Startforth / Startford / Stradford / Strafford / Stratford / Stretford

Results: 4 records

symbol - shield - emblem - B [King Richard III?]

Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]

symbol - shield - emblem - E

Scene Description: together with the first shield, the initials of abbot Robert Ellerton [cf. Font notes]

symbol - shield - with monogram - R

Scene Description: together with the third shield, the initials of abbot Robert Ellerton [cf. Font notes]

view of church exterior - west view

Scene Description: the mid-19thC building replaced a medieval church

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Hodgsonge, 2012

Image Source: digital photograph taken 28 April 2012 by Hodgsonge [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Trinity,_Startforth.jpg] [accessed 12 November 2019]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

INFORMATION

FontID: 11084STA
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of the Holy Trinity [formerly St. Michael's]
Church Patron Saints: The Holy Trinity [formerly dedicated to St. Michael]
Church Location: Church Bank, Startforth, Barnard Castle DL12 9AE, UK -- Tel.: +44 01833 695196 / +44 7802 855604
Country Name: England
Location: Durham, North East
Directions to Site: Located off (S) the A67, on the W bank of the Tees river, just SW of Barnard Castle, about 25 km NW of Richmond
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Leeds
Historical Region: Hundred of Land of Count Alan -- formerly NRYrks
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Date: ca. 1483-1485?
Century and Period: 15th century (late?), Perpendicular
Workshop/Group/Artisan: heraldic font
There is an entry for Startforth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/NZ0415/startforth/] [accessed 12 November 2019]; it reports a church in it. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (York North Riding, vol. 1, 1914) notes: "The church was formerly dedicated to the honour of St. Michael. [...] In the time of the Confessor it belonged to Torphin,[...] whose descendants probably retained it after the Conquest. [...] The church of HOLY TRINITY [...] was built in 1863 in place of the old church, which is described by Whitaker (in 1823) [...] as a diminutive structure without aisles or tower, probably a rebuilding within half a century of Domesday. [...] It was completely destroyed when the present church was built. [...] The font is octagonal with concave sides to the bowl, on three of which are the letters r k and e on shields, the other sides having blank shields." Pevsner (1985) writes: "Font. Of black marble, concave-sided, with blank shields and shields with monograms that limit the date to 1483-5." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: NZ0474315936] notes: "Parish Church, 1863 by J. & W. Hay of Liverpool,replacing medieval building. [...] Octagonal limestone font with shields, 2 with letters R and E (perhaps for Robert Ellerton, abbot of Egglestone 1476-95) and one with RK monogram probably for King Richard III (similar coeval font in Barnard Castle parish church)." Margaret Watson's 'On the trail of the boar', notes: "The church font, presented by Robert Ellerton (Abbot 1476-95) has three shields on its bowl. The first shield bears the letter R and the third shield F [i.e, E] -- Robert Ellerton's initials. The middle shield is particularly interesting as it is believed to refer to King Richard III, so dating the font within the two years of his brief reign, 1483-85." [source: www.silverboar.org]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 54.538673, -1.928208
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 54° 32′ 19.22″ N, 1° 55′ 41.55″ W
UTM: 30U 569344 6043986

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: letters
Inscription Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
Inscription Location: on the sides of the basin
Inscription Text: "R -- B -- E"
Inscription Source: [cf. FontNotes]

LID INFORMATION

Material: wood, oak?
Notes: low octagonal pyramid with knob finiail; appears modern

REFERENCES

Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2019-11-12 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
Pevsner, Nikolaus, Yorkshire: the North Riding, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1985 c1966