Stoak / Stoke

Ellis (1902) writes: "In the works of Ormerod and Mortimer only three of the Wirral fonts are noticed, and both authors refer to the one at Stoke, which is described by Ormerod as circular, about three feet high, and rather more than two feet in diameter, ornamented round the sides with a series of tall and narrow Saxon arches (Hist. Ches. ii, 390). Not having seen any trace of an ancient font on my visit to the church, I made inquiry from the vicar, the Rev. R.W. Pritchard, who informed me that the old font was 'destroyed many years ago, by some workmen stupidly lighting a fire in it, while the church was under repair." An appendix by Crossley in Richards (1973) quotes Ormerod's description of ca. 1882: "At the west end, under a rude oaken gallery dated 1679, is a circular font, about three feet in height and rather more than two feet in diameter, ornamented round the sides with a series of tall narrow Saxon arches." Crossley (ibid.) then quotes from a Ellis [cf. supra].