Congresbury

Rutter's Westonian guide of 1829 and his Delineations… (1829) note: "The font appears to be truly Norman, and remains upon its original pedestal, in its first situation in one corner, with the ancient stone sit around it." The National Gazetteer (1868) dates this font to the 12th century. Dated to the Early English period in the Handbook for travellers… (1869). Noted in Kelly's Directory of 1883: "the font is of the twelfth century". Wade & Wade (1929) report a Norman font in this church. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a bucket-shaped Norman font of the 11th-12th century; the basin has plain and thin horizontal roll mouldings at the upper and lower ends, and a thicker rope motif around its middle. The base is a cluster of constructional columns mounted on a round lower base and a plinth [cf. infra]. The font cover is of a much later date [cf. infra]: an octagonal cusped pyramid with a short "crown" of vertical sides around the bottom. Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928). Described in Betjeman (1980) as a Norman font of the 12th century. The Parish web site [http://www.standrewscongresbury.org/history.php] [accessed 15 March 2008] notes: "At the West End of the Nave is the Font. The bucket shaped bowl itself is Norman with fine cable-work mouldings. The clustered pillars of the pedestal supporting it, however, are thirteenth-century. They resemble the Early English pillars of the North aisle; the same design is seen at the base of the Pulpit. The wooden font cover is of Jacobean style and craftsmanship dating from the early seventeenth century". There is no mention of any font in Pevsner (1958).