Wirksworth No. 1 / Werchesuorde / Werchesuuorde / Werchesvorde

Main image for Wirksworth No. 1 / Werchesuorde / Werchesuuorde / Werchesvorde

Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2015

Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)

Results: 4 records

view of font

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2015
Image Source: digital photograph taken 27 February 2013 by Timothy Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)

view of font

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: B&W photograph in Bond (1908)
Copyright Instructions: PD

design element - motifs - moulding

around the rim, badly damaged
Scene Description: around the rim, badly damaged
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 27 February 2013 by Timothy Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)

view of base

replacement base added in the 1896 restoration of the font, as noted on the plinth
Scene Description: replacement base added in the 1896 restoration of the font, as noted on the plinth
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2015
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 27 February 2013 by Timothy Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01544WIR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century [basin only], Medieval
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary
Font Location in Church: Inside the church [cf. FontNotes]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: Church Close, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4DP
Site Location: Derbyshire, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 20-25 km WNW of Derby up the B5023
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Derby
Historical Region: Hundred of Hamston [in Domesday]
Additional Comments: damaged font (the present old one: the rim is badly damaged (rest of the font restored 1896)) -- disappeared font? (the one from the Domesday-time church here)
Font Notes:
There are two entries for Wirksworth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SK2854/wirksworth/] [accessed 23 February 2015], one of which, in the lordship and tenancy of King William, mentions both a cleric and a church in it. Cox (1875-1877) writes: "ancient font of early thirteenth century design. There is only the large circular bowl now remaining, with the capitals of the four shafts upon which it originally stood attached to it. It is of unusual size, being two feet ten inches in diameter, and two feet in depth. It now stands in the north-west corner of the north transept. Probably it was mutilated and ejected from the church in the time of the Commonwealth." [cf. Index entry for Wirksworth No. 2 for the replacement fot of 1662]. Illustrated in Bond (1908) as the early font of two at this church; it is somewhat similar in shape to the ones at Youlgreave and Catthorpe, a large plain cauldron-like bowl resting on a round central stem and four shafts, also round; the whole is raised on a modern square plinth decorated with an inscription; the rim of the bowl protrudes markedly but is damaged and broken at several spots; the shafts of the base have roll mouldings forming capitals and bases. Noted in Font (1978): "Font [...] Norman, a large, plain, impressive cauldron". [cf.Index entry for Wirksworth No. 2 for a later (Restoration) font in this church]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Timothy Marlow for his photograph of this font

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 595653 5882316
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.081733, -1.571955
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 4′ 54.24″ N, 1° 34′ 19.04″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown
Font Shape: cauldron-shaped, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Diameter (includes rim): 85 cm*
Basin Depth: 60 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * in ft/in in Cox (1875-1877)

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Notes: an inscription appears on the upper surface of the modern plinth [not recorded]

REFERENCES

  • Betjeman, John, An American's Guide to English Parish Churches (including the Isle of Man), New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1958, p. 135
  • Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, ill. on p. 152
  • Cox, John Charles, 1875-1877
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 195
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Derbyshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978, p. 358