Snaith / Esneid

No individual entry for Snaith found in the Domesday survey. The entry for the Priory of Snaith in the Victoria County History (York, vol. 3, 1974) explains the double role of the Church of St. Lawrence, Snaith: "Afterwards Snaith became a small Benedictine cell under the jurisdiction of Selby.[...] 'On 14 May 1310 the sentence of William Greenfield, Archbishop of York, was pronounced upon the appropriation of the church of Snaith . . . to the Abbot and convent of Selby, and it shall be lawful for them at their will and pleasure to place and remove two of their monks in the church of Snaith, to be continually resident; and by a secular priest (by them to be substituted and displaced) to hear the confessions of the parishioners, and to administer baptism to children, and so perpetually to serve, without any ordination of a vicar.'" The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SE6409922167] notes: "Parish church. C12 north and south walls to transepts and responds to nave arcades; C13 tower and west bay to nave arcade; early C14 chancel, later C14 vestry; C15 arcades, chancel arch, clerestory, aisles, north and south chapels, buttresses, parapets. Restorations of 1867-68 included removal of parvis and rebuilding of south porch, rebuilding chancel east wall and nave east gable, restoring windows, parapets to nave and chancel; repairs of 1883, and of 1910 to tower and south aisle wall"; no font mentioned in it. The present font and the remains of a medieval (?) one are described and illustrated in The Benefice of Great Snaith [www.greatsnaith.org.uk/Snaith-History.html] [accessed 22 November 2018]: "At the end of the nave there is a stone font dated 1721. The lid was given in memory of the Reverend B. A. Ramsker, who was tragically killed while vicar of this parish. The lid was made by Thomas of Kilburn. Carved upon the underside of it is his usual small mouse motif." And: "At the very bottom of the nave on the north aisle is an old font, which is probably Saxon." An object claimed to be an old font is also noted and illustrated in the Parish web site [https://saveoursaint.weebly.com/history-of-st-laurence-priory-snaith.htm] [accessed 22 November 2018]: "An old font, possibly dating to the Saxon period, still remains in the church."