Eardisley No. 1 / Erdesley / Herdeslege

Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Results: 30 records
New Testament - Passion and public life of Christ - conflated scene - baptism - Harrowing of Hell
New Testament - events from Resurrection to Pentecost - Harrowing of Hell
animal - mammal - lion - passant-gardant
design element - motifs - interlace
design element - motifs - interlace - 2-strand - knot - linked knots
design element - motifs - rope moulding
human figure - warrior - 2 - fighting
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail
view of church exterior - northeast view
view of church exterior - south porch
view of church interior - nave - looking west
view of font
view of font
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
view of font and cover
INFORMATION
FontID: 00203EAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene
Church Patron Saints: St. Mary Magdalene
Church Location: Park Road, Eardisley, Herefordshire HR3 6NW
Country Name: England
Location: Herefordshire, West Midlands
Directions to Site: Located WSW of Leominster down the A4112, in a corner of the Welsh Marches
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Hereford
Historical Region: Hundred of Elsdon
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end, to the left of S door
Date: ca. 1140-1145?
Century and Period: 12th century (mid?), Late Norman
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Herefordshire school
Cognate Fonts: The font at Castle Frome may be by the same carver (?); Chaddesley Corbett from the same 'school'. The fonts at Chickerell, Eardisley, Morwenstow, South Milton and Bishop's Teignton, all have a cable moulding that appears to contract the shape of the vessel into a cup-shape. The fonts at Holdgate, Eardisley, Castle Frome and Chaddesley Corbett are related in style
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Harding, of www.sheelanagig.org, and to Tim Marlow for the additional photographs of this font]
Font Notes:
Click to view
There are three entries for Eardisley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO3149/eardisley/] [accessed 2 November 2014], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. The font here is listed in Romilly Allen (1888) as one of several "bowl-shaped fonts with interlaced work round the stems". Described and illustrated in Bond (1908). Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a font decorated with a rope moulding among other motifs. Stone (1955) dates it ca. 1150-1155. In Hutton (1976). Described and illustrated in the inventory of Herefordshire (1931-1934), in which it is dated to the mid 12th century and stated that "the work is by the same carver as Castle Frome font". Künstler (1973) points out to similarities with Kilpeck [S door portal] and suggests a dating ca. 1145. Jenkins (1999) suggests the carver is the same hand who did the doorway at Kilpeck, and refers also to the fight between Baskerville and Lord Drogo, to the outcome of which this font may owe its existence. Noted and illustrated in Bestiaire roman. The iconography of this font has been studied by Kaske (1998). Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2016), with suggested date ca. 1140. On-site notes: the monolithic font is lined with lead and was newly restored by the British Museum in 1998, according to local sources. There are three scenes on this font: first, the conflated scene of the Harrowing of Hell and the Baptism of Christ; to the right of this scene is a large lion around the bowl; to the right of the lion, is the battle scene between two figures; the figure on the right is piercing the leg of the second figure with a large spear. According to some locals the battle scene represents the dispute between the Baskerville family, specifically, Ralph the first, and his new father-in-law, Lord Drogo of Clifford. The wooden cover was carved recently by the local doctor, according to the churchwarden. [cf. Index entry for Eardisley No. 2 for a holy-water stoup listed for this church]
COORDINATES
Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 52.136263, -3.0059
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 52° 8′ 10.55″ N, 3° 0′ 21.24″ W
UTM: 30U 499596 5776194
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, type unknown
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: hemispheric (mounted) -- chalice-shaped
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Rim Thickness: 7-9 cm*
Diameter (inside rim): 58-60 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 74-75 cm*
Basin Depth: 32 cm*
Height of Basin Side: 55 cm*
Basin Total Height: 55 cm*
Height of Base: 25 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 80 cm* / 75 cm**
Notes on Measurements: * BSI on-site / ** CRSBI (2016)
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern
Material: wood, oak?
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
"Les siècles romans en Basse-Normandie", Printemps 1985, 92, Art de Basse-Normandie, 1985
The Visual Culture of Wales = Diwylliant gweledol Cymru, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998-2003
Allen, J. Romilly, "On the Antiquity of Fonts in Great Britain", XLIV, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1888, pp. 164-173; p. 171
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
Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. Accessed: 2016-10-01 00:00:00. URL: http://www.crsbi.ac.uk.
Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907
Crossley, Frederick Herbert, English Church Craftsmanship: an Introduction to the Work of the Mediaval Period and Some Account of Later Developments, London: B.T. Batsford, 1941
Davies, J.G., The Architectural Setting of Baptism, London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1962
De Solms, Elisabeth, Bestiare roman, La Pierre-qui-Vire (Yonne): Zodiaque, 1977
Fawcett, Joshua, Churches of Yorkshire, Leeds: T.W. Green, 1844
Friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Churches, Thrupp, Stroud (Gloucs.): Sutton Publishing, 2003
Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1931-1934
Hutton, Graham, English Parish Churches, London: Thames & Hudson, 1976
Jenkins, Simon, England's Thousand Best Churches, London and New York: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 1999 [2000 rev. printing]
Kaske, R. E., "Piers Plowman and local iconography", XXXI, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 1968, pp. 159-169; pls. 59-61; p. 159-169; pls. 59-61
Kaske, R.E., "Piers Plowman and local iconography: the Font at Eardisley, Herefordshire", LI, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 1988, pp. 184-186, 3 ill.; p. 184-186; pl. 20(abc)
Nordström, Folke, Mediaeval Baptismal Fonts: An Iconographical Study, Stockholm: Universitetet i Umeå, 1984
Stone, Lawrence, Sculpture in Britain: the Middle Ages, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1955
Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928