Chaille-sous-les-Ormeaux / Challàe-lés-Oumeas / Chaillé-sous-les-Ormeaux

Described and illustrated in Le Patrimoine... de la Vendée (2001, v. 2: 838) as an octagonal granite "baptistère" belonging "vers l'époque carolingienne" [=towards the Carolingian period]; the lower 1/3 of the basin is indented and round, whereas the upper 2/3 are octagonal; the basin shows a large drain hole on one of the sides, towards the middle, which is a likely indication of its use in a farm at some point in its existence. It was found, according to the same source, by M. l'abbé Minaud, parish priest of this town between 1977 and 1997, under the grounds of the presbitery. The source (ibid.) "softens" the dating of the caption by adding that "pourrait être d'une époque antérieure au Moyen Âge" [NB: it is more likely that, if the object is indeed a font, it may have originated in the Romanesque church rather than from the earlier priory]