Steppingley / Stepigelai / Stepingle / Stepingleigh / Stepingly

Results: 4 records

view of font and cover

the modern font
Scene Description: the modern font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Brentorboxer, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph taken August 2011 by Brentorboxer [http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/log/large/e2345fc1-d937-4106-93f5-ad277a44fab3.jpg] [accessed 24 October 2011]
Copyright Instructions: No known copyright restriction / Fair Dealing

view of church exterior - southeast view

Source caption: "St Lawrence Church , Steppingley. The church of St. Lawrence, rebuilt in 1860 by the Duke of Bedford and the rector, is a building of local sandstone in the Early Decorated and Perpendicuiar styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle and a tower containing 4 bells : it is seated with open oak benches for 240 persons. The register dates from 1562, but is continuous only from 1647." [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Lawrence Church , Steppingley. The church of St. Lawrence, rebuilt in 1860 by the Duke of Bedford and the rector, is a building of local sandstone in the Early Decorated and Perpendicuiar styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle and a tower containing 4 bells : it is seated with open oak benches for 240 persons. The register dates from 1562, but is continuous only from 1647." [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mr Biz, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 April 2008 by Mr Biz [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/767280] [accessed 18 September 2015]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Source caption: "Interior of St Lawrence's Church. The Duke of Bedford and the Rector completely rebuilt the church in 1860, retaining only a piscina from the former building. The architect was Henry Clutton, and Pevsner comments on the oddity of his details." -- the modern font is partially visible on the right side of the image, lower half
Scene Description: Source caption: "Interior of St Lawrence's Church. The Duke of Bedford and the Rector completely rebuilt the church in 1860, retaining only a piscina from the former building. The architect was Henry Clutton, and Pevsner comments on the oddity of his details." -- the modern font is partially visible on the right side of the image, lower half
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Tiger, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken 19 May 2008 by Tiger [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1121395] [accessed 18 September 2015]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01280STE
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th - 16th century, Perpendicular
Workshop/Group/Artisan: heraldic font?
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Lawrence
Font Location in Church: reported in the church in the early-19thC
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Lawrence [aka Laurence]
Church Notes: 19thC church replaced collapsed medieval church; 15thC piscina re-used from the old church; not the old font
Church Address: 7 Church End, Steppingley, Central Bedfordshire MK45 5AU
Site Location: Bedfordshire, East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located just E of the M1, near (and to the W of) Flitwick, 16 km S of Bedford
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of St. Albans
Historical Region: Hundred of Redbornestoke
Additional Comments: disappeared font? (two fonts: the one seen in this church by the Lysons in early 19thC and the one from the 12thC church here)
Font Notes:
There is an entry for Steppingley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL0135/steppingley/] [accessed 18 September 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. A font here is noted in Lysons (1806-1833) as one of a group of octagonal fonts made mostly of Totternhoe stone: "Stepingly [sic] has shields of arms". Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Perpendicular period [NB: C&H use "Stepingleigh"]. The Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The advowson of Steppingley was granted by Richard de Steppingley to Dunstable Priory in the late 12th century. [...] The [present] church of St. Lawrence is a modern building"; there is no mention of a font in the VCH entry. The present font is modern, consisting of a plain octagonal basin raised on clustered columns. [NB: we have no information on the original font of this church, nor do we know the whereabouts of the font noted in Lysons, etc., above].

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 669678 5764885
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.008636, -0.527727
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 0′ 31.09″ N, 0° 31′ 39.82″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone [chalk / Totternhoe stone?]
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

REFERENCES

  • Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 186
  • 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. I: p. 31