Lutterworth / Lutresurde

There is an entry for Lutterworth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SP5484/lutterworth/] [accessed 18 August 2015], nut it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. A font in this church is noted and illustrated in Upcott (1818). "Highways and Byways in Leicestershire" (1923) entry reads in part: "Other curios in the church include a wooden model of the old spire which was used as a font cover prior to Sir Gilbert Scott's restoration of the church. When he was asked if he would retain it, he laughed and said he had no use for it. There is far too much in Lutterworth Church which would be better housed in a museum or shipped across the Atlantic" [quote courtesy of Andy Faulkner, of Lutterworth, Leics.] The font is noted in Pevsner (1984): "Font. Octagonal, of wood. Presumably the medieval one returned to the church in 1856, the date of the one now in use." The Parish web site [www.stmaryslutterworth.org] mentions only the 19th-century font, not the medieval one, but this may be an error as the medieval basin is inscribed with the date of its re-installation (?) to the church in 1856. A polygonal basin mounted on an unmatched round pedestal base, has a painted text on it that that reads: "This is said to be an / ancient font, from Lutterworth Church, / of the time of Wycliffe, / Presented by Mr H. Hudson / 1856". This basin, clearly weathered by exposure and showing some damage, has an additional drain hole on the side [cf. Image Area]. A personal communication from Andy Faulkner [e-mail to BSI of 30 November 2006] points out that "apparently it was used as a bird bath in the garden of a nearby house for many years". Faulkner (ibid.) adds: "a rather ornate lid that was salvaged from a skip", now [April 2007] kept in the church tower.