Cilcain nr. Mold No. 1 / Kylkeyn

Engraved in 'Archaeologia Cambrensis' (issue of 1846: 441, 442), probably soon after the old basin was discovered buried inside the church, under the pulpit, in 1845. A letter to the editor of 'Archaeologia Cambrensis' (issue no. XXIX, 4th series, January 1877: 156-157) from "E.O." notes: "In this church are both an old Norman font and also the old stoup. They are firmly secured, by being cemented in a corner of the church. The bowl of the font, is not large, while the stoup is larger than usual. Both could have been stoups. The place where the stoup was can be seen, the mortar having given way a little. There is also a piscina in this church, preserved in the same manner as are the other remains. All these are placed together and firmly secured, as stated above" [NB: a footnote to this entry refers to the 1846 engraving [cf. supra]]. The CPAT Flintshire Churches Survey Project [www.cpat.demon.co.uk] notes: "The church does not seem to have been recorded in the Norwich Taxation of 1254, but it is documented in the Lincoln Taxation of 1291 as 'Ecclia de Kylkeyn' [...] There is a fragmentary font, perhaps of Norman origin". The remaining fragment a large portion of the basin, about the lower 2/3 or so; the shape is unusual: square at the top, both inside and out, the sides tapering to an octagonal lower end; the outer surface of the font is covered in a fairly skillful pattern of linked trefoiled plants; this is not Norman work, but quite likely 13th-century or later. The fragment of the font is now [June 2010] kept in a 'lapidarium' inside the church.