Southampton No. 1 / Hamwic / Hantune

Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

Results: 20 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

B01: animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin

Scene Description: Basin, side 1 (south), left circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B02: animal - mammal - lion

Scene Description: Basin, side 1 (south), centre circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B03: animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin

Scene Description: Basin, side 1 (south), right circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B04: animal - mammal - lion

Scene Description: Basin, side 2 (east), left circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B05: animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin

Scene Description: Basin, side 2 (east), centre circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B06: animal - mammal - lion

Scene Description: Basin, side 2 (east), right circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B07: animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin

Scene Description: Basin, side 3 (north), left circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B08: animal - mammal - lion

Scene Description: Basin, side 3 (north), centre circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B09: animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin

Scene Description: Basin, side 3 (north), right circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B10: Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. John - symbol - eagle

Scene Description: Basin, side 4 (west), left circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B11: Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. Mark - symbol - winged lion

Scene Description: Basin, side 4 (west), centre circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

B12: Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. Matthew - symbol - angel

Scene Description: Basin, side 4 (west), right circle

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

design element - motifs - organic

Scene Description: All around the upper surface of the basin top; note the wing-like motifs of the spandrels

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

view of church exterior

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

view of font

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Ronse (1929: fig. 46)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font

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

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font

Scene Description: south and east sides

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 25 July 2000 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and reproduction fee paid at St. Michael's (July 2000)

view of font - southeast side

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Eden (1909)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font - west side - detail

Scene Description: Eagle of St. John

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Eden (1909)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font - west side - detail

Scene Description: Angel of St. Matthew

Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Eden (1909)

Copyright Instructions: PD

INFORMATION

FontID: 00324SOU

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Michael

Church Patron Saints: St. Michael

Church Location: St. Michael's Square, off Bugle St, Southampton SO14 2AD, UK

Country Name: England

Location: Hampshire, South East

Directions to Site: Located off the M271. The church is located on the E side of St. Michael's Square off Bugle Street

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Winchester

Historical Region: Hundred of Mansbridge

Font Location in Church: Inside the re-built church, at the W end, S side

Century and Period: 12th century (late?), Romanesque

Workshop/Group/Artisan: Tournai font

Cognate Fonts: Termonde, Winchester, Zedelghem

Church Notes: Original church was under the patronage of Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester from 1129-1171. The present church (July 2000) was built after WWII; the previous church was totally destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs but the beautiful font basin survived.

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

There are four entries for Southampton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SU4111/southampton/] [accessed 30 July 2019], one of which reports "3 churches. 1.0 church lands" in it. Noted and illustrated in Britton's Dictionary of 1838. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (no. 969, vol. xxxiv, 21 September 1839: 186) notes "a most curious and highly ancient font" much resembling the one at Winchester Cathedral; the note includes a full description of the font, including some measurements. The Mirror... concludes: "The workmanship of the whole is in the rudest style of Saxon sculpture." Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 reports: "The font is highly enriched". White (1878) notes an "antique font is of Saxon workmanship, rudely carved in black marble" in this church. In Stevens (1880). The Antiquary (issue No. 22, vol. 6, September 1882: 126) notes the similarity of this font with that at East Meon [the text actually reads "West Meon"]. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a baptismal font from the Tournai workshops, dated to the third or fourth quarter of the 12th century, and ornamented with animal motifs as well as the Evangelists' symbols. The Victoria County History has a full description (Hampshire, vol. 2, 1904). The next volume of the VCH (Hampshire, vol. 3, 1908) notes that "the font removed from the tower to the west end" in the restoration of 1872. Eden (1909) mentions that the four colonnettes of the base are not original and that, although it is not known when they were replaced, the originals ones were present in a 1809 etching. Eden (ibid.) identifies the material of the replacement shafts as 'Purbeck marble" [i.e. Purbeck limestone]. Described and illustrated in Ronse (1929) who also notes the new colonnettes of the base. On-site notes: the magnificent square mounted font in black-blue Tournai marble at the church of St. Michael is decorated in one of the traditional ways: the sides of the basin have animals in roundels, three to each side. 1)griffin-lion-griffin; 2)lion-griffin-lion; 3)griffin-lion-griffin and 4)haloed eagle-winged lion-haloed angel, the symbols of three of the Evangelists. Described and illustrated in Ronse (1929), who notes the new colonnettes of the base.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 50.89959, -1.40515

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 50° 53′ 58.52″ N, 1° 24′ 18.54″ W

UTM: 30U 612148 5639870

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone (black and blue) (Tournai marble) [the rerplacement shafts are made of Purbeck limestone]

Font Shape: square (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: square

Drainage Notes: lead lining

Rim Thickness: 14 cm* (36 at the corner angles)

Diameter (inside rim): 72-73 cm* [75 cm in The Mirror...]

Diameter (includes rim): 100 cm*

Basin Depth: 35 cm*

Height of Basin Side: 33-35 cm* [33.75 cm in The Mirror...]

Basin Total Height: 49 cm* [45 cm in The Mirror...]

Height of Base: 60 cm

Height of Central Column: 44-46 cm*

Height of Side Columns: 45 cm [in The Mirror... -- diameter, 15 cm]

Font Height (less Plinth): 109 cm*

Font Height (with Plinth): 127 cm*

Square Base Dimensions: 96 x 94 cm*

Trapezoidal Basin: 101.5 x 101.5 cm* [100 cm in The Mirror...]

Notes on Measurements: * BSI on-site -- [Eden (1909: 18) has: total font height w/o step: 3' 6"; step: 7"; height of bowl: 1' 7"; depth of bowl: 1' 2"; bowl diameter outside: 3' 3 1/2"; bowl diameter inside: 2' 5" [lead lined]]

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern

Material: wood,

Notes: The round wooden lid with metal cross reinforcement fits the basin well

REFERENCES

Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2011-09-01 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.

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

Britton, John, A Dictionary of the Architecture and Archaeology of the Middle Ages, including […], London: Longman, Orne, Brown, Green, and Longmann, Paternoster Row, and the Author, Burton Street, 1838

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

Drake, Colin Stuart, "Romanesque Fonts in Kent: the French Connections", CXXIII, 2003, Archaeologia Cantiana, 2003, pp. 333-352; r["References"]

Dru Drury, G., "The use of Purbeck in mediaeval times", 70, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1949, pp. 74-98; r["References"]

Eden, Cecil H., Black Tournai Fonts in England, London: E. Stock, 1909

Friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Churches, Thrupp, Stroud (Gloucs.): Sutton Publishing, 2003

Hannah, D. D. [Vicar of Brighton], "On the Church of St. Nicholas and its ancient font, with illustrations from other fonts of similar antiquity", XLII, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1886, pp. 26-34; r["References"]

Holmes, Edric, Wanderings in Wessex: an Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter, London: Robert Scott Roxburghe House, [1922]

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

Ronse, F. T., Les fonts baptismaux de Zedelghem et les fonts romans tournaisiens du XIIe siècle, Bruges: Apostolat liturgique, 1929

Stevens, J., "The Font at St. Mary Bourne, Hants", 36, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1880, pp. 30-33; r["References"]

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

White, William, History, gazetteer and directory of the County of Hampshire including the Isle of Wight, and [...], Sheffield: William White, 1878