Monk Soham / Monks Soham

Standing permission

Results: 18 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

B01: sacrament - baptism

Scene Description: "On the North-East, BAPTISM—Seven figures, and in the centre a font (exactly like this one, but with plain shaft and lost bowl) ; three figures supra almost lost, one appears to hold the book of ritual, " baptizo te in nomine Patris." Four figures infra ; one an acolyte in short surplice, bearing a taper or chrismatory, two a monk in cowl and cord, holding above the font a nude infant—evidently a good deal older than the day after birth, at which juncture baptism was usual during that period—of which the back of legs and trunk are obvious, and whose head figure three supra seems to touch ; three a female (the godmother) with hand on breast and perhaps holding the chrism-cloth dressed in collar and flowing gown to ground ; four a male (the father) with robe to ankle." [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph taken 1 July 2008 by Brokentaco [https://flickr.com/photos/92024986@N00/5251315179] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

B02: sacrament - eucharist

Scene Description: "On the East, which is its usual position as that nearest the altar, EucHARIsT.---Three figures, behind them an altar ; the central in (red) chasuble with no apparent orphrey, but elaborate (greenish) alb to ankle where the (golden) Apparel is distinct, standing on cushion, doubtless elevating the Host and (to judge from the position of the feet) facing inwards ; one and three kneeling and badly lost acolytes, neither touching chasuble but 'with one hand raised to breast in devotion." [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

B03: sacrament - penance

Scene Description: "On the South-East, PENANCE.—Two figures; the sinister a priest with lost head, sitting on carved and armless seat in alb to near ankle, whereof the square Apparel is there just traceable, the right hand on chest and the (lost) left raised in benediction to head of the mainly lost dexter shriven figure, kneeling upon a cushion." [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B04: New Testament - Passion of Christ - Crucifixion

Scene Description: "On the South, CRUCIFIXION.-A squared and unadorned cross on pedestal in centre, bearing a Figure lost excepting traces of arms and feet ; on either side a figure (the Virgin and Mary Magdalene), of which the upper halves are lost and the robes of the lower are very perfect to ground, showing no feet, though that on east discloses petticoat to knee. Said by Davy in 1828 (in errore ?) to face North. [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B05: sacrament - confirmation

Scene Description: "On the South-West, CONFIRMATION.—Four figures.,the outer short and inner tall ; one (the bishop) and two (priest) in cope to below the knee and alb of three folds ; three in obvious trunk-hose of five pleats to above knee only (upper half of all lost) ; four a female figure, complete except the folded hands and lost head, with gown to ground of seven folds, and, apparently, a veiled wimple ; two and three are in conjunction, as though two were confirming the (lost) child in three's arms ; all children were confirmed within three days of birth" [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

B06: sacrament - extreme unction

Scene Description: "On the West, EXTREME UNCTION.--A figure, perhaps female, in ruff and nebule head-dress stretched upon a legged couch, with pleated coverlet turned back on the breast ; above, three figures.whereof one and two are doubtless acolytes with respectively the casket of Unction and book of ritual, but now mainly lost ; three certainly a monk in alb and strong amice but no distinct stole, the thumb of whose right hand applies the holy oil, in accordancewith the .Sarum Ritual, to the lost face on the couch',while the left with fingersdownwardin benedictionis spread behind it ; on the foot of the bed is an object, no doubt representingthe dish containingthe cotton for wiping the anointed eyes, ears, nose, feet, etc." [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott [www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/monsoham.html]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B07: sacrament - marriage

Scene Description: "On the North-West, MARRIAGE. — Seven figures; supra three robed monks, the secondin uncrossedstole joining with his right the hands of two central figures infra and his left raised in benediction; three holding breast-high the now lost book of ritual ; infra four figures, one and two females in flowing gowns to ground, one with a high and typical horned head-dress, two lost upwards from the knees ; three and four male figures with gown only to ankle, lost from Waist upwards. The elevation in front of the last figure is doubtless his gypciere, purse ; the bridegroom's hands are lost, or he would hold the bride's with his left and place the ring upon it with his right" [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B08: sacrament - holy orders

Scene Description: "On the North, Holy Orders. Four figures; one and four in amice and laterally-nicked robe, with pleated alb from kneeto feet,which rest upon cushions; two, in dalmatic and chasuble,alb to feet and lost mitre, is blessing three, a drooping figure with deeply pleated dalmatic falling loosely upon a pedestal, its upper part lost and shoulders muffled in a voluminous cloak; two marks above seem to represent flagellation by one and four upon three, who is sustained by two, but are more likely to be the upper portion of the lost crozier and mitre. This is the least distinct sculpture remaining. Usually upon such fonts " the sacrament of Holy Orders" is portrayed by the ordination of either a deacon or a priest. The bishop, vested in alb, tunicle, dalmatic, chasuble and mitre, holding his crozier in his left hand, lays his right hand on the head of the kneeling candidate. If a Subdeacon is being ordained a deacon he is vested in a dalmatic, but if a deacon is being raised to the priest hood he is robed in a chasuble. Several ecclesiastics accompany the bishop; one holds the open book, another the chrismatory, and another is doubtless intended to represent the archdeacon,whose duty it was to present the candidates for ordination, says Fryer, loc. cit. Nothing but the faces is 'disfigured in this panel at West Lynn in Norfolk" [a/p Morley [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XVII%20Part%201%20(1919)_The%20font%20at%20Monks%20Soham%20Suffolk%20C%20Morley_13%20to%2020.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - symbol - 4

