Perpendicular Style Font - Cold Ashby

This Perpendicular-period font at Holy Cross, Cold Ashby, is an octagonal bowl set above a tall, multi-stage stem. The bowl is plainly treated, relying on its crisp octagonal geometry rather than carved ornament; each face is defined by broad, flat planes typical of later medieval austerity in font design. A moulded rim encircles the top, and shallow chamfers articulate the angles.
Beneath the bowl, the necking moulding breaks into a ring of small foliate capitals, each leaf carved in low relief and supporting the angles of the bowl above. This detail introduces a modest decorative vocabulary consistent with the Perpendicular Gothic preference for restrained vegetal motifs used as architectural accents.
The stem continues the octagonal plan, with each face recessed into a shallow panel or blind arcade, giving the pedestal a lightly architectural character. The base spreads into a broad, moulded plinth set on a square platform stone.
The font is structurally simple yet firmly rooted in the 14th-century Perpendicular idiom, its interest lying in the clean geometry of the bowl and the elegant foliate collars beneath it. The present wrought-iron cage-cover is modern.
