Great Stukeley No. 1 / Magna Steuecle / Steukeley / Stewkeley / Stiueclai / Stiuecle / Stiuekelea / Stiuekle / Stuecle / Stukelie / Styecle

William Stukeley writes in his 'Itinerarium curiosum' (1724): "In Great Stukeley Church is a font of a very ancient make". The Victoria County History (Huntingdon, vol. 2, 1932) notes: "The Domesday Survey records the existence of a church at Stukeley [...] Countess Judith had three hides in Great Stukeley, with a church and a priest, which were held under her by a woman named Hunneve or Hunnef. [...] nothing of this early church remains in situ but numerous stones built into the walls indicate a stone church in the 12th century. The earliest parts of the present structure are the north arcade, c. 1250, and the south arcade, south aisle and chancel are of a slightly later date. [...] The 13th-century font has a heavy octagonal bowl supported on a large circular central and eight smaller shafts, all with moulded capitals and bases." The octagonal basin is decorated with a roll moulding at the lower end; some of the outer colonnettes may be modern replacements]; the columns have water-holding bases." There is a holy-water in a niche in the exterior of the church; it consists of an polygonal basin raised on a pedestal base of the same shape, both moulded; date unknown. [cf. Index entry for Great Stukeley No. 2 for a late-medieval holy-water stoup in this church].