Scene Description: one on each alternate side of the octagonal base -- visble here are Mark's lion on the left, and Matthew's angel on the right

Image Source: digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

angel - cherub - 8

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott [www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/monsoham.html]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

cleric - monk - seated - 4

Scene Description: Nichols identifies as Latin fathers [cf. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - architectural - arch-head - crocketed - pinnacled - 8

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - floral - square flower

Scene Description: all around the lower chamfer of the underbowl

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph taken 1 July 2008 by Brokentaco [https://flickr.com/photos/92024986@N00/5251315179] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church exterior - southeast view

Scene Description: Source caption: "The church of St Peter Monk Soham,Suffolk"

Image Source: digital photograph 7 March 2010 by Keith Evans [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1741374] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5

view of church interior - looking east

Scene Description: Source caption: "St Peter Monk Soham, Suffolk."

Image Source: digital photograph 17 April 2011 by Keith Evans [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2362649] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5

view of font

Scene Description: notice the metal staples in the upper rim of the basin

Image Source: digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font in context

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott [www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/monsoham.html]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font in context

Image Source: digital photograph by David Ross & Britain Express [https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/suffolk/churches/monk-soham.htm] [accessed 14 April 2023]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 00758MON

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Peter

Church Patron Saints: St. Peter

Church Location: Monk Soham, Woodbridge IP13 7EN, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1986 798136

Country Name: England

Location: Suffolk, East Anglia

Directions to Site: Located off (N) the A1120, approx. 24 kms N of Ipswich; up the B1077 from Ipswich; at the crossing with the A1120, make a right (E) on it and, within a km or so, make a left (N) to Monk Soham

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the centre of the nave

Date: ca. 1460-1473? [Nichols] / 1465 [Morley]

Century and Period: 15th century (mid?), Perpendicular

Workshop/Group/Artisan: Seven-Sacraments font

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are gratefult to David Ross & Britain Express Ltd for their photographs of this church and font

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

No entry found for Monk Soham in the Domesday survey. A font here is described in Parker (1855): "Font, P[erpendicular; an octagon, with crocketed canopies over the panels, in which are grous of figures representing scenes in the life of the Saviour; around the pedestal are angels and other figures, and, connecting the pedestal and the bowl, angels with extended wings." Only a chryptic mention of the font in James (1930): "The font here is curious." Described and illustrated in great detail in Morley's THE FONT AT MONKS' SOHAM, SUFFOLK [https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk Institute/2014/01/10/Volume XVII Part 1 (1919)_The font at Monks Soham Suffolk C Morley_13 to 20.pdf] [accessed 14 April 2023], who also writes: "very little doubt can be entertained that that at Monks Soham is the oldest Sacramental font in Britain, with a date 1465". Noted in Cautley (1949). Studied and described in Nichols (1994) [who spells the name "Monks Soham"]: octagonal mounted font of the Seven-sacrament group. Nichols reports that the colour mentioned earlier [ca. 1920] in Morley and Fryer have now [ca. 1994] disappeared, and that the carving is badly disfigured and suggestive of later recutting. Nichols gives the order of the scenes as: 1)Baptism; 2)Eucharist; 3)Penance; 4)Crucifixion; 5)Confirmation; 6)Extreme Unction; 7)Marriage; 8)Holy Orders. The chamfer has cherubs, most of them also damaged; the second level of the underbowl has a floral motif on each side. The base has sitted corner figures dressed in clerical garb, apparently monks (Nichols mentions "Latin fathers"); between them the symbols of the Evangelists, all of them showing damage, chiefly to the heads or faces. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: TM2136265083] notes: "Parish church. Medieval, restored 1860 [...] C15 octagonal font, the bowl panels carved with the Seven Sacraments and the crucifixion; against the base are seated figures and the Signs of the Evangelists. All the carving is defaced." There is no cover present nut the upper rim of the basin retains two metal staples from an old cover anchoring; Morley [cf. supra] writes: "an iron clip on both the north and south sides to receive the font-cover. This cover is lost ; various persons' memories place the loss at about 1870; Davy mentions it in 1828 as large ; and Rev. Henry Groome describes it to me as having been about four feet high, pyramidal, of old oak, pannelled, with a side door (as that still at Worlingworth, which is said at Proc. Instit. Arch., 1900, p. 379, to have been brought from Bury Abbey), but somewhat plain in ornamentation. In the surmounting tie-beam is a large hole, whence doubtless the hook to which this cover was attached once protruded."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 52.2394, 1.24071

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 52° 14′ 21.84″ N, 1° 14′ 26.56″ E

UTM: 31U 379874 5789124

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown

Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Anderson, M.D., The Imagery of British churches, London: John Murray, 1955

Cautley, Henry Munro, Norfolk Churches, Ipswich: Norman Adlard & Co., 1949

Cautley, Henry Munro, Suffolk churches and their treasures, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1982

Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907

James, M. R., Suffolk and Norfolk, London, Toronto: Dent & Sons, 1930

Knott, Simon, The Suffolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 1999-. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon [February 2005]. Accessed: 2004-04-12 00:00:00. URL: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk.

Nichols, Ann Eljenholm, Seeable Signs: The Iconography of the Seven Sacraments 1350-1544, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1994

Parker, John Henry, The Ecclesiastical and architectural topography of England [...] Suffolk, 1855