Darenth / Darent / Tarent

Results: 16 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

B01: Old Testament - the time of Samson - the book of Judges - Samson - fighting a lion - with a club

Scene Description: unclear identification; some have claimed this is St. Margaret of Antioch and her dragon, but the figure appears to be male and has a beard

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B02: sacrament - baptism

Scene Description: or Christ's first bath? -- Photographed in July 2000

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B03: human figure - male - crowned - with spear

Scene Description: or a flabellum [fan]? -- Photographed in July 2000

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B04: animal - fabulous animal or monster - 2 - fighting?

Scene Description: one on the other -- Photographed in July 2000

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B05: Old Testament - story of David - with harp

Scene Description: enthroned

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B06: animal - fabulous animal or monster - centaur? - with bow and arrow - Sagittarius? - Minotaur?

Scene Description: Appears to have a bull's head, not a human one, on a human torso

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B07: animal - fabulous animal or monster - pegasus or hippogryph?

Scene Description: winged horse; the tail is extremely ornate and climbs over its back

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

B08: animal - mammal - lion - rampant

Scene Description: facing left

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - 8

Scene Description: Arcade contains an image or scene in each arch

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

design element - motifs - ball

Scene Description: half-ball motifs in all the spandrels of the arcade; some still show a sort of motif on them

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

view of basin

Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of basin - detail

Scene Description: the baptism scene

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Gomme (1908)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - portal

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

view of church interior - window

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 July 2000 by BSI

view of iconographic program

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Gomme (1908)

Copyright Instructions: PD

INFORMATION

FontID: 00144DAR

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Margaret of Antioch

Church Patron Saints: St. Margaret of Antioch [aka Margaret the Virgin, Marina]

Church Location: Darenth Hill, Darenth, Dartford DA2 7QY, UK -- Tel.: +44 1322 227153

Country Name: England

Location: Kent, South East

Directions to Site: Located off (E) the A275, SE of the M25-A2 crossroads, 6-7 km NNE of Farningham (SE of London on the A20)

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Rochester

Historical Region: Hundred of Axton

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the nave

Date: ca. 1140?

Century and Period: 12th century (mid?), Norman

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

There are three entries for Darenth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ5671/darenth/] [accessed 2 March 2020] none of which mentions church or cleric in it. Baptismal font noted [as 'Darent'] in Gough (1792): it is decorated with "rude arches and reliefs, and is of large capacity". Noted and illustrated in Upcott (1818). Noted in Batty (1848) as "highly emblemized". Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 reports a font "which has attracted much attention". In Hussey (1852) with reference to the font at Bloxham. Described in Glynne (1877). Ruprich-Robert (1884-) has also as "Darent" and shows a cylindrical base not shown in Bond [cf. infra]. The Ecclesiologist (XXVIII, 1867: 85-89) reproduces a document by Mr. W. Burges, architect, addressed to the Incumbent, Rev. R.P. Coates, on the planned changes for the upcoming renovation, among which is the advice: "The font should be placed on a square stone base, with sufficient space for the priest to stand when administering the Sacrament." Romilly Allen's Notes on Early Christian Symbolism (1884) identifies a baptismal scene on this font. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a "fine piece of early Norman sculpture" [NB: C&H report a description of this font in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1827 and, again, in 1837]. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a Norman font. Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as being ornamented with signs of the Zodiac. Collins (1943) is very categorical about "The rite of baptism. The scene here carved is capable of not other interpretation"; for the man and animal, he rejects St. Michael, St. George or Samson, and suggests "the eternal conflict between good and evil"; he does not have any helpful suggestions to make any narrative sense of the other motifs. Noted in Newman (1980) with date ca. 1140 [after Zarnecki]: "Round the bowl under an arcade of eight arches is a characteristically incoherent variety of subjects; a bearded man grappling with a dragon; a rampant lion; a gryphon; Saggitarius; King David; a fantastic beast; a crowned man holding a flabellum." Noted in Wood (1999). Described and illustrated in Drake (2002). On-site notes: the cylindrical basin has an arcade of eight arches, left-to-right: 1)male figure hold's lion's tail with his left hand, raises a club on his right (Samson?); 2) scene of child baptism (or first bath?); 3)crowned male with short spear; 4)pair of fabulous beasts, one on the other; 5)crowned sitting figure with harp (king David?); 6)bull-headed (?) centaur looks back with bow and arrow (Sagittarius?); 7)winged quadruped (Pegasus / hyppogryph); 8)rampant lion. There are large round ball-like motifs in the spandrels between the arches.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.419, 0.2433

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 25′ 8.4″ N, 0° 14′ 35.88″ E

UTM: 31U 308327 5700027

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone

Number of Pieces: one

Font Shape: cylindrical (unmounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round

Drainage Notes: lead-lining inside the basin well

Rim Thickness: 8.5-10 cm

Diameter (inside rim): 73 cm

Diameter (includes rim): 90-91 cm

Basin Depth: 49 cm

Basin Total Height: 69 cm

Font Height (less Plinth): 69 cm

Font Height (with Plinth): 114 cm

Notes on Measurements: BSI on-site

REFERENCES

Allen, J. Romilly, "Notes on Early Christian Symbolism", N.S., VI, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1884, pp. 380-464; r["References"]

Batty, Robert Eaton, Some particulars connected with the history of baptismal fonts: being a paper read at the quarterly general meeting of the Architectural and Archaeological Society for the County of Buckingham, London: F. & J. Rivington, 1848

Betjeman, John, An American's Guide to English Parish Churches (including the Isle of Man), New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1958

Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908

Collins, Arthur H., "The iconography of Darenth font", 56 (1943), Archaeologia Cantiana, 1943, pp. 6-10; r["References"]

Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907

Davies, J.G., The Architectural Setting of Baptism, London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1962

Glynne, Steven Richard, Sir, Notes on the churches of Kent, London: John Murray, 1877

Gomme, George Laurence, Folklore as an historical science, London: Methuen, 1908

Gough, Richard, "Description of the old font in the Church of East Meon, Hampshire, 1789: with some observations on fonts", X, Archaeologia, 1792, pp. 183-209; r["References"]

Hussey, Arthur, Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey mentioned in Domesday Book and those of more recent date [...], London: John Russell Smith, 1852

Kroesen, Justin E.A., The Interior of the medieval village church = Het middeleeuwse Dorpskerkinterieur, Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2004

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831

Newman, John, North East and East Kent, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1976

Newman, John, West Kent and the Weald, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1980

Ruprich-Robert, V., Architecture normande aux XIe et XIIe siècles en Normandie et en Angleterre, Paris: Libraririe des imprimeries réunies, 1884-1889

Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928

Upcott, William, A bibliographical account of the principal works relating to English topography, London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, 1818

Wood, Rita, "Real People in English Romanesque Sculpture", Summer 1999, 11, Medieval Life: The Magazine of the Middle Ages, 1999, pp. [8]-15; r["References"]