Earl Shilton / Earls Shilton / Scheltone / Schulton / Sheltone

A letter to the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of April 1818: 305), signed "N.R.S." and dated 31 March of the same year, mentions an "antient and circular" font inside the church at Earl Shilton [NB: it mentions the dedication as St. Peter's]. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The baptismal font consists of a plain large tub-shaped basin with a trimmed underbowl of polygonal shape, raised on a squat circular lower base and a two-step octagonal plinth, apparently modern; the basin and underbowl sections appear to be all carved from a single block of stone; the font has been polished or re-tooled, but still has a large section broken off the upper rim. The wooden [oak?] cover is round at the bottom with eight panels forming a pyramid above under a Latin floriated cross finial; the sides of the panels are decorated with quatrefoiled motifs; the cover appears modern, perhaps Victorian.