Stone nr. Aylesbury / Stanes

There are two entries for this Stone [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SP7812/stone/] [accessed 12 May 2015], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. There is a 1827 "Pen and ink with black chalk and wash | 32.9 x 23.1 cm (sheet of paper)" of the Hampstead Norreys by John Buckler (1770-1851), now in the Royal Collection Trust. Hewett & Hewett (1844) report that a curious old font "which was elaborately carved with the figures of birds, fish, foliage, &c., was decidedly the most handsome, if not the most ancient, in this county [...] having been removed out of the church, was long used as a horse-trough in a neighbouring farm-yard, and afterwards conveyed to London; where, in a garden planted with flowers, it remained for some time. What had become of this desecrated relic was long unknown, till, after much perseverance, I succeeded in tracing it to a village in Bucks; where, I am happy to say, it has lately been renovated by the Rev. J. Reade; being again restored to its original purpose in his parish church, at Stone, in that county." Described in Parker (1850): "The font is circular, with rude sculptures of salamander, and other figures, very curious. It was lately brought here from a garden in Lewisham, Kent, and originally, it is said, from the church of Hampstead Norris, Berks, being removed thence 200 years ago." Sheahan (1862) expands on the origin of the font and manner of transfer to Stone: "the ancient Norman font was presented a few years ago by J.Y. Akerman Esq., of Lewisham, Kent, and originally, it is said, belonged to the church of Hampstead Norris, Berks, being removed thence 200 years ago. It is enriched with ornamental sculpture, comprising various monograms, the cross, fish, birds, reptiles, heads, &c." The Victoria County History (Buckingham, vol. 2, 1908) notes: "In the 12th century the church seems to have consisted of an aisleless nave, somewhat shorter than at present, and a chancel, which must have been of about the same width as that now existing, but a good deal shorter. About 1170 a north aisle of three bays was added, and in the first quarter of the 13th century the nave and aisle were carried westward to their present length [...] The font is a very remarkable piece of work, with a heavy circular bowl on a short stem, and a spreading base; the stem, which is ornamented with interlacing patterns, is modern, but the bowl is of the 12th century, perhaps c. 1140, and has round the top a band of interlacing ornament, and on the sides a series of knotwork patterns, all most elaborately enriched with pellets and small carved heads or foliage in the interstices. The principal subject, however, is the figure of a man standing on a serpent between a lion (or wolf) and a dragon, and holding a sword over the head of the former. His left hand is in the mouth of the dragon, who is being attacked from behind by a bird, and in front by a small human figure. Behind the lion is a large fish. The smaller details of carving, heads of beasts, &c., worked into the knotwork patterns, are so unlike ordinary 12th-century work that it must be concluded that much of the carving has been re-worked." Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a beautiful cylindrical basin ornamented with several large interlace motifs: a round one with a quatrefoil insert, a square one with a romboid and a cross insert, all done in beaded-tape pattern; on one of the sides a scene in which a male figure in the centre, armed with two swords, fights a wolf (?) on his right and a dragon (?) on his left (a smaller man, armed with a sword, helps in defeating the dragon); a small lizzard or salamander appears between the larger man and the canine beast, and there is a large fish to the left of the wolf, as well as a bird to the right of the dragon; at the upper basin side, a three-strand braid of beaded-tape. The pedestal base was supplied in the 18th century, at the time of the move, according to Bond (ibid.): "The font at Stone, Bucks. [...] has had a chequered history. Originally it was in the church of Hampstead Norris, Berks., but on the presentation of a new font in 1767 it was removed to the Rector's garden. Mr J.G. Akerman, Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, London, who had married into the Rector's family, conveyed it to Kensington; later it travelled to a southern suburb of London; finally it was recognised, bought, and presented to Stone Church, the whitewash with which it was covered was scraped off, and it was supplied with a modern pedestal." Cox & Harvey (1907) describe this