Lilleshall / Lilleshull / Linleshelle / Lylleshull

There is an entry for Lilleshall [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SJ7215/lilleshall/] [accessed 9 Juky 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The Archaeological Journal (vol. 11, December 1854: 413) proceedings of the British Archaeological Association meeting, records: "The Rev. Walter Blunt sent a notice of the Norman font in Lilleshall Church, Shropshire, accompanied by sketches of the singular ornaments sculptured upon it. The form is cylindrical, an arcade of round arches supported by very short columns partly round, being partly interrupted by interlaced work of rude design. Under the arches are foliated and other ornaments, the intention of which is very obscure: in one of these compartments appear three cubes, like dice, in another six. Under the arcade is a band of ornament, which seems to be a variety of the Chinese-like Z ornamentation, the full development of which is shown from Irish MSS. by Mr. Westwood […]" Noted and illustrated in Eyton (1859) and in Anderson (1864), as a Norman font [NB: the source illustration in both authors is the same, an engraving probably from a drawing by J. Roberts]. Noted in Romilly Allen (1888) as one of several "examples of fonts with ornmament of early character". Walker (1891) writes: "There is a stone font in the church, which is probably the only remains of what may have been used in the Saxon church ; for although itself not Saxon, it is considered to be A.D. 1100 or early in the twelfth century, and so before the present church was built". Noted in Hare (1898). Noted in Timmins (1899), much in the same manner as Walker [cf. supra]. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy baptismal font of the Norman period. Described in Bond (1908) as one among "a considerable number of Norman fonts, which once were placed on the floor, have been mounted on a pedestal or on shafts at a later period." Noted in the Victoria County History (Shropshire, vol. 11, 1985): "The font, presumed to have been made for Lilleshall, seems to indicate that a church existed by the early 12th century, and the dedication to St. Michael, though not traced in medieval records, may denote an early religious site [...] In 1792-3 [...] the ancient font was removed, and in 1795 stood under a nearby farmyard pump [...] The richly ornamented font is 12th-century. It was restored to the west end of the church in 1826 and furnished with a new pedestal, [...] so replacing an 'elegant marble vase' of 1799-1800 [...] that had stood within the communion rail. In 1856 the font was placed on a square platform set with medieval tiles from the chancel floor." In Newman & Pevsner (2006) as Norman. The CRSBI (2008) mentions the fonts at Bradley (Staffs) and Lilleshall (Salop) as being of similar design as the one in Church Eaton: "The workshop apparently came from Gnosall, where the unusual spiral triangle sawtooth motif can be seen on a stringcourse, and similar chip-carvings on imposts. This sugests a date of c. 1100 or slightly afterwards for the Church Eaton font". [NB: an interesting characteristic of this basin is its uncanny resemblance to some of the medieval lead fonts of this country].