Eltisley / Hecteslei

There is an entry for Elstesley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL2759/eltisley/] [accessed 28 April 2016], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The RCHM (1968) notes: "plain octagonal bowl with chamfered lower edge, 13th-century, on re-tooled clunch stem; pyramidal cover of eight sides carved in low relief with thistles and other conventional flowers and with moulded base and finial, 17th-century." The Victoria County History (Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, vol. 5, 1973) notes: "The first reference to the parish church occurs [...] before 1173 [...] The parish church of St. Pandonia and St. John the Baptist bore the dedication to the former by c. 1230 [...] the earliest surviving part is the aisled nave of c. 1200 [...] In 1878 the whole church was restored"; there is, however, no mention of the font in the VCH entry. The baptismal font in this church appears to be of a composite nature: the basin is octagonal and has been clearly re-cut, perhaps to destroy whatever ornamentation it may have had; there is also an insert of different-colour stone in the upper rim side, a repair consistent with the damage resulting from the forceful removal of the staples from an old cover; the cylindrical pedestal base on which the basin now stands is either not the original base, or it has been re-tooled, as indicated in the RCHM above. The pyramidal wooden cover is brightly painted with floral and foliage motifs, with a cross finial, a striking contrast to the austere appearance of the re-cut basin.