Maidstone

Noted in Glynne (1877): "The font is octagonal, panelled with shields." Cox & Harvey (1907) describe this font as 17th-century, in the Perpendicular style, bearing "the royal arms and also those of the family of Aston. Over the former are the words, 'Feare God, Honour ye King'." Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as "a well-proportioned octagonal font, temp. James I [i.e., 1603-1625], but the adornment of the bowl and the curves of the stem clearly indicate the period to which it belongs". In newman (1980): "Font. Early C17. Octagonal, still with crude Perp[endicular] mouldings, and shields and foliage on the faces. The date is arrived at by comparison with the Queenborough (E) font of 1610." The Phaidon guide to Gt. Britain (1985) shows a pedestal font -described as "Jacobean" with an octagonal basin; the sides of the basin are rectangular, the long side being larger than the tall; each of the visible sides has a different ornamental motif: a stylised four-petal rose, an unidentified motif ressembling a crowned promontory in the second and a coat of arms in the third side. The base is also octagonal with multiple mouldings (description based on ill. in Mehling, 1985); the church itself dates to the late 14th century with Decorated and Perpendicular periods additions, etc. The entry in The Francis Frith Collection [www.francisfrith.com] reads: "The octagonal Jacobean font is decorated with the arms of Scotland, Ireland, Maidstone and the Astley family, who were granted the former Archbishop's Palace in Elizabethan times. The font is made of Sussex marble."