Pentlow / Pentelawa

Wood (1890) writes: "In the nave, and close to the north door, is a very handsome stone font, probably of the transitional Norman period, although stated by some to be late Saxon,-- say 1150. It is in one block, 2 ft. 9 in. square, and 1 ft. 6 in. deep, and I am not quite clear if it is Barnack stone or a coarse, shelly limestone. All its four faces are beautifully and richly carved with floral designs, and on each face the design is different. The four corners are represented by four columns having carved capitals and moulded pedestals. This font is probably coeval with the columns forming part of the doorway in the tower, and no doubt belonged to the original church. The font stands upon a rubble masonry pedestal about 2 ft. high, and is surmounted with an exceedingly elegant wood canopy which opens with doors (being a good specimen of the florid style), of about the fifteenth century. Noted with an illustration in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923) as "being richly but crudely carved [...] square, with attached shfts at angles, capitals scalloped and bases moulded; three sides elaboratedly carved with interlacing ornament and foliage, fourth side also carved, but now hidden, first half of the 12th century." The font cover, also noted in the RCHM as serving as a cupboard at the time: "with seven sides exposed, spire-shaped with traceried and crocketed panels, divided by buttresses and pinnacles; three panels of lower stage made to open, 15th-century, much restored, top stage modern." Pevsner (1976) notes the font and the cover, one of several noteworthy font covers in this county: "Square, with angle colonnettes, Norman. The sides decorated with a cross and interlace and leaves, a star, branches, etc. -- all very stylized. Font cover: square with canted front. Niches with nodding ogee arches. The canopy with buttresses, canopies, etc., cocketed and ending in a finial." In Bettley & Pevsner (2007), with date of font as Norman, and cover as C15. Described and illustrated in 'Pentlow, its History and Romance', an entry in The Foxearth and District Local History Society [www.foxearth.org.uk/pentlowHistoryAndRomance.html]: "this is a very sturdy specimen of the [Norman] period, a tremendous affair, with excellent carving and in exceptionally good condition, considering its years of existence. Yet it is not the font alone which immediately attracts the attention. The cover gracing it is probably unique or, at any rate, I cannot remember seeing anything of a similar nature. This cover forms a worthy crown to the font. It seems to date from the fifteenth century, and is a most elaborate survival indeed, with its delicate carving and its general aspect of age [...] Naturally this remarkable relic has not escaped unscathed throughout its years of existence [...] yet the essential restoration has been carried out as tactfully and as efficiently as possible, so the most of its original beauty is emphasised." One of the captions of the two accompanying photographs reads: "The photo appeared in an article on Pentlow in 1937 in the 'East Anglian Daily Times." The font, as it appears in the source photograph, consists of a quadrangular basin raised on a later composite base and set against the north wall near the north door; only two sides are visible in the source: the left side has a six-petal flower [or six-point star] in the centre, though one of the petals is split into two; on both sides of it are stylised plant forms and, towards the outer sides, a pattern of linked rings arranged vertically; the space in between is filled with scroll-like foliage; the ornamentation of the right side includes the linked-ring motif, some foliage motifs and, on the lower left corner, a Maltese cross inscribed in a circle; a colonnette topped by a capital is carved on each of the angles of the basin. If the font had a base originally, it is not the one it stands on in the photograph. The cover consists of a main volume of quadrangular shape with vertical sides, each of which is divided into two Gothic arches with profuse traceried tops of cusped and crocketed pinnacles; the next volume up is made up of eight (?) flying buttresses decorated with the same cusped and crocketed pinnacles found in the arches below, built around a moulded finial. [NB: a local source [andrew@MarshalClarke.com] informed BSI that "the photograph dates from the 1900s"]. The RCHM [cf. supra] notes a holy-water stoup in the nave, east of the south doorway, "plain, date uncertain, basin destroyed" [not listed in this Index].