Warbstow / Warbstowe
Image copyright © [in the public domain]
PD
Results: 4 records
B01: design element - motifs - floral - 8 petals - in a circle - 4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Lysons (1806-1833)
Copyright Instructions: PD
B02: animal - reptile - snake
Scene Description: on the sides, framing the floral motifs
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Lysons (1806-1833)
Copyright Instructions: PD
BH01: human figure - head - 4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Lysons (1806-1833)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Lysons (1806-1833)
Copyright Instructions: PD
INFORMATION
Font ID: 01480WAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century, Late Norman / Transitional?
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Cornish font
Cognate Fonts: Altarnun, Callington, etc. [cf. FontNotes]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Werburgh
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Werburga [aka Werbyrgh, Werburgh] [Mercian abbess; † ca. 700AD]
Church Address: Warbstow, Launceston PL15 8UP, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1840 250359
Site Location: Cornwall, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 4-5 km N of the A395, 10-11 km WNW of Launceston
Font Notes:
Click to view
Noted in Lysons (1806-1833) as one of a group of remarkable fonts in this county, "all nearly alike, being square at the top, with human heads at the corners, and circles inclosing [sic] stars on the sides, supported by serpents, &c." Noted and illustrated in Upcott (1818) with reference to Lyson]. Noted in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 simply as "a curious Norman font". Noted in 'On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall' (1851): a good font (circa 1160.) The upper part is square, there are heads at the corners, under which the bowl is rounded off. In each of the four sides is a star with serpents encircling it. The interior of the bowl is circular. Fonts of very similar character are to be found in the churches of S. Nunn, Altarnun ; S. James, Jacobstowe ; S. Peter, Landrake ; S. Thomas by Launceston : and there are curious fonts of different character in the churches of SS. Mevan and Issi, Mevagissey ; S. Stephen by Launceston ; S. Andrew, Whitstone ; S. Marnarch, Lanreath, &c." Described and illustrated in Fryer (1901) as a Norman Transitional font. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman Transitional period, as described in Fryer [cf. supra]; the font has squared-top bowl with heads at the angles and large petalled medallions on the sides. Cox (1912) lists this as one of a group of Cornish fonts made from "hard Hicks Mill greystone […] Norm[an], of Altarnun type, square bowl, with heads at angles and circular ornaments on sides". Pevsner (1970) notes: "Font. Altarnun and St Thomas Launceston type, with faces at the four corners and stylized six-petalled flowers in niches on the four sides."
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library for access to the copy of Lysons’ Magna Britannia, and to Jim Ingram, of the Preservation Services, Robarts Library, for the digital imaging of Lysons’ illustrations]
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 391044 5615887
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.684597, -4.542353
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 41′ 4.55″ N, 4° 32′ 32.47″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, Polyphant stone? / Hicks Mill greystone?
Font Shape: square, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: square
REFERENCES
- "On the ancient stone fonts of Cornwall: a communication", 83 (April 1851) / New Series no. 47, Ecclesiologist, 1851, pp. 96-102; p. 99
- Clarke, Kate M., "The baptismal fonts of Devon -- Part VI", 51, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, 1919, pp. 211-221; p. 214
- Cox, John Charles, Cornwall, London: George Allen & Company, 1912, p. 12, 239
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 192, 193
- Fryer, Alfred C., "A Group of Transitional-Norman Fonts", VII, British Archaeological Association Journal. New Series, [?], pp. 215ff; p. [?]
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831, [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=51376] [accessed 10 January 2007]
- 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. III: p. ccxxiii
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cornwall, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970, p. 238
- Upcott, William, A bibliographical account of the principal works relating to English topography, London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, 1818, p. 95 and pl. xviii / [http://books.google.com/books?id=gLwuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq=upcott+1818&source=web&ots=lJwT-K00zU&sig=oVT6Kc6G03vqjYf4Synuk_Aek9w#PPP15,M1] [accessed 23 September 2007]