Witcham / Wiceham
Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Standing permission
Results: 18 records
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, in Cambridgeshire Churches, [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
animal - bird - eagle
Scene Description: much damaged, in shallow relief, on one of the sides of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Bond (1908: 312)
Copyright Instructions: PD
animal - fabulous animal or monster - dragon
Scene Description: in shallow relief, on one of the sides of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
human figure - head - grotesque or fantastic
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
animal - fabulous animal or monster - dragon - with coiled tail
Scene Description: in shallow relief, on one of the sides of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
angel - holding censer
Scene Description: in shallow relief, on one of the sides of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
human figure - female - head - wearing headdress
Scene Description: a second female head wearing head-dress, to the right of the first one, with one of the dragon sides in between -- the head-dress here is less elaborate
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
human figure - head - grotesque or fantastic
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
human figure - female - head - wearing elaborate headdress
Scene Description: on a basin side, between the censing angel and one of the dragons
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
design element - motifs - foliage
Scene Description: on at least one of the capitals of the outer colonnettes of the base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
design element - motifs - moulding
Scene Description: on the capitals and bases of the outer colonnettes of the base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004
Image Source: digital photograph by Mark Ynys-Mon, 2004, in Cambridgeshire Churches [http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/witcham.htm] [accessed 23 December 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Cambridge Historic Churches Trust, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph 2006 in Cambridge Historic Churches Trust [http://www.cambshistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/gallery.htm] [accessed 18 October 2007]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 01402WIT
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century, Late Norman / Early English?
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Martin
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Martin of Tours
Church Address: High Street, Witcham, Cambridgeshire CB6 2LQ
Site Location: Cambridgeshire, East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 8 km W of Ely, just N of the A142
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Ely
Historical Region: Hundred of Ely 1 [in Domesday] -- Hundred of South Witchford
Font Notes:
Click to view
There is an entry for Witcham [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL4680/witcham/] [accessed 25 April 2016], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Cox & Harvey (1907) include the noteworthy baptismal font at this church among the best Early English fonts in the county. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a 13th-century stone baptismal font ornamented with some foliage indicative of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic; the octagonal basin has high-relief heads protruding low on every other side, and lower-relief animals (one is an eagle) on the other(s); the basin rests on a round central stem and four outer shafts; the lower base or plinth on which the columns rest is round. One of the upper sides of the basin shows the type of damage consistent with the forceful removal of the cover staples. Kelly's Directory of 1929, transcribed in GENUKI [www.genuki.org.uk] has it as "a Norman font with curious carved figures". Noted in Pevsner (1970): "Font. Octagonal, on five shafts; c.1300. Heads at the angles, and in the main directions an angel, two dragons, an eagle."
The Victoria County History (Cambridge..., vol. 4, 2002) notes: "The earliest part of the fabric is the chancel, which belongs to the first half of the 13th century, and the tower is of approximately the same date. [...] The 13th-century font has an octagonal bowl, the sides of which are carved with human heads alternating with grotesques and in one case a censing angel; it rests on five shafts with moulded caps and bases." Described and illustrated in the Cambridge Churches (2004) web site [www.druidic.org/camchurch] [accessed 23 December 2007]. Listed as a limestone font of the 12th century in the East Cambridgeshire District Council (2002) web page [www.eastcambs.gov.uk].
The Victoria County History (Cambridge..., vol. 4, 2002) notes: "The earliest part of the fabric is the chancel, which belongs to the first half of the 13th century, and the tower is of approximately the same date. [...] The 13th-century font has an octagonal bowl, the sides of which are carved with human heads alternating with grotesques and in one case a censing angel; it rests on five shafts with moulded caps and bases." Described and illustrated in the Cambridge Churches (2004) web site [www.druidic.org/camchurch] [accessed 23 December 2007]. Listed as a limestone font of the 12th century in the East Cambridgeshire District Council (2002) web page [www.eastcambs.gov.uk].
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Mark Ynys-Mon, of Cambridgeshire Churches, for the photographs of this font]
COORDINATES
UTM: 31U 306131 5809176
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.398441, 0.150335
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 23′ 54.39″ N, 0° 9′ 1.21″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, limestone
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern?
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: octagonal, plain and flat
REFERENCES
- The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, 2002, vol. IV: p. [174?]
- Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
- Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 209, 211, 217 and ill. on p. 312
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 187, 188
- Kelly, Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd., 1929, [unavailable]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cambridgeshire, Harmonsworth: Penguin, 1970, 504