Draycot Cerne No. 2 / Draycote

The octagonal baptismal font at Draycot Cerne St. James' looks original enough, perhaps from the 14th or 15th century, but appears to have been altered, re-tooled perhaps; the sides of the basin look as if a layer of stone has been removed, probably all the way around thw underbowl as well. Basin, underbowl and the short stem are all one block of stone, raised on a plain eight-sided pyramidal lower base. The flat wooden font cover is modern. The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (vol. XIX (1881): 144) reports on an excursion to Draycot Cerne [inter alia] by members of the British Archaeological Association, on the occasion of their congress meeting at Devizes. The group of archaeologits visited the church on 19 August 1881 but there is no mention of a font therein. Immediately after the group proceeded to the manor house nearby, where they noted "the old font still existed and might be seen beneath the east window of the Church, in the garden of the Manor House, though he regretted to see it was desecrated by being used for garden purposes" [cf. Index entry for Draycot Cerne No. 1 for the abandoned basin]. Noted in Pevsner & Cherry (1975): "Font. On a step decorated with quatrefoils." The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 14, 1991) notes: "A church stood at Draycot Cerne in the later 12th century. [...] On the west wall of the chancel the weathering for the chancel roof of the 12th-century church survives, and it suggests that parts of the nave walls are also 12th-century. A small chancel arch which was enlarged in 1848 was possibly of the 12th century or earlier. [...] Registrations of baptisms and burials begin in 1691"; there is no mention of a font in the VCH entry for this parish.