Gonalston

INFORMATION

FontID: 15475GON
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Laurence
Church Patron Saints: St. Lawrence [aka Laurence]
Country Name: England
Location: Nottinghamshire, East Midlands
Directions to Site: Located off the A612, just NE of Lowdham, 6-7 km SSW of Southwell
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Century and Period: 12th century [basin only?], Medieval [composite]
Baylay (1903) notes: "Outside the north wall of the church will be seen what is believed to be the bowl of the Norman font, cast out by the Parliamentarian troopers, and long used in a field as a drinking trough for cattle. In its stead, after the Restoration of Charles II., was used a hollow, cut out in the top of a large hewn stone—probably once part of a doorway of some old house. This stone is still to be seen in the church, to the north of the chancel arch. In 1853 it was replaced by the present modern font." Cox (1912) reports: "Plain Norm[an] tub font, happily replaced after prolongued ejection." Guilford (1927) mentions and old font and a stoup in the north aisle, and dates the font as Norman. [NB: we have no information on the whereabouts of the replacement Restoration object, or on the modern font of 1853 noted in Baylay]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: tub-shaped
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

REFERENCES

Baylay, Atwell M.Y., "Summer excursion 1903: Gonalston church", 7 (1903), Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 1903
Cox, John Charles, Nottinghamshire, London: Allen, 1912
Guilford, Everard Leaver, Nottinghamshire, London: Methuen, 1927