Baptism Font - St Leonard - Aston-le-Walls, Northamptonshire - Stone Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

Baptism font in St Leonard's church, Aston-le-Walls, carved with a knot pattern and the Tree of Life.

"The font has a square bowl with a round, lead lined inner basin standing on a later coursed ashlar plinth. The upper rim is chamfered into a quadrant. Each rectangular face is carved with a different design, and there are grotesque heads on the angles.

E face: knotwork design of flat grooved fillets, consisting of two concentric circles with interlaced semicircles to top, bottom, left and right. In the centre of the design the semicircles enclose a small square containing a quatrefoil with a drilled centre. At their outer ends adjacent semicircles cross and terminate in diamonds at the corners of the square field. There is an inserted repair at the rim.

N face: the square left section of the rectangular face is carved with a six-by-six diapered grid of saltires with pellets in the angles in low relief. This leaves a narrow uncarved rectangle to the right.

W face: most of the rim is repaired in mortar or resin. The face is divided by a pair of vertical central fillet into two equal tall rectangular fields. Each is decorated with a design of flat curving stems terminating in large furled leaves. The two designs are similar but neither identical nor symmetrical.

S face: carved in low relief with intersecting round-headed arcading forming six pointed bays. Fictive irregular capitals and chamfered bases are indicated. Only a small central section of the rim is original, the remainder is repaired in mortar or resin. The angle heads are always at the top of the angle, immediately below the upper rim moulding badly eroded, but some description is possible.

NE angle: the angle moulding is rounded, the head worn and apparently human with pointed chin and bulging almond eyes drilled for pupils.

NW angle: roundish cat's head with little round ears at the top. The eyes are eroded away, and nothing survives of the mouth but a horizontal groove. The head stands on a fat angle roll carved with directional chevron rolls.

SW angle: the angle moulding is rounded with vertical grooves on each face. At the top, the mask is worn but takes the form of a beak clasping the angle, with a pair of grooves indicating wrinkles above. The head and eyes are damaged.

SE angle: the angle moulding is rounded, the head similar to that at the NE."

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Approximate Age of Artefact: Not listed Relevant Website: Not listed

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