Halsall / Haleshal / Haleshale / Halleshale / Halsale / Halshale / Heleshale / Herleshala

There are two entries for Halsall [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SD3710/halsall/] [accessed 25 June 2014], but neither mentions a church or cleric in it. The font here is described and illustrated in Taylor & Radcliffe (1897): "an examination of the font proves that a church existed here so far back as early in the reign of Henry III [1216-1272], for the pillar supporting the bowl, which, with the lowest portion of the bowl itself, is the only part remaining of the original work, clearly belongs to the Early English period. On plan it consists of twelve engaged columns, divided by fillets, which expand and die out gracefully to a point both on the base stone and on the bottom of the bowl. The bowl, which is of Decorated character, is modern, except as above mentioned. The font was removed out of the tower to its present position, at the foot of the most westerly pillar of the south arcade of the nave, in 1886." Ellis (1902) notes: "The ancient font [...] was probably a handsome structure, if one may judge from the remnants of it --part of the base of the bowl and the supporting pillar-- which have been built into the present modern one. The pillar is circular, and composed of a series of twelve engaged columns, with narrow intervening fillets, but without trace of capitals or bases. It probably dates from the fourteenth century." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Decorated period. The Victoria County History (Lancaster, vol. 3, 1907) notes: "The font has a circular basin panelled with quatrefoils on a circular fluted stem, which is the only ancient part, and appears to be of the early part of the fourteenth century." The revised edition of the local History and Guide ([1984?]) reads: "A close examination of the font proves that a church existed here as far back as early in the reign of Henry III (1216-1272), for the pillar supporting the bowl which, with the lowest portion of the bowl itself, is the only part remaining of the original work, clearly belongs to the early English period. It consists of 12 engaged columns, divided by fillets, which expand and die out gracefully to a point both on the base stone and on the bottom of the bowl. The bowl, which is of decorated character, is modern, except as above mentioned." In Pollard & Pevsner (2006): "Font. C19 bowl, but the stem, of multiple shafts, is possibly early C14."