Lapley / Lepelie

There is entry for Lapley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SJ8712/lapley/] [accessed 22 July 2019] but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The entry for Lapley in Kelly's 1896 Directory for Staffordshire reports an ancient font here. Cox & Harvey (1907: 218) list a baptismal font of the Norman period here. Listed in Betjeman (1958: 336) simply as "Dutch font". Pevsner (1975 c1974: 167) reads: "Font. Octagonal, Dutch, with with small primitively carved scenes. Is it early C19?". An illustration of this font is listed in an entry in the William Salt Library, Stafford [www.staffordshire.gov.uk/live/pdf/archives/fis-lei.pdf] under reference SV VII.30, a "sepia wash drawing" dated 1842, by 'J.B.' [John Buckley] -- 6 in. x 5 in. "''Font in Lapley Church, Staffordshire.' showing an octagonal font, with one of the carved pictorial panels on a side [said to be 'Dutch']." An article by C. Lynam entitled "Notes on Lapley Font, Staffordshire" appeared in The Antiquary; London Vol. 1, (Jan 1905): 12-17. [https://search.proquest.com/openview/0319dbc841045207/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=3029] [accessed 22 July 2019]; in it Lynam attempts at an identification of the scenes on the font. A letter to the editor entitled "Lapley font, Staffordshire" signed by John Addison and dated January 9, 1905, appeared in The Antiquary; London Vol. 1, (Feb 1905): 80-80 [https://search.proquest.com/openview/f27c59423b218a4d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=3029] [accessed 22 July 2019]; in it Addison relates a visit made to this church and font, and comments on an the article by C. Lynam [cf. supra]. Addison comments on the identification of the scenes by the earlier author, proposing some changes. The entry for the Priory of Lapley in the Victoria County History (Stafford, vol. 3, 1970) notes: "It is not [...] until the time of Peter of Celle, Abbot of St. Rémy (1162-81), that the existence of a priory at Lapley can be proved. [...] The history of the priory ended in 1415 [...] The priory buildings evidently adjoined the church on the north side, and part of the site is now occupied by the timber-framed Old Manor House. The church itself contains much 12th-century work. The priory site and the church were enclosed within a moat." A local source, the Village of Wheaton Aston, [www.wheatonaston.org.uk/lapley.htm] states that "the font is of early Dutch origin, [but] no one knows how it came to Lapley." The baptismal font consists of an octagonal basin with vertical sides, chamfered at top and bottom, decorated with low-relief panels illustrating the birth of Christ; the basin is raised on a plain octagonal pedestal and an octagonal lower base with a moulding and a chamfered top. The source [www.ray.cowley.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm] dates the font to the 12th century, identifies it as Dutch, and describes the scenes on the basin sides thus: 1)Annunciation; 2)Birth of Christ and inscription in "fairly modern Dutch" identifying the scene; 3)Circumcision? Presentation at the church?; 4)three Magi before Herod; 5)Adoration of the Magi; 6)[very worn]Christ and the disciples and Pharisees?; 7)[very worn] Christ being seized?; 8)blank. The Victoria County History of Staffordshire gives the date as uncertain, perhaps17th century. [Added observations: repairs made to upper rim and evidence of lid hardware; at first sight the font could be dated between the 13th and 14th at the earliest, and the 16th and 17th probably, or even later, more reallistically; the base is probably not the original]. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SJ8723912932] notes: "Parish Church, on site of Benedictine Priory. C12, C13 and C15 [...] font, C19, Dutch, octagonal with carved bas-relief panels; pulpit, hexagonal with carved bas-relief panels". The Dutch inscription "HET GEBORTE CHRISTI", carved in modern lettering under the Nativity scene, uses an old-fashioned form of the present-day Dutch GEBOORTE, which appears to date the inscription to the 18th or 18th century.