Sawley is a village in the Borough of Erewash in SE Derbyshire, 8 miles SE of Derby. The River Trent which forms the boundary with Nottinghamshire runs through the village, S of the church. All Saints has a 4-bay aisled and clerestoreyed nave with a S porch, a chancel and a W tower with a spire. The oldest part is the 12thc chancel arch, the chancel is of c.1300 as are the arcades and aisles. The porch is 14thc, and the clerestorey was added in the 15thc, as was the tower. Construction is of rubble and sandstone ashlar. The font may be 12thc and is described below, along with the chancel arch. There is also a recent record of a chevron voussoir re-used in the walling which could not be found.

In 822, Sawley was a prebend of Lichfield cathedral, according to William of Malmesbury (Cox (1879, 377), but by 1086 it was held by the Bishop of Chester and was assessed (along with Draycott and Hopwell) at 12 carucates. The Domesday Survey records a priest and 2 churches for the joint manor.

The font is described in the List Description as 'a crude octagonal stone font with wooden cover, of indeterminate date', which is fair as far as it goes. Cox (1879, 393) describes it in its present position, and believes it to be of Decorated date. Neither suggest, as is possible, that it was cut down from a square. There is a possibility, not susceptible of confirmation, that it is a Romanesque font.