Wolsingham

Hutchinson (1823) writes: "The font is of the Weardale marble, beautifully variegated with shells, and other petrefactions." Noted in Mackenzie & Ross (1834) after Hutchinson, but they describe the stone of the font as "Frosterley marble". Reported verbatim after Hutchinson in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848. Fordyce (1857) reports: "the present baptismal font was presented by Lady F. Fitzclarence; and the basement of the original one, which was of Frosterley marble, lies in the church-yard, the pillar and basin having been removed to the church school-room at Tow Law." The Durham Diocese web site [www.dur.ac.uk/durham.diocese] reports: "The original font of Frosterley marble is now in the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew in Thornley Village (four miles to the east of Wolsingham Church) [...] The present simple stone font replaced it with slender shafts in the Early English style, given by a friend of the Hon. J. Grey, Rector." Whellan's Directory of 1856, however, states: "The baptismal font is the gift of Lady F. Fitzclarence." [NB: this font was already in the church at Fordyce's time, ca. 1857 and must have been a recent donation -- it is not clear what happened to the font reported in Fordyce as sent to Tow Law]. [NB: although the fabric of the Wolsingham church goes back to (pre-?) Norman times we have no information on the earlier fonts of this chuurch]. [cf. Index entry for Thornley for a font noted in Fordyce (ibid.) near the porch of Thornley St. Batholomew's]. [NB: Tow Law built its church in 1869]