including the chapel in the castle [...] The nave [...] is a particularly interesting example of late 12th and early 13th-century work. There is little doubt that the original Romanesque church possessed an aisleless nave, but of this there are no apparent traces now remaining. The reconstruction of this part of the church was begun about 1180"; the entry mentions no font in it. All other churches in Scarborough are modern, of the 19th century or later. The font in use now [2006] at St. Mary's is indeed a Victorian rendering of Early English; the font cover is also modern.