Acle

Main image for Acle

Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004

Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

Results: 21 records

view of font and cover

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

view of font

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Tyrrell-Green (1928: fig. 74)
Copyright Instructions: PD

design element - motifs - floral - flower - 4-petal - 8

one on each panel of the lower underbowl chamfer
Scene Description: one on each panel of the lower underbowl chamfer
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

angel - holding shield - coat of arms

panels 6-7-8
Scene Description: panels 6-7-8
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

angel - cherub - 8

one at each angle of the upper underbowl chamfer
Scene Description: one at each angle of the upper underbowl chamfer
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

New Testament - Childhood and youth of Christ - Madonna and Child

panels 4-5-6
Scene Description: panels 4-5-6
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

human- man hold shield - coat of arms

panels 2-3-4
Scene Description: panels 2-3-4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

Trinity

panels 8-1-2
Scene Description: panels 8-1-2
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

New Testament - Passion of Christ - Pietà

on one of te panels of the basin; symbols of the Evangelists in the contiguous panels
Scene Description: on one of te panels of the basin; symbols of the Evangelists in the contiguous panels
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

design element - motifs - floral

around the figures and motifs of the basin
Scene Description: around the figures and motifs of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - symbol - 4

one on every other panel of the basin
Scene Description: one on every other panel of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Tyrrell-Green (1928: fig. 74)
Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - west tower

Photo caption: "The round tower"
Scene Description: Photo caption: "The round tower"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © George Plunkett, 2014
Image Source: B&W photograph taken 27 May 1992 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/A/Acle St Edmund King and Martyr church tower [6813] 1992-05-27.jpg] [accessed 29 March 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

view of church exterior - south view

Photo caption: "The lower stages of the tower probably pre-conquest. The top storey 13c"
Scene Description: Photo caption: "The lower stages of the tower probably pre-conquest. The top storey 13c"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © George Plunkett, 2014
Image Source: B&W photograph taken 15 July 1937 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/A/Acle St Edmund King and Martyr church nave [1787] 1937-07-15.jpg] [accessed 29 March 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

view of church exterior - south view

Photo caption: "The nave and chancel much renewed. The windows point to an early 14c date"
Scene Description: Photo caption: "The nave and chancel much renewed. The windows point to an early 14c date"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © George Plunkett, 2014
Image Source: B&W photograph taken 27 May 1992 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/A/Acle St Edmund King and Martyr church south [6814] 1992-05-27.jpg] [accessed 29 March 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

view of church exterior - southeast view

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Robert Wilkes, 2014
Image Source: drawing [2014?] by Robert Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 29 March 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

view of font and cover in context

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

animal - mammal - lion - sejant - 4

one at each angle of the square pedestal base, on a ledge or platform
Scene Description: one at each angle of the square pedestal base, on a ledge or platform
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

human figure - male - grotesque or fantastic - Green Man or woodwoose - 4

holding cluns; one on each side of the square pedestal base
Scene Description: holding cluns; one on each side of the square pedestal base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph September 2004 taken by Simon Knott [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm] [accessed 16 February 2005]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (email of 16 February 2005)

design element - motifs - quatrefoil - in a circle - 40

five on each side of the octagonal plinth
Scene Description: five on each side of the octagonal plinth
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Tyrrell-Green (1928: fig. 74)
Copyright Instructions: PD

