Toftrees / Tofsas / Toftes / Tofts
Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
Results: 25 records
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of font and cover in context
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of font - east side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font - north side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font - west side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font - southwest side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cautley, 1949
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Cautley (1949: 128)
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission received from the publisher
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Tyrrell-Green (1928: fig. 82)
Copyright Instructions: PD
design element - motifs - quatrefoil - in a circle
Scene Description: side 4: south
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - architectural - column - columns with capitals and bases - 4
Scene Description: some are constructional, others detached
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
animal - head - 4
Scene Description: one at each angle of the upper basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - vine - acanthus - with arum bunches
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - interlace - intertwined circular
Scene Description: side 3: west
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - interlace
Scene Description: side 2: north
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - foliage
Scene Description: between the animal heads; the north side is badly damaged, obviously where the metal staple of the old cover cracked the stone
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - concentric circles - 6-petal motif
Scene Description: Side 1: east: the 6-petal motif is inside the circles
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of church exterior - south porch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of church exterior - southeast end
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of church exterior - southeast view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of church exterior in context - east view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of base - detail
Scene Description: detail on one of the outer shafts
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
design element - motifs - foliage
Scene Description: on the columns of the base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
animal - bird - dove
Scene Description: as finial of the font cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 27 July 2000 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
INFORMATION
Font ID: 00367TOF
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Date Visited: 2000-07-27
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century, Late Norman
Cognate Fonts: the font at Shernborne [cf. FontNotes]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of All Saints
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end, centre nave
Church Patron Saint(s): All Saints
Church Address: Shereford Road, Toftrees, Norfolk, NR21 9, United Kingdom
Site Location: Norfolk, East Anglia, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 4 km SW of Fakenham down the A1065, 40-45 km WNW of Norwich
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Norwich
Historical Region: Hundreds of Gallow and Brothercross
Font Notes:
Click to view
The Domesday survey entries for 'Tofsas' and Toftes' cited in Blomefield (1805-1810) report "a church with 60 acres" [="in Tofsas. [...] i. ecclia. lx. ac."] [...] The Church of Toftes is dedicated to All-Saints, and was a rectory," Blomefield (ibid.) names "William Edmund" as first recorded vicar, in 1302, and does not mention the font in thich church. The font here is described and illustrated in Norfolk Archaeology (1847) as Norman; the source notes some similarity with the fonts at Shernborne and Castle Rising, but points out that "with them the resemblance is only general, and indeed is mainly confined to the cord that encircles the upper part of the basin"; instead, this source notes, "those at Stoke Cannon in Devonshire and Palgrave in Suffolk perhaps do so more than any other; but even they very little, and still less than the two I have referred to in Norfolk." This source makes an interesting comment: "a most acceptable service would be rendered to Norfolk archaeology by any one of our Members who would take a general view of the fonts in the county, and arrange tham in distinct classes. The architecture and the arts of Norfolk would owe him great obligations." Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 notes: "the font is Norman". Described in White's Directory of 1883: "The font is a singular specimen of Norman workmanship, of square form, resting on five columns with cushion capitals, and having intricate Norman knots and interlacing concentric circles on its sides, and lions' heads at its upper corners. " Described and illustrated in Bond (1908): as a square mounted Norman font of great original carving, mounted on five constructional shafts. The top corners, just above the capitals of the ornamental columns are ornamented with animal heads. Bond describes the carving as beautiful, original, complex and very accomplished inter-lacing, even on the rim where it bears a foliated pattern. All the supporting shafts of the base are of the same height and shape, and all have ornamented capitals and bases. The shafts rest on a plain square lower base, below which there is a wider plinth of later construction. Described and illustrated in Tyrrell-Green (1928). Kendrick (1938) notes "that heavy interlace and acanthus ornament apparently related to that on the Saffron Walden disc occurs on the following century on the sides of the magnificent fonts at Shernborne and Toftrees in Norfolk." [NB: the reference is to metal work of Saxon and Danish traditoin present in England in the 11th century]. Listed and illustrated in Cautley (1949). Described in Pevsner & Wilson (1999): "A first-class Norman piece, square, on five short columns with bases or reversed capital type. Angle colonnettes, rams' heads above them, and knot patterns in the four panels." Noted and fully illustrated in Knott (2006). On-site notes: the font shows damage to the upper part of the basin, clearly on the one side (north) where the cover hardware was anchored. Each panel of the basin has a large sophisticated motif: a 6-petal flower weaves its petals through three concentring rings; two 3-strand tapes form a square and a quatrefoil entangled in it; a 3-strand circle goes in and out of the loops of a quatrefoil formed also by 3-strand tape; foliage appears to partially cover a cross-motif made of 3-strand tape. The workmanship is excellent, especially with this intricacy of design. The inner well of the basin is round. A late wooden cover is ornamented with heads in the lower level, and has a large metal dove as finial; it bears an inscription of dedication to Joan May Francis.
COORDINATES
UTM: 31U 352681 5853617
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.812184, 0.814158
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 48′ 43.86″ N, 0° 48′ 50.97″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, limestone?
Font Shape: square, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: square
Drainage System: off centre
Drainage Notes: Norfolk archaeology (1847) notes: "The drain appears to have been carried down the north-western column of support, over which (and not in the centre) the leaden linin is pierced. This drain was also carried upwards through the lion's head, to enable a straight rod to be passed downwards in case of obstruction."
Rim Thickness: 7 cm* (20 cm* at the corners)
Diameter (inside rim): 60 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 74 cm*
Basin Total Height: 49 cm*
Height of Base: 52 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 101 cm*
Trapezoidal Basin: 74 x 74 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * BSI on-site / [measurements given in the 1847 article in Norfolk Archaeology: the sides are 2 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 7 in.]
INSCRIPTION
Inscription Notes: inscription on the modern font cover: "IN LOVING MEMORY JOAN MAY FRANCIS"
Inscription Source: on-site notes
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern
Material: wood, oak
Notes: The solid-oak round modern lid has a tall shaft with a brass dove finial and an inscription on it "In loving memory of Joan May Francis"
REFERENCES
- "Figure and description of the font at Toftrees : the latter written by a member of the Society resident near the spot. Communicated by the Rev. W. J. Stracey", 1 (1847), Norfolk archaeology, 1847, pp. 283-285; p. 283-285 and pl. on p. after 282
- Blomefield, Francis, An essay towards a topographical history of Norfolk, 1805-1810, vol. 200-205 / [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=78331] [accessed 6 August 2013]
- Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 144,151, 153, 155, 157, 183, 191, 209, 217 and ill. on p. 193-196
- Cautley, Henry Munro, Norfolk Churches, Ipswich: Norman Adlard & Co., 1949, p. 20 and ill. on p. 128
- Clapham, Alfred William, English Romanesque Architecture after the Conquest, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934, p. 155
- Davies, J.G., The Architectural Setting of Baptism, London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1962, p. 65
- Friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Churches, Thrupp, Stroud (Gloucs.): Sutton Publishing, 2003, p. 202
- Kendrick, T.D., Anglo-Saxon Art to A.D. 900, London: Methuen & Co., 1938, p. 38
- Knott, Simon, The Norfolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 2004. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon (February 2005]. URL: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.
- 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, [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=51348] [accessed 13 March 2007]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Norfolk 2: North-West and South (2nd ed.), London: Penguin, 1999, p. 738
- Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 125
- White, William, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, [s.l.]: [printed for the author], 1883, [transcribed in http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/t/toftrees/white1883.shtml [accessed 2 September 2009]]