Sessay No. 1 / Cessaye / Cezay / Little Sessay / Old Seysey / Seasey / Segege / Seysey / Sezai

There is an entry for Sessay [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SE4575/sessay/] [accessed 29 November 2019] but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Sheahan & Whellan (1857) report an ''ancient baptismal font is lying in the farm yard'', this yard being the ''Church yard'' from the old village of Old Seysey, near Sessay. In the church of St. Cuthbert itself, Sheahan & Whellan (ibid.) report a modern font ''carved upon it a representation of the Crucifixion''. Bulmer's Directory of 1890 notes that the font, together with other furnishings, was a gift of the Viscountess Downe in the 19th century. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (York North Riding, vol. 1, 1914) notes: "The church of St. Cuthbert [...] at Sessay was granted by Marmaduke Darell in the 12th century to the Abbot and convent of St. Mary's, York [...] The [present] church of ST. CUTHBERT is modern, having been rebuilt on an old site in 1847–8 and restored in 1883"; no font mentioned in it. There is no mention of any font in St. Cuthbert's, nor of the old church or churchyard in Pevsner (1966). The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SE4642574729] notes: "Church. 1847-8. [...] Octagonal font with carved sides and tapering octagonal wooden cover with iron finial." [NB: we have not found confirmation of the survival of the old font]