Kniveton

Cox (1875-1877) dates the fabric of the church to the Norman period and adds: "To the next period -the Early English- may ne assigned the font, which stands upon a cluster group of eight columns. The font itself is circular, being two feet in diameter, and has a tasteful border carved round the margin. On the top is the date '1663'; but there can be little doubt that the font itslef is of thirteenth century work, and that the date merely records the year in which it was restored to the church on the revival of episcopal doctrine." A footnote in Cox (ibid.) adds: "It is stated in Mr. Rawlins' notes that round the edge was grave -- 'This font was erected at the charge of Mr. Thomas Gaunt 1663'." Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a 13th century baptismal font of "pure unadorned simplicity", with a quasi-cylindrical basin mounted on a cluster of (8?) engaged columns; the basin has two horizontal mouldings, one each at top and bottom, and a blins arcade of pointed trefoil arches around the sides, all this ornamentation on a low-relief. The date "1663" engraved on the basin side, explains Bond (ibid.), corresponds to the date in which the font, which had been ejected from the church earlier, was brought back into the church and its function restored in post-Reformation times. It now stands on an octagonal plinth. Pevsner (1978) writes: "Font. Of the Ashbourne type, but the trefoil motif pointed."