Silsoe / Sewilessou / Silversho / Sivelesho / Siuuilessou / Siwilessou / Syvylyshoo

A letter to the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of May 1821, vol. 129: 395), signed by J.D. Parry and dated 6 February, bears the heading 'An Account of Flitton Church, Bedfordshire' , and reports: "Here is a Chapel of Ease, dedicated to St. James", and notes in it a nave with chancel and two side aisles, and a gallery at the west end; over the west end, Parry describes "a small and ugly steeple and spire, containing two prayer-bells and a clock"; it does not mention a font in it. The Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 2, 1908) notes: "There was a free chapel of St. Leonard in Silsoe appendant to the mother church at Flitton; the earliest mention of it occurs in the Liber Antiquus (1209–35) of Bishop Hugh Wells, in which it is stated that it belonged to the abbey of Elstow, but the exact date of the foundation is unknown. [...] The place of the chapel was taken by a chapel of ease built for the use of Wrest House and the tenants: this latter had to be pulled down in 1831 as unsafe, when an addition was being made to the steeple, and the present church of St. James was erected on the site." There is no mention of a font in the VCH entry. The present font is modern; it consists of an octagonal basin, the panels of which are decorated with a variety of symbols and neo-Gothic motifs, and a running inscription: 'For they shall see'; raised on a moulded octagonal pedestal base and an octagonal plinth with kneeling extension. The octagonal low-dome wooden cover has a round brass plate with an inscription: "To the Glory of God and loving memory of George Thomas Delme-Radcliffe Captain in H.M. 46th Reg. who died Nov 25th 1888. This font is dedicated by his sisters." [NB: we have no information on whether or not a font existed in the old chapel].