DERBYSHIRE FONTS. 47 



patee, evidently adapted from the processional cross of those 

 times, and closely resembling that on the pre-Conquest incised 

 sepulchral slab at Alvaston, near Derby. The absence of 

 similarly designed fonts naturally prohibits comparisons 

 between this specimen and others. The carving is not so 

 rude as it is irregular, for the straight lines are more or less 

 straight, and the circles are fairly round, but the general design 

 is as slovenly as it is shallow. This design stands away but 

 very little from the surface of the bowl, though the material 

 seems to be a soft stone, and therefore easy to cut deeply. 

 The measurements are as follows : — 



ft. in. 



Height ----- i ii 



Width at top - - - - 2 4 



Interior width - - - 1 n 



Interior depth - - - 1 1 



Chesterfield. 



The font here is one of those curious examples of con- 

 flicting evidence of styles, which some of the art workers of 

 early mediaeval times seem to have delighted in concocting, 

 to the bewilderment and annoyance of the unfortunate 

 archaeologist who seeks to class them individually, and to 

 ascribe a precise date for their origin. To add to other points 

 of difficulty, the stone of which this font is constructed is 

 slightly mottled, and in a very dilapidated state, all owing to 

 the old, old story of " The Vicarage garden flower-pot." Such 

 was the use to which this venerable relic was condemned till 

 some fifteen years ago, when it found shelter again in the 

 church. It stands in the centre of the south transept, a dark 

 place, and would have been much more accessible if placed 

 in the correct situation at the west end of the nave. 



The only decipherable parts of it, as now placed, are the 

 south-east and south-west sides. One thing is quite certain, 

 i.e., the font as it now remains is far from being complete. 

 I believe a foot at least is missing from the top; it was no 



