Little Maplestead / Little Maplested / Little Mapplested

Noted in Gough (1792). Poole (1842) refers to some early fonts "which are little more than large stones, scarcely reduced to any definite shape, except near the top, and then hollowed sufficiently for the purpose for which they are designed. Among these may be mentioned the font of Little Mapplested [...] and that at Heron Gate, in Essex." [NB: Poole (ibid.) footnotes his entry to the 'Antiquarian Itinerary', vol. vii]. Noted in the Royal Commission of Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923): "The oldest font in North-west Essex [...] Roough bowl, originally square, of limestone, with two round-headed arches on one face, remains of scrolled volute on two faces, and cross on one face, probably 11th-century; angles cut away to form a rough octagon." Paul (1986) writes: "Monopod. Probably from earlier church. Square bowl with chamfered angles. Norman, c1080. Decoration: The deep bowl was originally square, but probably in the fifteenth century the corners were removed[...] The carving is rather crude, the south and east faces having two roughly carved scrolled volutes. The north face has two round-headed arches in low relief and the west face is a rather antiquated form of St Andrew's cross. The bowl is mounted on a much later octagonal base which is hollow-chamfered to the pedestal which is also octagonal [...] The font originally stood against the south-west pier of the nave arcade but was probably removed to its present position during the 1851-57 restoration. Cover: The cover is a flat wooden irregular octagon with iron ring handle. Modern." Noted in Pevsner (1976): "Font. Square with chamfered angles. Very raw decoration -- a saltire cross, two arches, a composition of two volutes -- it may well be C11." Fitch (1996) suggests that "the font is older than the church, possibly Saxon, and must have come from an earlier church." Bettley & Pevsner (2007) reiterated the C11 date.