Nettlestead nr. Somersham / Netlesteda

There is an entry for this Nettlestead [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TM0849/nettlestead/] [accessed 12 January 2025]; it reports "2 churches. 0.65 church lands" in it. Noted in Parker (1855): "Font, D[ecorated], an octagon with panelled bowl." Described and illustrated in Knott (2000, 2007): "The crowning jewel inside Nettlestead church is one of Suffolk's most delightful fonts. Panels include two grinning men, one with his tongue sticking out, a jolly bishop, and, almost surreally amongst all this merriment, St Catherine clutching her wheel of martyrdom. Dowsing came in 1644, and ordered the removal of this image. The person commissioned to do the work was obviously either very brave, and had a special devotion to St Catherine, or simply wasn't up to the job." The font consists of an octagonal (?) basin decorated with a fret moulding at the upper rim, the panels of the sides decorated with the four symbols of the Evangelists (winged lion with scroll - angel with scroll - winged ox with scroll - eagle with scroll) alternating with four other motifs (mitred bishop head - crowned king head - grinning head with tongue sticking out - full-figure of St. Catherine with her wheel), and a lower side with mouldings below which, around the first level of the underbowl, are cherubs with spread wings set at the angles; the second and lower level of the underbowl is a separate piece, octgonal and chamfered, and appears to be decorated with square flowers; the octagonal pedestal base has four seated lions [are they crowned?] alternating with four buttresses at the angles; square lower base or plinth. The carving is interesting but both the design itself and the execution are rather crude and uneven, as can be seen by the different proportions of the panels. The basin has suffered much damage and is badly cracked and poorly repaired. The Church of England released an article on this font September 10, 2024 under the title 'Pre-Reformation font repaired in restoration backed by Church of England conservation programme' [https://www.churchofengland.org/media/stories-and-features/pre-reformation-font-repaired-restoration-backed-church-england] [accessed 12 January 2024]: "A baptismal font dating back to the Middle Ages has been restored and repaired more than 80 years after it was destroyed by German bombers during the Second World War. The font, installed in 1500 in the village church of Nettlestead St Mary in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, was reassembled using grey cement after being blown apart in 1940 by German bombers ditching their load into the Suffolk countryside en route home from a raid. The full restoration of the font took place this summer including removal of grey cement and repair of water damage from a leaking, now repaired, roof. It features 'extraordinary' carvings including St Catherine, holding her wheel. The restored font will take ‘pride of place’ when a restoration and re-ordering project in the church is completed early next year. Parochial Church Council member Maureen Gardiner, who heads fundraising for the church, said: “We are all so delighted by what he has achieved. “It will still bear some of the scars of its history, but you can see the beauty of the carvings so much more clearly, and the whole font has such grace.” The church received a £2,000 conservation grant from the Pilgrim Trust, distributed by Church of England conservation staff through its conservation programme, toward the repair."