Wymondham No. 2 / Widmundham / Wimondham / Wimundham / Windham / Winmuntham

Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

Results: 23 records

Angel - holding shield - emblem - East Anglia

Scene Description: three crowns emblem appears on fonts for both East Anglia and the See of Ely

Image Source: detail of a B&W photograph taken 7 May 1961 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/W/Wymondham Abbey font W and SW panels [4599] 1961-05-07.jpg] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

Angel - holding shield - emblem - Eucharist

Scene Description: shield has three chalices on it

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. John - symbol - eagle - with scroll

Scene Description: seen here on the centre side

Image Source: detail of a woodcut by Orlando Jewitt from a drawing by P.H. Delamotte in Rickman & Parker (1881)

Copyright Instructions: PD

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. Luke - symbol - winged bull - with scroll

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. Mark - symbol - winged lion - with scroll

Scene Description: seen here on the left side

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

Apostle or saint - Evangelists - St. Matthew - symbol - angel - with scroll

Scene Description: seen here on the left [southwest?] side

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

angel - cherub - 8

Scene Description: one at each of the eight angles, on the upper level of the underbowl chamfer

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

angel - holding shield - emblem - Trinity

Scene Description: seen here on the left side of the basin

Image Source: detail of a woodcut by Orlando Jewitt from a drawing by P.H. Delamotte in Rickman & Parker (1881)

Copyright Instructions: PD

angel - holding shield - emblem - unidentified

the angel between the synbols for John and Mark; recent photographs show the shield surface blank; was it defaced? an emblem painted on it?

Scene Description: the angel between the synbols for John and Mark; recent photographs show the shield surface blank; was it defaced? an emblem painted on it?

Image Source: detail of a woodcut by Orlando Jewitt from a drawing by P.H. Delamotte in Rickman & Parker (1881)

Copyright Instructions: PD

animal - mammal - lion - sejant - 4

Scene Description: probably sedente lions but too damaged for certainty

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - floral - square flower - 8

Scene Description: one on each of the eight sides of the lower level of the underbowl chamfer

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - patterns - crenellated

Scene Description: on the centre level of the underbowl chamfer

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

human figure - male - grotesque or fantastic - Green Man or woodwoose - 4?

Scene Description: too damaged for certainty, but they are similar to those found on other East Anglian fonts

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior

Source caption: "The twin towers of Wymondham Abbey. The church of St Mary & St Thomas of Canterbury, known as Wymondham Abbey, was the church of a Benedictine Priory that once stood here. The Priory became an Abbey in 1448 but was closed by Henry VIII in the 1530s; its remains can still be seen in the adjacent field. The church was completed during the 12th century. It used to be a cruciform church, with a length of 70 metres and twin west towers."

Scene Description: Source caption: "The twin towers of Wymondham Abbey. The church of St Mary & St Thomas of Canterbury, known as Wymondham Abbey, was the church of a Benedictine Priory that once stood here. The Priory became an Abbey in 1448 but was closed by Henry VIII in the 1530s; its remains can still be seen in the adjacent field. The church was completed during the 12th century. It used to be a cruciform church, with a length of 70 metres and twin west towers."

Image Source: digital photograph taken 2 February 2008 by Evelyn Simak [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/675427] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church exterior

Source caption: "The church of St Mary & St Thomas of Canterbury, known as Wymondham Abbey, once used to be the church of a Benedictine Priory that once stood here. The Priory became an Abbey in 1448 but was closed by Henry VIII in the 1530s; its remains can still be seen in the adjacent field. The archway seen at right is one of the former doorways into the church. The church was completed during the 12th century. It used to be a cruciform church, with a length of 70 metres and twin west towers."

Scene Description: Source caption: "The church of St Mary & St Thomas of Canterbury, known as Wymondham Abbey, once used to be the church of a Benedictine Priory that once stood here. The Priory became an Abbey in 1448 but was closed by Henry VIII in the 1530s; its remains can still be seen in the adjacent field. The archway seen at right is one of the former doorways into the church. The church was completed during the 12th century. It used to be a cruciform church, with a length of 70 metres and twin west towers."

