Carlton
St Michael

Features and Fittings

The Font (The Saxondale Font)

The font was probably the oldest item in the church. It is believed to date from the thirteenth or fourteenth century and is documented as having been recovered from a field between Gedling and Shelford. At the time of its retrieval it was in service as a horse trough. Damage on the rim is attributed to contact with the horses’ tack. The font’s original location is believed to have been Saxondale Chapel, part of Shelford Priory which was demolished in the fifteenth century. When it was found it was offered to several churches, eventually finding a home in the newly erected church of St. Michael and All Angels, Porchester. The date of the installation was not identified but was before 1908. At the closure of St. Michael’s the font was transferred to the mission church of St. Cyprian in Sneinton, and from there into the permanent church of the same name built in 1935, where it was extant in 2002.        

A note was seen which suggested that the font and the altar (for which no details are known) were transferred to St. James' Church, Porchester in 1933, but St. James did not exist at that date, and nothing in the church history mentions the transfer.

Pulpit

A stone pulpit was donated to St Michael’s by Father Dalrymple of St. Stephen’s Church in Sneinton; he was the incumbent from 1909-17. St. Stephen’s was extensively remodelled in 1909. The costs of transporting the pulpit was 3s. 6d.

The screen and rood were both constructed of wood, but no other details are available.  A screen is not apparent in the single photographic image available of the interior.

Lectern

No image of the lectern is available, but the cost was recorded as £500.

All the church furniture was made and supplied by West and Collier of Henley on Thames.

Seating

The 300 seats in the nave consisted of plain wooden chairs.