The porch

The 14th century porch is made of ashlar but it was practically rebuilt by Woodyer. Its triangular arched outer doorway has a hoodmould terminating in headstops of lions, which look like re-used original details. The outer doorway has half-round responds with fillets and octagonal abaci. In the wall above this doorway appears the sacred monogram 'IHC' (the abbreviation of the Greek spelling 'IHOCYC' of Jesus' name). This must be a modern replacement of a medieval niche in which there would have been a figure of a saint, possibly Bartholomew, Jesus' disciple and patron saint of the church. However, an early charter of Croxton Abbey refers to Sproxton church as 'Sancti Botulfi' which implies that the church was originally dedicated to the Saxon saint, Botolph (who lived in the C7 and after whom Boston 'Botolph's town' is named) and that the original dedication to St Botolph has been corrupted to St Bartholomew at some time. The stone benches along the sides of the porch are probably original, but the depressed arched inner doorway is 19th century. It also has a hoodmould terminating in headstops. This inner doorway is in a later style than the outer doorway - can Woodyer be trusted to have reproduced the original features? Internal fittings and fixtures Under the tower arch is a carved stone basin which is probably a free-standing holy water stoup of 14th century date, which may have originally stood in the porch or just inside the south doorway. It is presently supported on a fluted stone column, once part of a pinnacle from the tower. The fine 15th century octagonal font has an elaborate bowl carved with a sunken quatrefoil on each of its eight sides. It has an embattled top with incised crosses 'pommees' in the embrasures. On the underside of the bowl, at the corners and below the quatrefoils, are carved heads and leaf designs. The stem is carved with blind tracery and it sits upon a spurred base. The font in St john the Baptist's church at nearby Buckminster is of almost identical detail, but the Buckminster font differs in being, most unusually, six sided.