Ottery St. Mary No. 2 / Ottery Saint Mary

Main image for Ottery St. Mary No. 2 / Ottery Saint Mary

Results: 3 records

view of font and cover

showing the 19thC font by Butterfield
Scene Description: showing the 19thC font by Butterfield

view of font and cover

showing the 19thC font by Butterfield; notice the B&W photograph standung against the cover: it is the Perpendicular predecessor which is said to be buried under the new font
Scene Description: showing the 19thC font by Butterfield; notice the B&W photograph standung against the cover: it is the Perpendicular predecessor which is said to be buried under the new font

view of font and cover in context

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roger Peters, 2005
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph, in Roger Peters [www.wissensdrang.com] [accessed 9 January 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received from the author (e-mail of 9 January 2005)

INFORMATION

Font ID: 00516OTT
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: 1850
Font Century and Period/Style: 19th century (mid), Victorian
Workshop/Group/Artisan: William Butterfield
Church / Chapel Name: Parish [formerly collegiate] Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the centre nave, near the pillars of the N side
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Notes: Originally a monastic medieval church
Church Address: The College, Ottery St Mary, Ottery Saint Mary EX11 1DQ, UK -- Tel.: +44 1404 812062
Site Location: Devon, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the B3174, S of the A30, 6-7 km SW of Honiton, 16 km ENE of Exeter
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Exeter
Historical Region: Hundred of Ottery St Mary
Additional Comments: disappeared font (the original font from the medieval church here)
Font Notes:
There is an entry for Ottery [St Mary] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SY0995/ottery-st-mary/] [accessed 2 August 2021] but it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Noted in John Murray's Handbook for travellers […] (1865): "The font is new, from Butterfield's design, and of Devon and Cornish marbles." Stabb (1908) explains that "the old font is buried beneath a modern construction of many coloured marbles, a fine font, but out of keeping with the church." In Pevsner (1952). Betjeman (1952) states that Butterfield's restoration of 1850 "did less harm than might be expected" in this church, but adds: "his font is dreadful". Although the font at Ottery St. Mary dates from the mid-19th century we have included it here as a noteworthy example of the permanence of some old-font designs and the introduction of creative material use. It is quite a piece, as the description in English Parish Churches (1976) indicates: "[...] eccentric font of 1850 which so conspicuously contrasts with its medieval surroundings. It not only shows Butterfield's love of bright, patterned colour but his interest in local materials, which he exploited more than any builder of the Gothic period. All the marbles of which this piece is made are from Devon and Cornwall, with the exception of the white, which came from Sicily. The arcaded cover, with its projections like bishops' thrones and an extraordinary metal crowning feature, sits on the square basin and stumpy Byzantine columns with disconcerning authority." The brief entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SY0985295580] notes that the medieval church had been "Consecrated by Bishop Bronescombe in 1260" and that its "interior was restored drastically mid C19 by Butterfield and others." [cf. Index entry for Ottery St. Mary No. 1 for the earlier font now buried underneath the present one]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Dr. Roger Peters, of www.wissensdrang.com, for his permission to use the transcription of and images from Stabb (1908)]. [cf. Index entry for Ottery St. Mary No. 1 for the earlier font now buried underneath the present one]

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 480326 5622403
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.753067, -3.278897
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 45′ 11.04″ N, 3° 16′ 44.03″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble
Font Shape: square, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: rectangular
Basin Exterior Shape: square

LID INFORMATION

Date: 1850
Material: wood and metal
Apparatus: Yes
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

  • Andries, J. O., Monographie des fonts baptismaux de Zedelghem, Bruges: [s.n.], 1853, p. 142
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 197
  • Murray, John, A handbook for travellers in Devon and Cornwall, London: John Murray, 1865, p. 30 / [http://books.google.ca/books?id=V_YGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=%22roborough+stone%22&source=bl&ots=2ZhOkO8ZIn&sig=RriwKcw-zwLPfFdGUaHE7WccPgU&hl=en&ei=QRWkSZHXMYjTnQe2ud2pBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPR5,M1] [accessed 24 February 2009]
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, South Devon, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1952, p. 222
  • Smith, Edwin, English Parish Churches, London: Thames & Hudson, 1976, p. 219 and pl. 195
  • Stabb, John, Some old Devon churches, their roods, pulpits, fonts, etc., London: Simkin, [et al.], 1908-1916, p. 176