Shepreth / Esceprid / Escepride

Main image for Shepreth / Esceprid / Escepride

Image copyright © John Salmon, 2004

Image and permission received (e-mail of 16/3/2004)

Results: 3 records

view of font and cover

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Salmon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by John Salmon [www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/churches/s.html] [accessed 19 March 2004]
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 16/3/2004)

design element - motifs - scroll

one on every other side of the octagonal basin
Scene Description: one on every other side of the octagonal basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Salmon, 2004
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by John Salmon [www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/churches/s.html] [accessed 19 March 2004]
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 16/3/2004)

view of church exterior - west tower

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2007
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/shepreth.htm] [accessed 25 November 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01386SHE
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century [composite font?], Medieval [composite]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of All Saints
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): All Saints
Church Notes: Norman N doorway and chancel arch.
Church Address: Church Road, Shepreth, Cambridgeshire SG8 6RG
Site Location: Cambridgeshire, East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A10, 8 km NE of Royston, 15 km SSW of Cambridge
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Ely
Historical Region: Hundred of Wetherley
Additional Comments: composite font? [cf. FontNotes] -- disappeared font? (the one from the early-to-mid 12thC church here)
Font Notes:
There are six entries for Shepreth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL3947/shepreth/] [accessed 16 May 2016], none of which mention cleric or church in it. Cox & Harvey (1907) list a noteworthy example of baptismal font of the Norman period here. Tyrrell-Green (1928) writes: "The feeling towards an octagonal font by the chamfering of the angles of square font-bowls is apparent in some examples of the Norman period, as at Shepreth (Cambs) and St. Mary's Thetford (Suffolk)". This octagonal basin is, as Tyrrell-Green points out, rather a tentative departure from the square bowl it suggests, more so perhaps due to the curled scrolls carved on the chamfered sides (every other side). The base consists of a central shaft with four outer colonnettes; the centre and three of the outer are matched, but one of the colonnettes is not suggesting that either one is a replacement, or four are; the columns rest on an irregular lower base or plinth, square and plain. A flat wooden cover with metal reinforcements appears modern. Kelly's Directory of this county for 1929 records "an ancient font of Barnack stone" in this church. Pevsner (1970) notes: "Font. C13, on five circular supports. The bowl octagonal but connected in the diagonals with the five supports by volutes meeting at the corners." The Victoria County History (Cambridge..., vol. 5, 1973) notes: "Architectural evidence shows that Shepreth church had been built by the mid 12th century. [...] The narrow chancel arch dates from the earlier 12th century [...] The eight-sided font bowl, of the 12th or 13th century, has a carved volute at the base of each short diagonal side; it is supported on five shafts of the 13th century."
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Salmon for the photograph of this font, and to Steve Bulman of www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/churches/s.html where this baptismal font is illustrated -- We are also grateful to Mark Ynys-Mon, of Cambridgeshire Churches, for his photograph of this church]

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 296698 5777144
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.107419, 0.031159
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 6′ 26.71″ N, 0° 1′ 52.17″ E

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

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

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

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. 188
  • Kelly, Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd., 1929, [unavailable]
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cambridgeshire, Harmonsworth: Penguin, 1970, p. 455
  • Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 28-29