Egleton / Egelton / Egilton

No entry for Egleton found in the Domesday survey. The Architect (issue of 13 September 1873) reports on the re-opening after restoration of Egleton St. Edmund's, and notes: "Portions of the old church are now discovered to have been used in the construction of this screen wall, amongst them the bowl of a Norman font, which has been cut out and now awaits restoration". Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a good specimen from a group of fonts "characteristic of the Norman period in architecture", "consisting of a rectangular bowl upon a large central shaft, with four slender supporting shafts at the angles"; ornamented with cross motif. The Victoria County History (Rutland, vol. 2, 1935) notes: "The building dates from the 12th century, to which period the existing chancel arch and south doorway belong, together with a considerable portion of the walling of the nave. The church remained unaltered till the 14th century [...] The south doorway is an equally good example of 12th-century work [as is the chancel arch] [...] The font dates from c. 1200, and consists of a square bowl (fn. 35) on four modern legs and central shaft, set on the original chamfered plinth. The sides of the bowl are carved with a floriated Calvary cross between two discs [...] (east), a six-leaved flower or star (west), a plain Latin cross (north), and a circle, now nearly obliterated (south)." Noted in Pevsner (1984): "C13, square, with crosses of different shape and rosettes." Stocker (1997) dates it to the early 13th century and refers to its decoration as "a deliberate attempt to associate the new font with contemporary tombs." The west side of the basin is decorated with a large six-petalled flower inscribed in a circle; the east side of the basin has a rosette inscribed in a circle on each side of a foliated cross set on a three-step pedestal; the inner well of the basin is round and the metal lining extends to cover the whole upper area of the basin as well. [NB: although the ornamentation is different this basin recalls the one from Ripodas, in Navarra, Spain].