Elton nr. Bingham / Ailetone / Elton on the Hill

There is an entry for this Elton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SK7738/elton/] [accessed 13 May 2018]; it mentions a church in it. The Gentleman's Magazine [vol. CCXI, October 1861: 391] reports of an excursion to Fotheringhay on 29 July 1861 by members of the Archaeological Institute, following their Congress at Peterborough, and includes a description of this font: "The font is either Decorated or has undergone alterations in that style; but it is very clumsy and ugly. A plain octagonal bowl rests on four rude shafts of the same form, surrounding a central one; they have floriated capitals and square abaci, except one, which is round and without a capital, but which seems to be a later patch-work. This arrangement usually implies an earlier date, and in this case, is probably a portion of an older font. The neck is adorned with the ball-flower, and a very large ornament of that kind rests on each of the small shafts, making a sort of squinch to the subordinate faces of the bowl. One of these is left in the block." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Early English period. Cox (1912) writes: "Plain round font has circular base; sadly scraped, but is old and probably early I3th cent. Coped Jacobean font cover lies (1904) discarded under tower among dirt and rubbish." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SK7673138802] mentions no font in it. The entry for the fittings in this church in the Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project [http://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/elton/hfitting.php] [accessed 13 May 2018] notes: "The plain round stone font has a circular base. At some point in the 19th century it replaced an octagonal font sketched by William Stretton in 1803", and includes an image of the said sketch.