Baptism Font, St Michael & All Angels - Diseworth, Leicestershire - Stone Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

The stone font, which is now considered to be entirely Saxon, stands by the south door. It has a modern wooden font cover.

"The building consists of a nave, chancel, south aisle and tower room. Moving clockwise round the church one may note the following: Above the north door is a panel carrying the royal arms: those of George II. East of the door are a memorial to Trooper George Harris, killed in the Transvaal in 1901, and a carved marble tablet commemorating Anne Cheslyn, drowned in a pool at Langley Priory in 1823. In the NE corner of the nave, over the present clergy stall, is a tablet inscribed with the genealogy of the Cheslyn family of Langley Priory. Some 20 of those named are buried in a vault below the pews. This was reroofed in 1969 when repairs were being made to the floor of the nave. The church has a long, bare chancel, with a fine 13th century chancel arch. The seating came from Langley Priory Chapel. There is a very old ambry behind the altar and a piscina in the south wall. The tiled floor was constructed in 1885, covering the old ledger stones. The octagonal pulpit, with its sounding board, is of oak and was donated by Robert Cheslyn in 1713. On the north wall of the chance are memorials to John Shakespear (professor of Oriental languages and purchaser of Langley Priory from the Cheslyns in 1830) who died in 1858, Richard Cheslyn, died 1843, and his daughter Anne, died 1882. The Shakespear family were great benefactors to the church.

The stained glass windows in the chancel were given in memory of various members of the family between 1886 and 1899. They also gave the altar and its oak panelled reredos. The south arcade is early 13th century, the arches matching the chancel arch and the tower arch in style. The piers are hexagonal with dogtooth ornament on the capitals. There are two very old carved heads, one of an animal, in the spandrels of the arches facing the nave. The south aisle was built in two phases, the original roof lines being clearly visible. The stone font, which is now considered to be entirely Saxon, stands by the south door. It has a modern wooden font cover. The Lady Chapel was installed in the south aisle in 1940 to commemorate the Rev.J.A.Palmer. The silver lamp, given in memory of Father Hacker, which now hangs over the high altar, used to hang here. It was lost for some years until found in the Vicarage attic. Brass trefoil leaves from the old candle holders were incorporated into the new chandeliers when electricity was installed. On the south wall of the aisle is a stone plaque recording its restoration in the early 1900s in memory of the Rev. Herbert Lock. A wooden tablet over the south door records the repewing of the church in 1841. The church still contains many box pews, but they are all modern replacements.

The western end of the south aisle is now used as the vestry. On the walls are two large marble memorial tablets to members of the Lowdham family and one to Isaac Hoyland. There is a list of the past Vicars of Diseworth near the vestry door. Against the wall behind the font are pieces of old plaster, with graffiti of Civil War date, found in a house in the village. The church organ has been in its present position since 1940, having been moved several times previously. On the pier at the corner of the box pews near the vestry are two brass plates referring to the barrel organ which was installed, in 1824, in a gallery (now demolished) at the west end of the church by the tower.

The archway to the tower, which was bricked up early in the last century, was reopened and restored in 1896. There is an old window now blocked, above the arch. Inside the ringing chamber under the tower are several items of interest - a large wooden panel inscribed with extracts from the will of Caleb Lowdham, died 1825; brass plaques recording the renovation of the tower in 1896, the gift of the churchyard gates and chancel windows by the Shakespears, and the installation of the clock in 1937; and, two stone tablets explaining the source of a donation, which, in 1902 provided the church with the stained glass windows in the tower room and the vestry, the three front pews in the Lady Chapel and its fifth bell, dedicated to S. Joseph of Arimathea."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Approximate Age of Artefact: Not listed Relevant Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please supply an original picture when visiting this waymark.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   02/27/2020 Alancache visited it