Wolston / Ulvestone / Ulvicetone

There are two entries for Woolston [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SP4175/wolston/] [accessed 18 February 2015], one of which reports a priest, but not a church in it, though there probably was one there. Paley (1884) describes and illustrates an octagonal mounted font of the 14th century, Decorated period, in this church. The octagonal basin has a blind arcade of croketed trefoil arches, each arch in one of the sides of the octagon. At the lower rim of the basin, at each angle where the arch ends meet, a human head. The base is made of clustered columns raised on a round plinth. Paley reports that "remains of painting and gilding may be seen on the ornamental parts by removing the brown wash which now covers it" and that "it is much mutilated." (ibid.) Listed in Bond (1908) as a baptismal with traces of paint remaining and dated to ca. 1320. Cox-Harvey (1907) describe it as a baptismal font of the Decorated period having a graceful design. In Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a font of the Decorated period with the head of an arcade decorating the basin. The Victoria County History (Warwick, vol. 6, 1951) notes: "the church of Wolston was given to the abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dives about 1090. It was appropriated to the abbey and in 1220 a vicarage was ordained, one of the duties of the vicar being to see that the chapels belonging to the church were served by fit persons. [...] It dates from the 12th century [...] Of the 12th-century church the tower crossing remains, with the 13th-century arch to the north transept, and the north doorway re-used in the 14th-century south aisle. The roof of the chancel was extensively repaired in 1680 and decorated in colour in 1760. [...] The font [...] dates from the 14th century and is octagonal with a lead-lined circular basin, each face carved with crocketed ogee trefoils springing from carved mask stops and supported on eight half-shafts with continuous mouldings forming the capitals and bases." The original font may have been monolithic, of the type in which the basin and base are a integrated into a single design; even it it were not, the basin decoration shows it has been re-cut, with a significant part of the upper side having been lopped off [was it perhaps because it was damaged at the upper rim?]. The base may have been belonged to a different (later?) font.