Bebington / Lower Bebington

Main image for Bebington / Lower Bebington

Image copyright © [in the public domain]

PD

Results: 4 records

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: B&W photograph in Ellis (1902)
Copyright Instructions: PD

design element - motifs - piping

Scene Description: framing the panels of the basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: B&W photograph in Ellis (1902)
Copyright Instructions: PD

design element - patterns - chequered

Scene Description: a narrow band around the upper basin side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: B&W photograph in Ellis (1902)
Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - southeast view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Ej.culley, 2007
Image Source: digital photograph taken 9 June 2007 by Ej.culley [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standrewsbeb.jpg] [accessed 11 December 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01428BEB
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century [basin only], Medieval [composite]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Andrew
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the nave
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Andrew
Church Address: Church Road, Bebington, Merseyside, CH63 3EX
Site Location: Merseyside, North West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located on the W shore of the mouth of the Mersey river, across from Liverpool, S of Birkenhead
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Chester
Historical Region: formerly Cheshire -- Hundred of Wirral
Additional Comments: recycled font: composite font / old basin on later base
Font Notes:
Ellis (1902) notes: "the font that is still in use, and which stands at the west end of the nave, is coeval with the Norman work of the south wall and nave arcade. It is in excellent preservation, and the bowl is very unusual, if not unique, in its ornamentation. It is circular, of white stone, with a fillet below the rim, bearing a row of small oval depressions, and the remainder of the circumference occupied by six panels of unequal size. It is not lined with lead, but has a water drain. The bowl is supported on a conical eight-sided pedestal, which is compressed by a plain fillet a few inches below the attachment to the bowl. I think it probablr that this support and the octagonal plinth upon which it stands, are of somewhat more recent date than the bowl itself." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font consisting of a Norman basin and a base of a later period. Pevsner (1971) notes his suspicion on its pedigree: "Font. Circular, just with moulded framing of panels. Is it really medieval?" Described and illustrated in Richards (1973): "The font [...] is coeval [i.e., 12th-century], cut in a white stone, circular in shape with a cornice of chequering below which are six panels of unequal size. It stands upon a rough octagonal base, spreading out as it reaches the step."

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 499774 5910984
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.348, -3.0034
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 20′ 52.8″ N, 3° 0′ 12.24″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown
Font Shape: cylindrical, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Drainage System: centre hole in basin
Drainage Notes: no lining
Rim Thickness: 10 cm [calculated]
Diameter (inside rim): 45 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 65 cm*
Basin Depth: 20 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 98.75 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * [Ellis (1902: 76)]

REFERENCES

  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 189
  • Ellis, John W., "The Mediaeval Fonts of the Hundreds of West Derby and Wirral", LVIII (New series: XVII), Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1902, pp. 59-80; p. 76
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cheshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971, p. 73
  • Richards, Raymond, Old Cheshire churches: a survey of their history, fabric and furniture with records of the older monuments, with a supplementary survey relating to the lesser old chapels of Cheshire, Didsbury, Manchester: E.J. Morten, 1973, p. 48, pl. 131