Poulshot

The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 7, 1953) notes: "In 1207 William, Abbot of Bec, assigned the churches of Poulshot, Brixton Deverel, and Durrington to the Bishop of Salisbury [...] The only traces of a building earlier than the 13th century are portions of carved 12th-century capitals built in over the north door, the opening to the rood stair over a recess in the south aisle, and part of a blocked roundheaded window in the chancel. The present nave dates from the late 13th century but was badly damaged by fire in 1916." No font is mentioned in the VCH entry. A local history pamphlet by Harper and Hampton in 1990 [www.poulshot.org.uk/St Peters Church/poulshot church 1.pdf] [accessed 24 January 2012] informs: "The remains of the old Font [...] will be found on the floor beneath the stairs which led to the rood-loft [...] at the east end of the north aisle the remains of the old Font, the date of which is uncertain. The present Font came from the Chapel of the Twelve Old Men (St. John's Hospital) at Heytesbury. In 1921 it was suggested to the authorities of the Minster, Warminster, that an unused font then in the Minster Church should be given to Poulshot Church, but the suggestion was not acted upon. It was presumably some time later that the font now in use was sent from Heytesbury. The cover was made and given to the church by William Gillham, a parishioner, the old cover having been destroyed in the 1916 fire." This same source illustrates the remains of an old [date?] holy-water stoup in the porch. The modern font is octagonal and of a style most common in the Perpendicular period, with a floral motif inside a large quatrefoil on each side of the basin; pedestal base with trefoiled arches or windows on the sides. The present wooden font cover [cf. supra] octagonal; modern. This font is located at the west end of the nave, by the entranceway.