Dunkeswell / Doducheswelle

There is an entry for Dunkeswell [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/] [accesed 1 October 2016], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 notes: "The church has a font which is very ancient, and ornamented with figures supposed to represent Bruere [i.e., William Bruere, ca. 1201, founder of a White monks abbey nearby] and his wife". Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Described and illustrated in G. Browne's 'On a supposed inscription upon the font at Wilne', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (Vol. 7, pp 185-194, illust.): "The bowl of the font in Wilne church is made from part of a circular tapering pillar… the carving is wrong-side up. It was broken into several pieces in the disastrous fire in March 1917.. Although the fragments have been carefully pieced together… The bowl is 23 in. high and 82 in. in girth at the top, tapering to 77 in… Late and decadent Anglian". Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as one of "a set of sculptured fonts which have been credited with undue antiquity, owing to the rudeness or uncouthness or their ornament; but it by no means folows that what is archaic is always ancient." Described and illustrated in Stabb (1908), who has some interesting suggestions about the identification of some of the figures [cf. also Clarke, infra]: The font "is circular in shape, decreasing slightly in size at the centre, which is surrounded by a twist pattern, not cable moulding; beneath the twist is a scallop pattern. The upper portion of the font is divided into eight panels; in one there is a figure of a bishop arrayed in chasuble and holding a staff [...]; next to this is another figure, apparently in chains; there are also represented a king, a lord and a lady, and an elephant. It is difficult to date the font, it might be Norman, but if the elephant was sculptured from life the font cannot probably be earlier than the 13th century as, according to Matthew Paris [ca. 1200-1259], the first elephant was seen in England in 1255, when King Henry III [r. 1216-1272] received one from Louis IX [r. 1226-1270] of France. It has been suggested that the lord and the lady may be intended for Lord William de Briwere and his wife; he was the founder of Dunkeswell Abbey, died in 1226, and was buried before the high altar of the Abbey church. The presence of an elephant on a font is appropriate, as there was an ancient belief that the elephant brought forth her young in the water, and the animal thus became a symbol of the new birth in the water of baptism. The carvings on the font are much worn and difficult to make out; the elephant will be found on the west side." Described and illustrated in Clarke (1914) who describes the program [L->R] thus: 1)bishop wearing a chasuble and holding a pastoral staff; 2)a man and a woman; 3)part of a boat with a high prow, emblem of the Church or Noah's Ark, symbol of baptism; 4)elephant covered with scales, possibly by association of ideas with the rhinoceros; 5)an archer shoots an arrow at the elephant; 6)a man holding a cross-handled sword; 7)a king, crowned, with sword and shield; 8)a man in chains. Clarke suggests that the last three figures may represent St Peter ad vincula (Acts XII), with no. 6 being a guard and no. 7 Herod, and also, possibly, no. 2 representing "St. Peter after his deliverance, speaking to the damsel called Rhoda". Clarke (ibid.) debates between the identification of the bishop figure as St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra -to whom the church is dedicated- or simply as a representation of the authority of the Church. On-site notes: eight niches surround the bowl [L->R]: North side, a couple (male and female) are embracing and holding hands, second niche [L->R] unidentifiable (apparently it may have been an elephant before the fire); 3rd niche two animals with one upside-down; 4th arch has a centaur (body facing right and looking backward); 5th, bust of a figure holding a cross-staff in left hand; 6th, figure holding lance and shield and is crowned; 7th, figure full-frontal, arms crossed; 8th, figure is a bishop holding a staff in left hand. The Notes & Queries of Nov. 10, 1928, notes: "The church has a font, which is very ancient and ornamented with figures supposed to represent Bruere and his wife." Monolithic font with central cable & a row of scalloping; lined with lead and has a central drain. In 1997 there was a fire in the church which caused much damage to the interior and also to the font, which needed repairs to bowl and base. Pevsner (1952) writes: "Norman font, circular with whole figures in arcades of columns and very depressed arches. Amongst the figures a bishop, a doctor, an elephant. What can their combined meaning be? The craftsmanship very crude." The entry for Tortington (West Sussex) in the CRSBI (2016) gathers information for several sources that favour the existence of a workshop in Dorset ca. 1150 responsible for the manufacture of the fonts at Torrington, Bishop's Teignton, Honiton, South Milton, Dun[kes?]well, Luppitt and Blackhawton. The entry for this church in English Heritage [Listing NGR: ST1414107807] (1988) notes: "The only feature older than the 1860's is the Norman font. It is crudely carved but a most unusual example; a girdled font with a plait around below which are 2 rows of scallop ornament and above which an arcade of columns with carved capitals and segmental arches. The panels are all different and feature in order a bishop with crozier, a man and a woman, a sailing boat, a fabulous monster looking somewhat like an elephant, an archer shooting towards the monster, a man with a cross-handled sword, a king crowned with sword and shield, and a man in chains." There is an article that discusses the possiblity of an inscription on this font: G. Browne's 'On a supposed inscription upon the font at Wilne', in the Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (Vol. 7, pp 185-194, illust.)