Withington nr. Cheltenham / Wudiandun

The Victoria County History (Gloucester, vol. 9, 2001) notes: "The recorded ecclesiastical history of Withington begins with the foundation of a monastery there between 674 and 704 a.d. The monastery continued, under the rule of abbesses, until some time after 774, when it passed to the see of Worcester. [...] It is probable that when the monastery lapsed the bishops of Worcester continued to maintain a church at Withington; in the 13th century the customary tenants on the bishop's manor of Withington owed the Anglo-Saxon due of church-scot, presumably once paid to support the priest, [...] and there was a priest on the manor in 1086, endowed with a half hide of land. [...] The plain vase-shaped font apparently dates from the 17th century." Noted in Verey & Brooks (1999-2002): "Font. Vase-shaped, octagonal bowl, probably C17." The baptismal font at Withington has quite possibly been altered from its original shape. It is now goblet-shaped, with an octagonal basin of curved sides, raised on a thin cylindrical pedestal and lower base, all of it on a modern [?] octagonal plinth. The ill-fitting wooden cover is round and flat, with decorative metal work and ring handle. [NB: we have no information on the original font of this church [unless the Norman font was the original from which was produced the present re-cut]].