Sandbach

Lysons' Magna Britannia (1806-1833) mentions this font among those in the county of Cheshire: "that of Sandbach is most remarkable, being octagonal and surrounded in acanthus-leaves and flowers". Described in Simpson (1828: 71). Described in Cox (1907: 177, 188, 189) as a noteworthy 15th-century baptismal font from the Perpendicular period that, after having been removed from the church during the Reformation, was restored to the church, probably at the same time that the inscription and date -1667- were added to it. Described in Bond (1908: 113) as one of several baptismal fonts on which the Greek palindrome "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ" appears in an inscription ("Cleanse your sin, not your face only"), with date 1667. Noted in Pevsner (1971): "Font. Dated 1667, a very unusual design. Stone, octagonal with big juicy leaves." Richards (1973) writes: "The old font, thrown out last century, now stands by the porch and serves as a flower bowl. It is of octagonal shape, ornamented with the leaves of the acanthus, and dated 1669. When less weathered, it bore an inscription in Greek [...]" [NB: Richards' original edition was published in 1947 -- the font may have been moved inside by Pevsner's time [ca.1971] and the change of location not necessarily updated in Richards 4th ed. of 1973]