font as "rudely sculptured with salamander and other curious figures", and give the original location as "formerly at Hampstead Noons" [sic] although it probably referes to the same village as Bond, Hampstead Norrey's [NB: located on the B4009, about 20 km WNW of Reading and accessible via the M4]. Noted and illustrated in the RCAHM (Buckinghamshire, 1912) with date in the 12th century. Gardner (1925) describes the font as a "remarkably crude and barbarous production" and dates it to ca. 1125. Tyrrell-Green (1928) points out the presence of the fish and the salamander among other motifs on this font. In Pevsner (1960). In her 1964 study on this font Ettlinger contradicts some of the readings of the scene in which two human figures appear engaged in fighting several beasts, and describes the scene: "On the viewer's left there is a prominent vertical fish with sharp teeth parallel to the hero in the centre; the fish does not take any part in the dramatic fight. Next to it there sits on its hind-legs a huge, four-footed, furry monster with a lion's tail. It is indisputably terrestrial. From its wide-open jaw emerge two rows of carnivorous teeth and a long protruding tongue. With its raised feline front-paws, each with three gruesome claws, the monster attacks the tall, naked hero, who, standing erect, almost forms a cross with his outstretched arms. His feet are firmly planted on a coiled serpent; his right foot is being attacked by a small lizard. In his right hand the hero swings a club above the monster's head. His left arm is slightly bent so that his left hand just enters between the sharp, carnivorous teeth of a huge, crocodile-like monster. Its body is covered with scales; it has une machoire aplatie, and a long knotted tail. Between its right front-leg and its right hind-leg there is the head of a human being with an agonised expression, with long hair standing on end, and arms stiffly raised in horror. The lower part of the body has apparently just been devoured by the amphibious monster. The tall hero has a helper: a much smaller man, wearing a pudding-basin helmet. Whilst his right hand rests leisurely on his thigh, with his left hand he thrusts a stick into the lower end of the amphibian's neck. In the top corner on the viewer's right there is the large bird which pecks with its strong beak at the amphibious monster. A large leaf is beneath the coiled serpent on which the tall hero is standing and at the bottom of the relief there is a serpent-like reptile. The other parts of the font are covered with an interlace-pattern, into which are worked, among other figures, a few reptiles with knotted tails. There is, however, no indication of any water. The knotted tails signify that the amphibious monster and the reptiles were rendered harmless. The tall hero's gesture of putting his hand into the amphibian's jaw, which also occurs on several German monuments, signifies the taming or overcoming of the monster. Since the hero is going to club the terrestrial monster, final victory seems to be assured." Ettlinger argues that the representation on the Stone font is linked to Heraclean myths, and that, together with a bench-end at York and a bronze statue in the British Museum, "the font at Stone [...] should be added to [...] the British monuments of Heracles". Kroesen & Steensma (2004) identify the program as "a representation of Psychomachia, the struggle for the human soul between the forces of good and evil." The iconographic programme on the font is commented in Mary Curtis Webb (2012). The CRSBI (2015) entry for the north doorway at Brimpton Chapel, notes: "One comparison that should be mentioned is the font from Hampstead Norreys, now in St John’s, Stone (Buckinghamshire). This is a far more elaborate piece of work, but its decoration contains variations on the cross form, a good deal of beading, and fishscale used to articulate the bodies of fish. Hampstead Norreys is only 7 miles to the N of Brimpton." [NB: the later font donated to the Hampstead Norrey's church in 1768 is not included in this Index]. The font consists of the old cylindrical basin originally from Hampstead Norreys (Berks.) and a modern pedestal base supplied for it when the font was installed at St. John's Church, in Stone (Bucks.); the stem of the base was carved with a beaded-tape pattern following on that theme on the basin. The iconographic programme on the basin sides is a busy one; on the upper basin side is a two-strand beaded-tape braid all around [a metal brace has been added over it]; below, on the sides, are five clusters of decoration; [Left to Right](cluster 1): the