Kenchester nr. Hereford / Chenecestre
Image copyright © Philip Pankhurst, 2011
CC-BY-SA-2.5
Results: 4 records
view of font
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Michael, Kenchester. The font - a very early piece and tempting to think that as the church is on the site of a Roman town it could be a re-used column."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Philip Pankhurst, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph 21 August 2011 by Philip Pankhurst [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2579516] [accessed 21 April 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of a B&W photograph in Bond (1908: 98)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of church exterior - northeast view
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Michael, Kenchester. The North side of this delightful small church, dating from Norman times."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Philip Pankhurst, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph 21 August 2011 by Philip Pankhurst [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2579452] [accessed 21 April 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5
view of church interior - looking east
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Michael, Kenchester. Interior, looking East."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Philip Pankhurst, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph 21 August 2011 by Philip Pankhurst [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2579479] [accessed 21 April 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5
INFORMATION
Font ID: 00786KEN
Object Type: Other
Object Details: stone block, Roman
Font Century and Period/Style: 11th - 12th century [altered Anglo-Roman stone?], Medieval / composite
Cognate Fonts: Fonts of this type at Ringmore No. 2, Shaldon
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Michael
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Michael
Church Address: Kenchester, Hereford HR4 7QJ, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1432 760443
Site Location: Herefordshire, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A438, about 6 km WNW of Hereford
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Hereford
Historical Region: Hundred of Stepleset [in Domesday]
Additional Comments: recycled font: Font carved from a Roman block taken from Magna Castra in the adjoining fields.
Font Notes:
Click to view
There is an entry for Kenchester in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SO4342/kenchester/] [accessed 19 April 2023]; it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Romilly Allen (1888: 172) mentions Kenchester's as one of several "fonts made out of Roman columns". Described in Cox & Harvey (1907: 201) as a noteworthy baptismal font of the Norman period, "supposed by some to be cut out of a Roman column". Described and illustrated in Bond (1908: 97-99 and ill. on p. 98), who states that "it is plain that the lower part of the upper block has been roughly chamfered from a column from Magna Castra in the adjoining fields". The basin is almost cylindrical, tall and narrow; it stands on a cylindrical column the lower base of which is wider and ornamented with a round moulding at the upper edge. Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928: 21) as a baptismal font made from Roman dressed stone. The inventory of Herefordshire (1931-1934, vol. II: 95) describes it as a "tall cylindrical bowl with tapered under edge and shallow basin, round stem and moulded base, perhaps re-used Roman material on 12th or 13th-century base." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SO4341443248] notes: "Parish church. Late C12, C13 bellcote, C15 south porch, C17 alterations to chancel roof, restorations of 1909 and 1925 […] Font: tall odd shaped cylindrical bowl with round stem on moulded base, C12 or C13 base and bowl possibly of re-used Roman material."
[cf. Index entry for Ringmore No. 2 for a somewhat similar basin]
[cf. Index entry for Ringmore No. 2 for a somewhat similar basin]
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 511838 5770473
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.0847, -2.82724
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 5′ 4.92″ N, 2° 49′ 38.06″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, type unknown
Number of Pieces: three?
Font Shape: cylindrical, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
REFERENCES
- Allen, J. Romilly, "On the Antiquity of Fonts in Great Britain", XLIV, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1888, pp. 164-173; p. 172
- Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 97-99 and ill. on p. 98
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 201
- Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1931-1934, vol. II: p. 95
- Stocker, D.A., "Fons et origo: The Symbolic Death and Resurrection of English Font Stones", I (1997b), Church Archaeology, 1997, pp. 17-25; p. 25
- Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 21