Bootle

Results: 2 records

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01206BOO
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 14th century / 19th century, Decorated? / Victorian?
Workshop/Group/Artisan: heraldic font
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Michael
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Michael
Church Address: A595, Bootle, Millom LA19 5TH, United Kingdom
Site Location: Cumbria, North West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located on the A595, 13 km NW of Millom, inland from Selker Bay
Historical Region: formerly Cumberland
Font Notes:
Noted in Lysons (1806-1833): "The font in Bootle church is octagonal, with two shields on each side; one of them contains a bugle horn and the initials J.H. in text han: an inscription in text hand, 'In nomine patris & filii,' &c. is continued through several others." Noted also in Mannix & Whelan's Directory of Cumberland (1847): "The font is a capacious marble basin of an octagonal form, having in each square two shields, with the following inscription in text hand: "In nomine patris & filii & spirit' sancti". Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the 14th century in the Decorated style with an inscription. Cox (1913) writes that the inscription in Old-English characters has been read as: "In Nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti", "yet awats a satisfactory reading". Pevsner (1967) is suspicious of the date of the font: "Font. Inscribed R.B. and in shields: In nomine Patris, Filii et Spiritus Sancti. The inscription is in black letter. When was this done? The arms are those of the Hudleston family. Does this refer to c.1535 (rector R. Brown), or could it be a self-conscious historicism of the early C19?" [NB: it is not clear whether or not there are two sets of initials (JH and RB) or just one -- to be completed]

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 475729 6015118
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 54.2834, -3.3728
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 54° 17′ 0.24″ N, 3° 22′ 22.08″ W

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: carved on the surface of the shields that decorate the basin sides
Inscription Text: 1) "J.H." [inside a shield] 2) "R.B." 3) "IN NOMINE PATRI, ET FILIII ET SPIRIT[ui] SA[n]CTI' A[men]"
Inscription Notes: Lysons (1806-1833) inform that there is a set of initials ["J.H."] on one of the shields, as well as the running inscription -- Mannix & Whelan (1847) gives a slightly different transcription ["In nomine patris & filii & spirit' sancti"] -- [cf. FontNotes for Pevsner's, and also for Cox' doubts about the reading of this inscription]
Inscription Source: Cox & Harvey (1907: 178); Lysons (1806-1833, vol. III: p. cxciv); Mannix & Whelan's Directory of Cumberland (1847); Pevsner (1967: 73)

REFERENCES

  • Cox, John Charles, Cumberland and Westmorland, London: George Allen & Co. Ltd., 1913, p. 19, 51
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 178, 194
  • Lysons, Daniel, Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain, London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806-1822, vol. III: p. cxciv
  • Mannix, History, gazetteer and directory of Cumberland, Cumberland: Michael Moon, 1974 c1847, [unavailable]
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cumberland and Westmorland, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1967, p. 73