Pitsford / Pidesford / Pisford / Pisseford / Pitesford

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PD
Results: 4 records
B01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - trefoiled arches
LB01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - 8 arches - trefoiled arches
view of basin
INFORMATION
FontID: 01735PIT
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary
Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin
Church Location: Church Lane, Pitsford, Pitsford, Northamptonshire, NN6 9AJ
Country Name: England
Location: Northamptonshire, East Midlands
Directions to Site: Located 8 km N of Northampton
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Peterborough
Historical Region: Hundred of Spelhoe
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the N side, in a chantry chapel
Century and Period: 14th century, Decorated
Workshop/Group/Artisan: font with appendage
Cognate Fonts: More English fonts with appendages at Alvington (Gloucs), Castle Combe Wilts), Feniton (Devon), Iron Acton (Gloucs), Odiham (Hants), Pitsford (Nhants), Sutton Bonnington (Notts), Youlgreave (Derbys), etc. [There are many fonts in France that have larger projections or are actually double-fonts]
Font Notes: Click to view font notes
Noted in Paley (1844) as a baptismal font with " a very remarkable appendage". Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 reports: "the font is very curious and ancient". Whellan (1849) reports: "The font, which is curious, has been removed to the chapel". Described and illustrated in Bond (1908). Octagonal mounted font of the 14th century in the Decorated style. The sides of the basin have trefoil or cinquefoil arches but one of them has a projection from the rim forming a ledge, in which there are four small holes. Both Paley and Bond argue that these holes are not from the cover hinges, since the actual staple remains, and is not opposite this protrusion. Perhaps, suggests Paley (ibid.), it was meant to hold a desk for a book, a crucifix or a figure, but he also points out the presence of such protrusions in fonts in Brittany and Normandy. Bond (ibid.) adscribes to the desk theory as well, although, in the next paragraph he introduces the Youlgreave font and the chrismatories, projections not meant as desks. The stem of the base is octagonal and has a deep-relief blind arcade of trefoil arches. The Victoria County History (Northampton, vol. 4, 1937) notes: "The south doorway is of 12th-century date, and some fragments of the same period are built into the tower arch and the east end of the north aisle. [...]
The font is of 14th-century date and consists of an octagonal bowl, with canopied niches, on a panelled and buttressed stem. On the west side of the bowl is a projection from the rim forming a ledge, in which are four small holes, probably intended for the fixing of a desk." The VCH (ibid.) further notes: " That the holes were not intended for the hinge of the font-cover is proved by the staple not being opposite the projecting ledge […] The present cover is modern."
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 643669 5797209
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone, type unknown
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
Diameter (includes rim): 51.5 cm
Basin Depth: 22.5 cm
Font Height (less Plinth): 75 cm
Notes on Measurements: Paley (1844)
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern
Material:
wood,
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2009-04-27 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908
Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907
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
Paley, Frederick Apthorp, Illustrations of Baptismal Fonts, London, UK: John van Voorst, 1844
Pevsner, Nikolaus, Northamptonshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1973
Whellan, William, History, gazetteer, and directory of Northamptonshire, comprising a general survey of the county, and a history of the Diocese of Peterborough: with separate [...], London: Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane, 1849