Ormskirk's Dated Font

Some persons were evidently delighted with the fall of the Cromwellian Protectorate in the parish or Ormskirk. The font is clearly dated one year into Charles II’s restoration. A depiction of his crown and royal cipher occupy another face, while some traditional symbols of piety from the medieval period occupy others. Someone saw fit to make this font a political statement: parents of children baptised at Ormrkirk’s parish church declare their loyalty to the King and his Cavalier regime. This loyalism must have felt gratifying at the time, and may have been financially and politically astute, but it soon dated.

Those who today promote the state’s morality and sexual ideology will find their symbols and tokens dating just as badly.