Shilton nr. Oxford

The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Oxfordshire (1850) notes: "The font very fine N[orman], square, with sculptures of the Passion on each side; the basin is supported by a square central shaft, with four detached round shafts." Noted in Gardner's Gazetteer (1852): "The ancient square-shaped font is adorned with curiously carved images." Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as "a font of which the bowl may well have been originally a plain, unmounted, rectangular, Norman font", and suggests that the original font was later "covered with fourteenth century carving, and set on supports with fourteenth century mouldings". Noted in Sherwood and Pevsner (1974): "Font. Square, C14, with rustic carvings of scenes from the Passion on all four sides and the Evangelists under canopies in the corners." The upper rim sides appear ornamented with foliage (?) motif; each corner of the basin is ornamented with a standing human figure in a Gothic arch [NB: although Sherwood and Pevsner -cf. supra- identify them as the four Evangelists, there appear to be no symbols to support their claim; if anything, one of the figures appears to hold up something that could be construed as a key]; the sides themselves show representations of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ; the base consists of a broad square central shaft, plain, and four round corner colonnettes with moulded bases and capitals (due to the height of the basin, the columns of the base are quite short). Noted with a series of recent illustrations in Flickr, with original from Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos] [accessed 10 September 2007]