Queen Camel / East Camel / Queens Camel / Queen's Camel

Noted and illustrated in Phelps (1836): "The font is a gem of sculpture." Described in the Handbook for travellers… (1869): "The font is one of very curious design, with statues at the the angles." Noted in Kelly's Directory of 1883. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Perpendicular period. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as being an example of the surviving "peculiar twelfth century type with non-constructional legs at the corners", together with the fonts at Winterborne-Whitchurch and Bradford Abbas. Long (1923) notes it a font of similar design and period as the two Dorset fonts. Described in Wade & Wade (1929): "The Perp[endicular] font is unusual, being supported on pillars which have niches containing figures." Pevsner (1958) dates the figures to the early 15th century. On-site notes: octagonal mounted font probably of the 15th century in the Perpendicular style; the corner pillars of the base rise all the way to the upper rim of the basin, the upper half of each corner shaft being carved as a niche with the figure of an Apostle; the upper rim border of the basin has foliage/plant motif ornamentation, while each side of the basin has two shields carved over a quatrefoil; these shields are said to be destined for the coats of arms of the donors to be painted on; even the central supporting column, which is usually left totally plain in many fonts, is ornamented here with architectural motifs. The font is raised on a plain square plinth. The wooden cover is of the common Jacobean type with four scroll ribs around a central pivot; illustrated in Needham (1944) with date in the 16th or 17th century.