Preston Deanery / Preston by Pedyngton / Preston iuxta Northampton / Preston-juxta-Northampton

The Victoria County History (Northampton, vol. 4, 1937) notes: "The building is substantially of 12th-century date, the tower, the walls of the nave, and the west part of the chancel being of that period. […] The font stands against the west wall of the nave; it has an octagonal cup-shaped bowl and is apparently of 18th-century date." This later 'font', or large stoup, is actually half-embedded into the west wall, just north of the tower arch opening. The Churches Conservation Trust entry [www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Church-of-St-Peter-St-Paul-Preston-Deanery-Northamptonshire/] [accessed 5 June 2012] notes: "In the 16th-century the church was partly demolished and converted to secular use - the chancel became a dog kennel and the rugged Norman tower a pigeon house! It was restored in 1620." [NB: we have no information on the original font of the 12th-century church]