Image Source: digital photograph taken 2 February 2008 by Evelyn Simak [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/675436] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church exterior in context

Image Source: digital photograph taken 21 August 2020 by Colin Smith

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 6 December 2020)

view of church interior - chancel

Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 July 2010 by Evelyn Simak [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1962583] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Source caption: "The Norman nave of Wymondham Abbey. Wymondham Abbey was founded in 1107 by William d'Albini, Chief Butler to Henry I as a cell for his brother's abbey in St Albans. When it was built it was intended to serve both the Benedictine monks and the parishioners of Wymondham, but the rights of each were unclear from the start and this led to many quarrels between the two. These often concerned the hanging and ringing of the parish bells. After the Priory gained its independence as an Abbey from St Albans in 1448 and the great west tower was provided by local people, these problems largely disappeared.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, the Abbey church was granted to the people of Wymondham for a payment. The east end of the church, which was where the monks had worshipped, was gradually dismantled and the materials sold off. The nave was blocked off at the former crossing tower and the ruined Monks' Tower was left standing. The nave seen here still has its original round Norman arches built of stone from Caen in Normandy. During the 1400s the roof was raised and the north aisle rebuilt and enlarged. It was at this time that the bell towers were re-built, with the one at the east for the monks and the one at the west for the parishioners. The screen at the end was designed by Sir Ninian Comper to partly cover the bare wall where the entrance to the monks' church."

Scene Description: Source caption: "The Norman nave of Wymondham Abbey. Wymondham Abbey was founded in 1107 by William d'Albini, Chief Butler to Henry I as a cell for his brother's abbey in St Albans. When it was built it was intended to serve both the Benedictine monks and the parishioners of Wymondham, but the rights of each were unclear from the start and this led to many quarrels between the two. These often concerned the hanging and ringing of the parish bells. After the Priory gained its independence as an Abbey from St Albans in 1448 and the great west tower was provided by local people, these problems largely disappeared. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, the Abbey church was granted to the people of Wymondham for a payment. The east end of the church, which was where the monks had worshipped, was gradually dismantled and the materials sold off. The nave was blocked off at the former crossing tower and the ruined Monks' Tower was left standing. The nave seen here still has its original round Norman arches built of stone from Caen in Normandy. During the 1400s the roof was raised and the north aisle rebuilt and enlarged. It was at this time that the bell towers were re-built, with the one at the east for the monks and the one at the west for the parishioners. The screen at the end was designed by Sir Ninian Comper to partly cover the bare wall where the entrance to the monks' church."

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 August 2015 by Marathon [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4634857] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of font

Image Source: woodcut by Orlando Jewitt from a drawing by P.H. Delamotte in Rickman & Parker (1881)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font

Image Source: detail of a woodcut by Orlando Jewitt from a drawing by P.H. Delamotte in Rickman & Parker (1881)

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: detail of a digital photograph by Simon Knott in www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/wymondham/wymondhamcofe.htm.htm

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font in context - west and soouthwest sides

Image Source: B&W photograph taken 7 May 1961 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/W/Wymondham Abbey font W and SW panels [4599] 1961-05-07.jpg] [accessed 14 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

INFORMATION

FontID: 01667WYM

Object Type: Baptismal Font1

Church/Chapel: Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Thomas of Canterbury

Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin & St. Thomas of Canterbury

Church Location: Church Street, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0PJ

Country Name: England

Location: Norfolk, East Anglia

Directions to Site: Located 15 km SW of Norwich

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Norwich

Historical Region: Hundred of Forehoe [aka Forehou]

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the N aisle, on the left [moved from under the W end of the nave in the earley 20th cent.]

Date: ca. 1440? / ca. 1500?

