Ilmington / Edelmitone / Ilmedone

There are three entries for Ilmimgton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SP2143/ilmington/] [accessed 8 January 2015], one of which, in the lordship of the Count of Meulan, mentions a priest, but not a church in it, though there probably was one there. Cox & Harvey (1907) list a baptismal font of the Early English period. The Victoria County History (Warwick, vol. 5, 1949) notes: "There was a priest, implying a church, at Ilmington in 1086 [...] The building dates from about the middle of the 12th century, when it had a chancel and a nave of the present size. The west tower was the first addition, late in the same century. [...] The font has a plain octagonal bowl with a hollowed under edge in a chamfer; it is probably of the early 16th century, but the upper half of the stem is a curious and rather clumsy attempt at quasi-Norman decoration by cutting engrailed, indented, and foiled edges in faces diminishing downwards, the lower half being splayed and the base chamfered." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SP2096843470] notes: "Church. Mid C12 with late C12, early C13, mid C14, C15 and C16 alterations and additions. Restored 1846, 1911 and 1936 [...] Polygonal moulded font". The present font in this church, located in the centre of the aisle, just east of the tower arch, is anything but Early English, but an attempt at modification of a later vessel, as suggested in the VCH entry above. Modern wooden cover with crossed metal arches.