Brookland

No entry for Brookland found in the Domesday survey. Gough (1792) notes the Brookland lead font as "supposed to be of high antiquity [...], may have relation to the time of Birinus himself." [NB: St. Birinus, probably of Frank origin, preached Christianity in Mercia and Wessex, the latter serving as his see until his death in 649 -- Gough's dating is way off the mark]. Listed in Paley (1844) as a "leaden font". Described and illustrated in Nesbitt (1849). Noted in Hussey (1852), with reference to the earlier entry in the Archaeological Journal V entry. Illustrated with an engraving in Smith (1861). Described and illustrated in Glynne (1877) with reference to the 1849 issue of the Archaeological Journal, and to Archaeologia Cantiana (vol. VI: 87). Listed in Cox (1875). In Andre (1882) with Norman dating. Described in Romilly Allen (1883-1884, and 1888) as "a leaden font with the names of the signs of the Zodiac and of the months inscribed", with reference to the font at St-Evroult de Montfort. Described and illustrated in Lethaby (1893), who praises the rendering of the figures: "there is a great deal of character, appropriateness, and grace, in their gesture". In Fryer (1900). In Livett (1905): "the details of the ornamentation of the bowl point distinctly to a Norman date, before rather than after the middle of the twelfth century". Described in Cox & Harvey (1907): "The highly remarkable leaden font of Brookland, Kent, has figures symbolical of the months, as well as the signs of the Zodiac and other designs; it is fully described and illustrated in the Archaeological Journal for 1849." [NB: Guilford (1927), among others, notes a set of stones with the months of the year topic at Calverton St. Wilfrid's, in Nottinghamshire]. Tyrrell-Green (1928) gives a detailed listing of the images with the corresponding months and the associated Zodiac symbols. The 'labours of the months' program on this font is studied and catalogued in detail in Webster (1970 c1938) who states that this font "is of the late twelfth, possibly early thirteenth, century". Stone (1955) notes on the decoration: "These signs and months are taken from calendars attached to psalters for liturgical purposes, and there can be little doubt that this is the source for the iconography of this font.." Stone (Ibid.) further notes that some of the French names of the months (e.g., VITOVVRE) denote "the Norman-French form of the twelfth century. This, and the presence of an almost identical font from the same workshop at Saint-Évroult-de-Montfort, in Normandy, make it doubtful on which side of the Channel the Brookland font was actually cast." Described in Betjeman (1958) as "one of the show-pieces of the Romney Marsh." On-site notes: the basin is moulded lead and has a central drain; it is dated to c.1150 and probably the work of a Flemish artisan. At the top of the basin sides there are two lines of cable moulding and one of tooth pattern; below it, the upper tier of arcading contains the signs of the Zodiac; the lower one has the labours of the months. The months are named in French ["Iuillet, Aust, Setembre, Vitovre"...]. The stone base and step are of the 12th or 13th century. Clayton (1929) describes the scenes depicted in the labours of the months thus: March: a man pruning a vine; April: a figure holding a branch or flower in each hand (referring to the Rogationtide procession); May: a knight hawking; June: a man mowing with a scythe; July: a man apparently raking hay; August: a man reaping with a sickle; September: a man threshing with a flail; October: a man standing in a vat holding a bunch of grapes; November: a swineherd beating down acorns for the pig beneath; December: a man felling an animal with an axe; January: a two-faced Janus sitting at a table with a drinking horn; February: a man warming himself at a fire. The scenes are listed in Anderson (1955: 188), who points out that "the agricultural programme varies according to local climatic conditions", among other reasons for the different choice of matter and depiction of the Labours of the months [e.g.: she notes that the English sheep-shearing image is not shown in this font whereas vine tending is -- March/Aries]. Described and illustrated in Zarnecki (1957) who dates the font to ca. 1200; he adds that the "impressions on the mould were made carelessly and there are large gaps between the designs of each block. The plaques with the Resurrection of Christ on the rim were added in the thirteenth century". Jenkins (1999) refers that "a local legend holds that Brookland's [font] was stolen from a Normandy church by Romney raiders." Drake (2003) informs that Latin is used for the Signs of the Zodiac, whereas Norman French is used for the Labours of the Month. Several of the above sources note that March is captioned wrongly as CAPRICORNVS instead of ARIES, even though it displays the correct sign of the ram.