Century and Period: 15th - 16th century, Perpendicular

Workshop/Group/Artisan: East Anglia font / Evangelists' font

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Simon Knott, of www.norfolkchurches.co.uk, for his photographs of this font. We are also grateful to Jonathan Plunkett for the photographs of this church, taken by his father, George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/fonts.htm], and to Colin Smith for his photograph of the church exterior

Church Notes: The Abbey was founded in 1107 as a Benedictine community and built with Caen stone, but was intended to share its function as parish church from the very beginning. After many years of struggle between the towners and the Priory, the case was decided by Pope Innocent IV in 1249 who assigned which parts of the church would be used by whom, maintaing the original doouble function of the temple. The tensions between the townspeople and the monks continued and came to a head again in 1409 when, after much bickering and walling of some areas, blocking of others, etc., the frustrated townspeople broke into the Prior's lodgings and threatened his life. At the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry IV took measures in 1411 to appease the parties and confirmed the shared function. It was taken over by Henry VIII but it was the cause, in part, of the Kett Rebellion of 1549. [Source: Wymondham WEB site; cf. FontNotes]

Font Notes: Click to view

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The vicarage was settled in 1221, the Vicar being to have half the offerings at the altar, except on the four feast days, of the Purification and Birth of the Virgin Mary, (on which days great feasts were held here, the church being dedicated to her when it was finished, and to St. Thomas Becket [...] This shews it was some years before the church was finished, after the nomination of the first prior, for Becket was not murdered till 1130, in which year the first prior was appointed." Blomefield (ibid.) names 'Walter', as the first recorded vicar, unfortunately without a date, and describes the font in this church: "There is a fine old font, on which are the emblems of the four Evangelists, of the Holy Trinity, and of the Sacrament, and a shield with three crowns; and round the steps is an inscription, now illegible, all but 'Dunwule' et 'Animabus'." Noted and illustrated in Upcott (1818). Illustrated in Rickman & Parker [woodcut by Orlando Jewitt on a drawing by P.H. Delamotte] (1881). Described in Pevsner & Wilson )1999): "Font […] of the Anglian standard type, elevated on three high steps. Against the stem four lions and four Wild Men, against the bowl the signs of the Evangelists and angels (whole figures) holding shields.- Font cover. 1962 by Cecil Upcher, an accomplished piece with two stages of balusters, the upper stage with volutes, and a soaring spire." The four full-figure angels on the basin sides hold shields with emblems (Trinity, Eucharist, blank, East Anglia) on alternate side; the other four sides have the four symbols of the Evangelists holding scrolls; there are eight angel heads with spread wings at the angles of the underbowl chamfer and a band of crenellation pattern under it, followed down by eight square four-petal flowers, one on each side. The cover was given in memory of Canon Frederick Jarvis, vicar of Wymondham from 1932 to 1953. Noted and illustrated in Knott (2006)

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 52.570556, 1.108333

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 52° 34′ 14″ N, 1° 6′ 30″ E

UTM: 31U 371800 5826181

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown

Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Latin

Inscription Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

Inscription Location: around the plinth

Inscription Text: [cf. FontNotes]

Inscription Source: [cf. FontNotes]

LID INFORMATION

Date: 1962

Material: wood, oak?

Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Blomefield, Francis, An essay towards a topographical history of Norfolk, 1805-1810

James, M. R., Suffolk and Norfolk, London, Toronto: Dent & Sons, 1930

Knott, Simon, The Norfolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 2004. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon (February 2005]. Accessed: 2006-04-16 00:00:00. URL: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.

Pevsner, Nikolaus, Norfolk 2: North-West and South (2nd ed.), London: Penguin, 1999

Rickman, Thomas, An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of Architecture in England, from the Conquest to the Reformation, with a Sketch of the Grecian and Roman Orders, An [7th ed. -- orig. published in 1817], Oxford and London: Parker and Co., 1881

Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928

Upcott, William, A bibliographical account of the principal works relating to English topography, London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, 1818