Gayton nr. Northampton

There is an entry for this Gayton in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SP7054/gayton/] [accessed 16 February 2025]; it mentions a priest in it but not a church. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a good example of the Norman period. Noted as Norman in Mee (1945). In Pevsner & Cherry (1973): "Font. Circular with intersected arches -- that is seeming ly Norman. But the resulting pointed arches are cusped. It is a remodelling of a Norman font, or an example of archaism?" A drawing of June 1876 by Henry E.L. Dryden was used in a published print, of which it occupies only a quarter of the page or so [source unknown]. the drawing includes some measurements of the font on it]. Churchwarden accounts [cited in http://www.gayton-northants.co.uk/organisations/church/Timeline.html [accessed 7 April 2009]] note that in 1828 the font was "moved from near old S[outh] porch, to middle of entrance to tower"; the same source refers to a Church survey book which records "font cover and leading" expenditures incurred in the year 1611. Noted and illustrated in the Great English Churches site [https://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/gayton.html] [accessed 16 February 2025]: "The font. With its commonplace blind arcading decoration and its cable moulding around its rim, it is a classic Norman design. The Church Guide, however, points to the cusping within each arch and suggest that it is likely, therefore, to be an early thirteenth century font with a late Norman flavour." The entry for this church in the National Churches Trust [https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-mary-gayton] [accessed 16 February 2025] notes: " St Mary. A very early church with a Norman tower incorporating a late Saxon door case and, inside, a Norman font." The entry for this church in the CRSBI [https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=6113] [accessed 16 February 2025] notes: "The font is the only Romanesque feature [...] This tub font stands on a later octagonal plinth of darker stone. The interior is unlined. The rim is carved with a cable motif, and has a mend on the NW, caused by the removal of a lock. The main surface is carved with an interlacing arcade, composed of flat, round-headed arches which sprout chip-carved, spandrel-shaped, tracery patterns at springing level. The bottom of the tub is moulded [...] The inclusion of tracery-like elements, and the deep hollow of the moulding at the bottom of the tub, suggest that this font is early 13thc. in date, although it has typically 'Romanesque' motifs. It is related to other Romanesque fonts in the area (eg: Grafton Regis, Chacombe), and probably represents the tenacity of local sculptural traditions. Pevsner posed the question: 'is it a remodelling of a Norman font, or an example of archaism?'"