East Ilsley / East Tillesley / Eldeslai / Estchildesley / Esthildesle / Estillesley / Estillysley / Estilsley / Estyldesle / Estylstod / Hildele / Hilderle / Hildeslegh / Hildeslei / Hillesley / Ildesle / Illyssley / Market Ilsley / Odesle / Yildersley

There are four entries for [East and West] Ilsley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/east-and-west-ilsley/] [accessed 12 May 2015], neither of which mention cleric or church in it. A font here is noted and illustrated in Hewett & Hewett (1844): "The font evidently coeval with the church [i.e., ca. 1199] is octagonal with a series of circular arches". Described in 'Church notes...' (1887) in the context of some "notes [that] were taken between 1835 and 1840": "The font has a good octangular bowl, with a Norman arcade in relief on each face, and a conical stem and base." The Victoria County History (Buckingham, vol. 4, 1924) notes "The advowson of the church of East Ilsley was confirmed in 1199 to the Knights Hospitallers, [...] to whom it had been granted by Sewall de Osevill, lord of the manor. [...] The nave is the oldest part of the present building, and is probably of the 12th century, but no distinctive detail survives to indicate a definite date. The remains of a mid-12th-century font, however, suggest the existence of the church at that period [...] The font is of the 12th century, but stands on a modern base. The bowl is nine-sided [sic], and has running round it a small arcade carved in low relief with one arch to each side. The stem is of a convex section and of similar form to the bowl, the angles of which come over the centres of the sides of the stem." The font appears located beneath the tower in the illustrative plan of the church in the VCH entry (ibid.) Nash (2004) [www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/east_ilsley.html] [accessed 3 January 2009], in his description of East Ilsley St. Mary's, notes: "The nave of the present building dates from the 12th century, as does the unusual nine-sided font." The CRSBI (2015) entry for this church notes: "the font [...] dates from c.1200 or slightly later [...] In N aisle to W of N doorway, it was moved here from the ringing chamber in 1957. On a modern octagonal stemmed plinth sits a shallow tub-shaped bowl roughly carved with four large recessed panels, leaving four shallow vertical strips slightly proud of the surface. On top of this sits the font proper, an unlined octagonal tub, very much repaired, carved with a simple round-headed relief arcade, one bay on each face. The flat columns supporting the arches have boldly projecting rectangular capitals or imposts. Around the rim is a chamfer, and around the bottom of the bowl, a double roll on which the columns stand." [NB: confusion over the shape of the basin: octagonal or enneagonal?]