Warluzel / Waluser / Waluzel / Warluisel / Warluizel

A communication by R. Dubois in the Bulletin of the Société d'études de la province de Cambrai, Lille, vol. 28 (1928), pp. 240-242) informs of the discovery of a number od stones that had been used as base for the iron cross in the old churchyard at Warluzel during levelling work excavations on the site; the largest and most important stone unearthed was the basin of a stone baptismal font, octagonal on the outside, with a round interior, with an external diameter of 54 cm, and 34 cm for the internal one [NB: this source gives "0 m. 06" as the depth of the interior, which seems rather odd]; the upper rim of this basin shows two holes for the anchors for a font cover; the measurements of the eight panels of the octagon are 20 x 21 cm; each of the panels is decorated with a blank badge or shield, one of which is trimmed at the top, the space filled with the date 1492 carved on it ["L'un de ceux-ci a le chef coupé, ce qui laisse un espace libre sur lequel est sculptée en relief la date de 1492"]; the limestone base of the font is cylindrical and plain, 45 ca in height and about 25 cm in diameter; a third stone unearthed nearby was of uncertain origin, as it may have been used as the lower base or plinth, a sandstone block that could have been originally a capital, its sides decorated with foliage; other stones dug up nearby are described in this source [cf. ImagesArea for the full-text description]; the source adds that these stones seemed to originate in the earlier parish church of Warluzel, which was replaced by the present mid-18th century building. The discovery of this font is also noted in a very brief entry in the Épigraphie du département de Pas-de-Calais, Volume 6, p. 1250, but gives the date of the inscription as "1592", even though it quotes Dubois' 1928 text as source [cf. supra] and erefers the reader to that source for the full details of the discovery!