Penwortham

No individual entry found for Penwortham in the Domesday survey. The entry for the Priory of Penwortham in the Victoria County History (Lancaster, vol. 2, 1908) reports a cell of the great Benedictine abbey of Evesham, a priory dedicated to St. Mary, documented ca. 1159 but dating probably to the late-11th century. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Lancaster, vol. 6, 1911) notes that the church goes back to the 14th century: "The fittings are almost entirely modern, but a small four-sided font, dated 1667, yet remains [footnoted: 'It was removed when the new font was presented, and, after being used as a flower vase at houses in Preston and Ashton-on-Ribble, was restored to the church in November 1906.'] in addition to a modern octagonal one." Noted in Pevsner (1969): "Font. (S aisle W). 1667, of characteristic plainness." Ditto in Hartwell & Pevsner (2009). The Lancashire Churches web site [www.lancashirechurches.co.uk/penwortham.htm] [accessed 18 September 2006] informs: Inside the church are two fonts. One is of Caen stone and was given by Mr Morris, a churchwarden, in 1865. At the time of the donation the churchwarden asked if he could have the old font as a garden ornament. This piece, a tall slim, plain shape, with a small bowl, is dated 1667. It was returned to the church in 1906. A further Georgian marble font, once owned by the church, is now in St Andrew's Longton." [NB: neither the Victorian, nor the Georgian font is listed in this Index on account of their late date].