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The baptismal font of St James’s Church is the work of seventeenth-century sculptor, Grinling Gibbons. Primarily known as an exceptional woodcarver, this font is a rare example of his work in marble. The font came to the church in 1686. Created from two marble blocks, it is decorated with carvings depicting stories from the Bible. The base of the font shows Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Trees, foliage and flowers can be seen while a serpent winds around the tree, persuading Eve to take an apple and offer it to Adam. On the bowl, three more scenes from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are featured. A dove with an olive branch flies toward Noah’s ark signalling the terrible flood is over, Christ is baptised by his cousin John the Baptist, and Saint Philip baptises the Ethiopian Eunuch.