Heptonstall

No individual enbtry found for Heptonstall in the Domesday survey. The entry for the old church here in Historic England [Listing NGR: SD9867528058] notes: "Church, Ruin lacking roof. Founded 1260, fabric of this date survives in tower, raised mid C15 when bells were inserted c.1440"; no mention of a font in it. The entry for the new church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SD9864528006] notes: "Church, c.1850-1854 by Mallinson and Healey. Set in the same church yard as the Church of St. Thomas a Becket which it replaced. [...] The unusual 11 sided font from the old church is set behind the screen in preference to the 1850 font which is to one side of the altar." The Calderdale Council site [www.calderdale.gov.uk] [accessed 4 November 2008] informs: "The original building of St Thomas a Becket was founded between 1256 and 1260. Most of the ruin that still stands dates from the 15th century, with some from the 13th century. The new church was dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle in 1854, after a fierce storm had severely damaged the old building. It contains the original 11-sided font from the old church." The Todmorden and Walsden site [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~todmordenandwalsden/heptonstall.htm] [accessed 4 November 2008] notes: "The font from the old church was removed to the new one and is still in use. A remarkable and unusual eleven-sided one, lined with lead and given a new cover". In Harman & Pevsner (2017) as 'probably C13". [NB: eleven-sided fonts are uncommon in any period, but we assume this one to be from the 15th century]. The faces or sides of the polygon are cut into points at the lower end, whereas the underbowl is slightly rounded; the underbowl chamfer below is polygonal [octagonal?] again and ends in a very thick roll moulding [damaged on one side]; below the moulding the lower base is actually square with chamfered angles, the chamfer thinning down to a point at the bottom; below that is a thin square lower volume in the manner of a plinth. The basin appears to have been re-tooled or re-cut, whereas the base seems to be in its original form.