Heswall / Eswelle / Hesselwelle / Hestlewelle / Heswall-cum-Oldfield / Lower Heswall

Ellis (1902) notes: "In a corner of Heswall churchyard are preserved the remains of two old fonts, one of the sundial pattern of the eighteenth century, the other a massive octagonal bowl, dating probably from the thirteenth or forteenth century, and quite devoid of ornament." Noted in Pevsner (1971): "Font. C18 baluster font at the W end of the nave." [NB: the base of te tower is said to date from the early-14th century, so the 'remains' seen by Ellis ca. 1902 might be the original font of that church here -- we have no update on the present whereabouts of the remains reported in Ellis]. The English Heritage entry for this church [List No. 1320306] notes two modern fonts: "Font, 1879, round bowl on clustered shafts, acanthus ornament [...] C18 bal[us]ter font", but no mention of the earlier remains. The Old Wirral web page [www.oldwirral.com/heswall_stpeters.html] [accessed 11 December 2012] notes: "Inside to the left of the South West Porch is the old Baptistery inside which there is an ancient font from the first church. This is the oldest part of the church along with the tower dating back to the 15th century. In the corner is a font from the first church."