South Elmham St. Michael

Suckling (1846-1848) writes: "The Church of St. Michael is a small, humble fabric, but boasting considerable antiquity; and has a fine Norman doorway on the south side of the nave [...] It contains a plain octangular font". No font mentioned in Parker (1855). Knott (2008) notes and illustrates a typical East Anglian font in this church, with the usual lions: "Those on the bowl look introspective, even sorrowful, but the alert fellows guarding the shaft are smug and obviously proud of themselves." The font in St. Michael's is indeed of the East Anglia type; alternating with the four seated lions are four demi-figures of angels holding shields charged with emblems, one of them a cross; both levels of the underbowl chamfer are plain; the whole basin is very sharp and, although it is the style of the 15th century fonts, begs the question on the age of the piece, perhaps a 19th-century copy/replica?; the pedestal base is also typical of this font design, seated lions and buttresses alternating around it. The wooden cover is octagonal and flat, probably modern. [NB: the fabric of the church goes back to Norman times, as witnessed by the old doorway, but we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]