Ballaugh / Balla Lough

The basin of an old font was built into the church wall, in the window sill. The visible sides show a cross and an inscription. Noted and illustrated in Flickr by Tasa M [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tasa_m/2914641212/] [accessed 16 January 2010]: "The font at St Mary de Ballaugh Old Church is made out of a red sandstone block and, very unusually, is built into a window-sill. The inscription, in Manx Gaelic, says "Ta un Chiarn, un Credjue, un Vashtey, un Jee as Ayr jeh ooilley" ("There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all"). Ballaugh's Old Church of St. Mary de Ballaugh is built on the site of the grave of a young chieftain, dating from hundreds of years before Christianity was established in the Isle of Man. The church was built in the 13th century from material used for previous buildings. An unusual feature is the dressed stones used as cornerstones. Tradition says that the gate pillars, which date from the 18th century, were purposely built leaning in. The church fell into disrepair in the 1800s, and because it was located outside Ballaugh village and could only seat 350 people in a parish of over 1400, a new Parish Church was built in the centre of the village in 1832. The Old Church fell into decay, but luckily it has since undergone several restorations and has been used on a regular basis since 1955 for Evensong on Sundays and Holy Communion at Christmas, Easter, Harvest Thanksgiving and on the second Sunday of the month, together with baptisms, weddings and funerals."