Byrness / Bereness/ Burness

No entry found for Byrness in the Domesdat survey. Wilson (1870) notes this church as the smallest in the archdeaconry, despite which, "until recently, it performed the double duty of church and school […] The font, corresponding with the miniature and mean characteristics of the place, is of an egg-cup form." The Northumberland Parks Authority website [http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/byrnessdescriptionofchurchpfryder] [accessed 19 January 2010] cites a description of the church by P. F. Ryder: "The font, which stands beneath the baptistery arch, is a small octagonal one; the lower part of the shaft and its moulded base appear of some antiquity (17th century?) but the upper parts are more recent." The font is noted "We have a nice font, a memorial to a previous Vicar " and illustrated in the Northernvicars Blog [https://www.northernvicar.co.uk/2015/07/24/byrness-st-francis-of-assisi/] [accessed 4 August 2022], and it is indeed a composite object: the top half is obviously new or totally re-finished, while the lower half, stem and lower base, are older.