Bettws-y-Crwyn / Bettus y Crwyn / Bechous / Betteus

INFORMATION

FontID: 16236BET
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary
Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin
Country Name: England
Location: Shropshire, West Midlands
Directions to Site: Located 15 km SE of Newtown (Powys, Wales), very close to the Welsh border
Font Location in Church: [destroyed -- cf. FontNotes]
Century and Period: , Medieval
Eyton (1959- ) writes: "The font of Bettws Church bespeaks an antiquity which written records are very far from reaching. This venerable symbol of the highest and purest faith survives for ages, in a district where Christianity, nay, civilization and humanity, were unmeaning sounds." Timmons (1899) writes: "The old font, once the pride of the church, was broken into pieces when the church was ' restored ' about half a century ago, and used, it is said, to repair the churchyard walls!" [NB: the church was restored in 1860, so Eyton must have seen the old font just before the renovation]. Newman & Pevsner (2006) note only the font cover: "C17. Flat, with a faceted knob", but not the font itself. [NB: there may have been a church here since the 13th century, with several re-buildings in later periods -- the present font itself may be of the mid-19th restoration]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone

LID INFORMATION

Date: 17th-century?
Material: wood,
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Eyton, Robert William, The Antiquities of Shropshire, London: John Russell Smith, 1856-
Eyton, Robert William, The Antiquities of Shropshire, London: John Russell Smith, 1856-
Newman, John, Shropshire, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006
Timmins, H. Thornhill, Nooks and corners of Shropshire, London: Elliot Stock, 1899