largest one involves a number of components: at the centre of the cluster are two humans engaged in fighting a fierce-looking dragon with a scaled body and knotted tail; the human on the left holds a weapon [sword?] in his right hand above the head of a quadruped with large teeth and claws that appears to be on an attack position; this human's left hand is partly inside the toothy jaws of the dragon and no weapon is visible in that hand; his right leg is being attacked by a smaller beast [a salamander?] and there is a large snake body beneath his feet; the other human is located between the first human and the large dragon, and stabs the neck of the beast with a sword held in his left hand; the other side of the dragon's neck is being pierced by the large beak of a bird, perhaps an eagle; beneath the belly of the dragon is the upper part of another human, of whom only the screaming head and stretched arms are visible; this partial figure appears to be immersed in flames; on the left, behind the other attacking quadruped is well-rendered beaded-tape interlace of complex structure and a vertically arranged and realistically portrayed fish; (cluster 2): a beaded-tape interlace that includes two intertwined patterns: a circle and a tetramorphos with complex angle ends; the spaces inside the interlace are filled with five or six heads [human?]; above it, a reptilian creature with a knotted tail; a feline head at the bottom left; a fish-like creature at the top right; an incongruous Latin-cross on a three-step pedestal on the right; etc.; (cluster 3): a beaded-tape square pattern with twisted corners is intertwined with a rhomboid one of similar shape, a potent Greek cross within a beaded-tape Greek cross in the centre, human an animal heads in the spaces within, a fish on the top left, a serpent-like creature with a knotted tail above the upper right corner, a human head with big-hair below, an animal head with long ears on the left of the composition; (cluster 4): a beaded-tape interlace similar to the one in cluster 2, but here the ends of the intertwined form are pointed and plain; a tiny feline head in the centre, some human and some Greenman-like heads in the inside spaces, one reversed, another with extended arms like to one below the beast in cluster 1; to the right, a quadruped on its hind legs on the upper side, a human head on its side below; (cluster 5): this interlace pattern is somewhat similar to the one in cluster 2, the spaces inside filled with rather grotesque animal and human heads. There does not appear to be a clear narrative in the programme that decorates the font, although a Psychomachia of sorts, as suggested above, may be the most meaningful explanation, and one is led to suspect there may have been more than one time period in which the work was done, though is by no means certain; the font has been dated as early as 1125, even though the church it comes from, Hampstead Norreys St. Mary's has been dated to the late 12th century; some of the motifs, especially some of the Greenman faces and other details, are not commonly found in the English Romanesque works of this period, which might suggest a later date for the whole work, unliss they were later re-carvings, whcih does not appear to be the case here; the beaded-tape interlace is nonetheless characteristic of the period and place, and the font does have a rather Scandinavian feel to it, not unlike many other such fonts of the Norman period in Britain. In any case, a perfect example of the so-called 'horror vacui' attributed to medieval work. An interesting interpretation of the main scene on the font was suggested by a correspondent using the name "Demetrios (atheist) in a blog conversation: "Nice font. Unfortunately your interpretation is too Christian. The design is essentially Viking. In the Eddas Tyr binds the wolf Fenrir, and loses his arm in the process (hence the knotted tail and bitten hand). Eventually this wolf will come loose at the end of the world (Ragnarok), and a new dynasty of gods is to rule. Furthermore, Odin ("Woden") casts the Midgard ("middle earth") worm (serpent) to the world's perimeter, and is therefore its master -hence the figure standing on the "worm" could be symbolising domination over the serpent." [source: http://bishopalan.blogspot.com/2009/06/devil-gets-knotted-in-stone.html] [accessed 7 October 2015]. See a thorough and interesting review of Mary Curtis Webb's book Ideas and Images in Twelfth Century Sculpture (2012) by Rita Wood (2019) [http://www.rwromanesque.co.uk/pdf-2019/REVIEW-of-Mary-Curtis-Webb-Ideas-and-Images.pdf] [accessed 18 August 2019]