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01204ACL
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: 1410
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th century (early), Perpendicular
Cognate Fonts: The font at Lound (Suffolk) is similar, though not identical; ditto the font at Happisburgh
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Edmund King and Martyr
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, W end, S side, opposite the S door
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Edmund the Martyr [aka Edmund of East Anglia]
Church Notes: round-tower church -- there may have been a church here in Anglo-Saxon times but none is recorded in Domesday
Church Address: Norwich Road, Acle, Norfolk, NR13 3BU
Site Location: Norfolk, East Anglia, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 18 km E of Norwich on the A47 to Great Yarmouth
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Norwich
Historical Region: Hundred of Walsham
Additional Comments: recycled font: heavily reconstructed -- damaged font: heads, etc.; believed vandalised by Protestant reformers (the present font) -- disappeared font? (the one from the pre-1221 church here)
Font Notes:
There is an entry for Acle in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG4010/acle/] [accessed 29 March 2014], but it mentions neither church nor cleric in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The Church is a rectory dedicated to St. Edmund the King and Martyr [...] About the pedestal of the font—Orate p. ai'ab; qui istu' fontem in honorem dei fecerunt fieri Ao. Dni Mo. C. C. C. C. X.; here seems to have been a brass plate, with the name of these benefactors, but now lost [...] King Henry III. in his 5th year, presented to this church, Ralph de Norwich the Bishop of Lincoln (as the patent expresses it) refusing to present, to the prejudice of the King", which would provide documentary evidence of the existence of a church here by 1221 [5th of Henryy III's], even though the base of the round tower points to an even earlier date for the original church here. Andre (1889) notes: "At Acle the font has panels, one of which has the usual representation of the Trinity, and another the virgin of Pity, the latter a curious composition, as our Lord is portrayed reclining in the arms of His Mother, who appears to be offering to him her breast." Described in Cox & Harvey (1907): "The font at Acle, Norfolk, retained until time of 'restoration' a great deal of its original colouring and gilding; round the base is this inscription -- Orate pro animabus qui istum fontem in honore dei fieri fecerunt, Anno dni Millimo cccc decimo." Octagonal mounted baptismal font of the 15th century, it has a Latin inscription round the base dated 1410, the ornamentation of which is detailed in Tyrrell-Green (1928): the basin sides alternate the symbols of the four Evangelists with a Pietà, a symbol of the Trinity and others. A cherub with extended wings occupies each corner of the underbowl chamfer; the next level down is octagonal and has four-petal rosettes, one on each side; the stem of the base is square with buttressing sedente lions at the angles while the sides are occupied by club-yielding "woodwoses". The short plinth is octagonal and has quatrefoil motif all around, five to each side. Tyrrell-Green (ibid.) reports the presence of paint (red, green, black and gold) on the font surface [NB: T-G lists the font among those of the Decorated period]. Both the 1420 font and the eleven-inch high miniature-font are noted in Pevsner & Wilson (1997). The official Acle town site [www.acle.org.uk] mentions that "the wooden font cover, made in 1934, is a copy of the one at Castle Acre church." Billett (2006) notes that the modern cover was "donated in 1933". Described and illustrated in Simon Knott's Norflok Churches web site [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm]. The panels, some heavily reconstructed, show the folowing [L -> R]: 1)Maiestas Domini; 2)winged bull, symbol of Luke; 3)angel holding shield charged with the Instruments of the Passion; 4)eagle, symbol of John; 5)Pietà; 6)winged lion, symbol of Mark; 7)angel holding shield charged with the emblem of the Trinity; 8)angel, symbol of Matthew.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Simon Knott, of www.norfolkchurches.co.uk, for the photographs of this church and font; we are also grateful to Jonathan Plunkett for the photographs of this church, taken by his father, George Plunkett, in 1992; we are also grateful to Robert Wilkes for his drawing of this church

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 401682 5832913
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.637284, 1.547083
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 38′ 14.22″ N, 1° 32′ 49.5″ E

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Latin
Inscription Location: Round the base
Inscription Text: "ORATE PRO ANIMABUS QUI ISTUM FONTEM IN HONORE DEI FIERI FECERUNT, ANNO DNI. MILLIMO CCCC DECIMO"
Inscription Notes: Engl. transl.: "Pray for the souls of those in whose honour this font was made, A.D. 1410"
Inscription Source: Cox (1907: 177) and Tyrrell-Green (1928: 157)

LID INFORMATION

Date: 1934
Material: wood
Apparatus: yes
Notes: [a copy of the font cover at Castle Acre]

REFERENCES

  • André, J. Lewis, "Notes on Ritualistic Ecclesiology in North-East Norfolk", XLVI, Archaeological Journal, 1889, pp. 136-155; p. 144
  • Billett, Michael, English thatched churches, London: Robert Hale, 2006, p. 69
  • Blomefield, Francis, An essay towards a topographical history of Norfolk, 1805-1810, vol. 11: 90-95 / [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=78755] [accessed 6 May 2014]
  • Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 91, 257
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 177
  • Friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Churches, Thrupp, Stroud (Gloucs.): Sutton Publishing, 2003, p. 204
  • Knott, Simon, The Norfolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 2004. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon (February 2005]. URL: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East [2nd ed.], Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1997, p. 356
  • Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 94, 108, 109, 111, 112, 115, 120, 157 and pl. 74 on p. 111