Sandbach

Results: 1 records

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01446SAN
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: ca. 1669? / 1667?
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th century [restored to the church in the 17th century, Perpendicular
Church / Chapel Name: Paris Church of St. Mary
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: High St, Sandbach CW11 1HD, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1270 762379
Site Location: Cheshire, North West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located about 20 km WNW of Stoke-on-Trent
Additional Comments: recycled font [cf. FontNotes]
Font Notes:
Lysons' Magna Britannia (1806-1833) mentions this font among those in the county of Cheshire: "that of Sandbach is most remarkable, being octagonal and surrounded in acanthus-leaves and flowers". Described in Simpson (1828: 71). Described in Cox (1907: 177, 188, 189) as a noteworthy 15th-century baptismal font from the Perpendicular period that, after having been removed from the church during the Reformation, was restored to the church, probably at the same time that the inscription and date -1667- were added to it. Described in Bond (1908: 113) as one of several baptismal fonts on which the Greek palindrome "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ" appears in an inscription ("Cleanse your sin, not your face only"), with date 1667. Noted in Pevsner (1971): "Font. Dated 1667, a very unusual design. Stone, octagonal with big juicy leaves." Richards (1973) writes: "The old font, thrown out last century, now stands by the porch and serves as a flower bowl. It is of octagonal shape, ornamented with the leaves of the acanthus, and dated 1669. When less weathered, it bore an inscription in Greek [...]" [NB: Richards' original edition was published in 1947 -- the font may have been moved inside by Pevsner's time [ca.1971] and the change of location not necessarily updated in Richards 4th ed. of 1973]

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 542741 5888436
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.1436, -2.361
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 8′ 36.96″ N, 2° 21′ 39.6″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

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

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Greek
Inscription Location: Font
Inscription Text: "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ"
Inscription Notes: Bond's transl.: "Cleanse your sin, not your face only" -- the inscription and the date belong to the time of the restoration of this font back into the church, and do not represent the proper date of the font, i.e., the 15th century
Inscription Source: Bond (1985 c1908: 113); Simpson (1828: 71); Cox & Harvey (1907: 177); Richards (1973: 291)

REFERENCES

  • Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 113
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 177, 188, 189
  • 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. 2, part 2: p. 444
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cheshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971, p. 330
  • 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. 291
  • Simpson, Francis, A series of ancient baptismal fonts: chronologically arranged, drwan by F. Simpson, Jun., engraved by R. Roberts, London: Septimus Prowett, 1828, p. 71