Durham No. 10 / North Bailey

The Victoria County History (Durham, vol. 3, 1928) reports this church as standing on a very ancient site, "but dates only from the 17th century"; its "tower fell down on 29 August 1637, in its fall destroying a great portion of the west end of the church [...] during the entire period of the Civil War the church was abandoned [...] The building lay in ruins till 1685", at which time the church was re-built; it was restored in 1875 [...] The font dates from 1875, but has an old cover probably of early 18th-century date." [NB: presumably the original 17th-century font was destroyed when the tower fell on the west end of the church in 1637]. The Durham World Heritage Centre [www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/architecture/bailey/north-bailey/heritage-centre] [accessed 7 March 2012] informs: "There are two baptismal fonts, one dating from the 18th and the other from the 19th century." The British Listed Buildings' database entry [www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-110304-st-mary-le-bow-heritage-centre-durham] [accessed 7 March 2012] reports: "C18 font in chancel; C19 Frosterley marble font in west baptistry." The Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections Catalogue [http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ead/pho/gibbyneg.xml] [accessed 7 March 2012] lists a glass negative of a font from St. Mary-le-Bow [ref.: M41 "St. Mary le Bow, North Bailey, Durham: interior furnishings: - font and it cover. Size: 76x102mm Glass Image"]