Llanfihangel Abercywyn / Llanvihangel Abercywyn / Llanfihangel Abercowin
Image copyright © Lord, 2003
PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
Results: 2 records
B01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - round arches - intersecting arches
INFORMATION
Font ID: 01022LLA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century, Norman
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Somerset workshop?
Cognate Fonts: [cf. FontNotes]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Michael
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Michael
Church Address: Aber Cowin, Llanfihangel St Clears CARMARTHEN, SA33 4NA, United Kingdom
Site Location: Carmarthenshire, Dyfed, Wales, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 15 km WSW of Carmarthen
Additional Comments: altered font [cf. FontNotes]
Font Notes:
Click to view
Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one in a group of Norman fonts the basins of which are decorated with an arcade of intersecting arches [T-G's list includes: Purley (Berks.), Llanfihangel Abercywyn (Carmarthen), Tidmarsh (Berks.), East Horndon (Essex), Sandridge (Herts), St. Ives (Hunts.), Oakham (Rutland), Great Durnford (Wilts.)]. Noted in Baker-Jones (1970): ''The plain but massive Norman font in the so called "Pilgrims' Church" of Llanfihangel Abercywyn (now in ruins) has been removed to the modern parish church. It is of one piece resting on the floor without a base block or pedestal . The upper
half has carving in slight relief depicting Romanesque arcading. Described and illustrated in Lord (2003), who dates it to the 12th century and finds the design of its intersecting arcade similar to those on the arches of the chapter house at St. Augustine's abbey, Bristol; on the strength of this similarity Lord (ibid.) suggests that the Llanfihangel Abercywyn font "was imported from one of many workshops in Somerset." [NB: the round pedestal of this font is either modern or has been plastered over covering the original one]
half has carving in slight relief depicting Romanesque arcading. Described and illustrated in Lord (2003), who dates it to the 12th century and finds the design of its intersecting arcade similar to those on the arches of the chapter house at St. Augustine's abbey, Bristol; on the strength of this similarity Lord (ibid.) suggests that the Llanfihangel Abercywyn font "was imported from one of many workshops in Somerset." [NB: the round pedestal of this font is either modern or has been plastered over covering the original one]
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 398776 5742638
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.825394, -4.468818
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 49′ 31.42″ N, 4° 28′ 7.75″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, type unknown
Number of Pieces: two
Font Shape: tub-shaped, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Drainage Notes: lead lined
REFERENCES
- The Visual Culture of Wales = Diwylliant gweledol Cymru, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998-2003, vol. 3: p. 79 and fig. 98
- Baker-Jones, D.L., "Looking at Carmarthenshire Churches", VII (1970), The Carmarthenshire Historian, 1970
- Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 18, 77