Corston nr. Malmesbury / Corstone

Noted in Buck (1951) as a group of octagonal baptismal fonts with simple plain mouldings and dating from the late 12th or early 13th century in the county of Wiltshire, at Alderton, Blunsdon St. Andrew, Broad Hinton, Collingbourne Kingston, Corston, Fonthill Bishop, Idmiston, Lydiard Tregoze, Marden and Melksham. The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 15, 2012) notes: "The shape of Corston church before it was rebuilt in the 19th century suggests that it was built in the 12th century. [...] A church at Corston may have been served from Malmesbury abbey until a vicarage of Malmesbury was ordained between 1191 and the mid 13th century, but none is recorded until 1341 when there was a chapel dependent on Malmesbury church. [...] Only the south doorway and the octagonal west bellcot, both of which are probably 15thcentury, survive from the structure of a singlecelled church which was rebuilt in 1881"; there is no font mentioned in the VCH entry for this church. There is a baptismal font now [2008] in this church, consisting of a hexagonal basin of vertical sides, plain but for a thin chamfer at the upper rim, raised on a plain pedestal base and a moulded lower base, both hexagonal as well; the underbowl appears to have a graded moulding on it. The wooden cover is flat and hexagonal, with a ring handle. [NB: we have no information on the present whereabouts of the original font of this church]