Nun Monkton / Monechetone / Nun Stainton

There is an entry for [Nun] Monkton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SE5057/nun-monkton/] [accessed 9 September 2019] but it does not mention cleric or church in it, although the name of the place suggests an early [Anglo-Saxon?] religios institution here. Noted in Glynne's 23 January 1866 visit to this church (in Butler, 2007): "The font is a large cylindrical bowl of cup shape on a base." The Architect (issue of 1 November 1873) reports the re-opening of this church after the restoration directed by W. Walton, and notes: "The old Norman font has been removed from the north side of the nave and placed near to the south-west door, and rests upon a new base, in which is incorporated part of the original step containing the chrism pot." There is an entry in the 13 December 1873 issue of The Architect, with reference to "St. Mary's Church, Monkton, Yorkshire" and a "massive cylindrical moulded font" having been relocated to a slightly different position and raised on an octagonal plinth [NB: the Momnkton mentioned here appears to be Nun Monkton, with such a font [cf. supra]]. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a hemispherical mounted baptismal font; what Bond emphasizes in this font is the drain hole located in the plinth of the font, and relates it to a similar system in the Swedish fonts at Säfve [i.e., Säve] and Björland [i.e., Björlanda] [NB: the "hollow" in this font is actually in the plinth, not in the base]. Morris (1932) notes: "Font, probably contemporary with the building [i.e., Early English (1190-1250)]. Most of the bottom part is new, but one old stone has been retained in the base, containing a bowl-shaped hollow. This, if it be meant for 'a cresset cup, is the pnly example of such a cavity in a stone originally intended for another purpose. This cup and the cresset cup at Collingham, approximate in size, were either for special use, or perhaps they were intended for holy water.' (XV, T.S. 129)". Mee (1941) writes: "The bowl of the font is 700 years old, and in its modern is an old stone with a cup-like hollow." The entry for the old priory here in the Victoria County History (York, vol. 3, 1974) notes: "This house appears from a confirmation by Archbishop Henry Murdac (1147-53), [...] to have been founded in the reign of Stephen [i.e., 1135-1154]". The font appears to be of three main volumes: a roughly hemispherical basin with an outwards protruding rim, a middle volume of almost identical shape and a lower base made up of an upper fat roll moulding on an octagonal block. The plinth is also polygonal with an extension on one side or "kneeling stone". In Morant (2004): "intact plain circular stone bowl on broad round stem & polygonal base, probably c.1200".