Whitchurch nr. Shrewsbury / Album Monasterium / Blancminster / Westune / Weston

Anderson (1864) [probably after Eyton (1856- )] states that "William de de Warren, to whom the Conqueror assigned Weston or Whitechurch […] most likely also caused St. Alkmund's church to be built here" [NB: William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, d. 1088, was an advisor to William the Conqueror and is said to have fought at Hastings]. Anderson (ibid.) further notes that the medieval church "fell down in the reign of Queen Anne" [1702-1714] and a new "Grecian structure was erected in 1722". The National Monuments Record (English Heritage) [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=260599] [accessed 29 April 2010] reports a 1661 font beneath the western gallery, and a [later?] font in the south vestibule : "Octagonal red and yellow sandstone font of 1661 beneath gallery; step, cable-fluted stem with chamfered base, bowl with fluted underside and carved panels with alternating fleur-de-lys and rose motifs, and pyramidal wooden cover (said to be of 1713 but looks C17) with strapwork and finial. C18 octagonal marble stem (now in southern vestibule) with moulded square base, slender stem and cable-fluted bowl." Newman & Pevsner (2006) describe the 17th-century font: "Octagonal with alternating Tudorrose and simplified Prince of Wales feathers."