Bramford nr. Ipswich

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01877BRA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th century, Perpendicular
Cognate Fonts: The top of the font-cover at Cockington, Devon, was copied from the cover at Bramford
Church / Chapel Name: Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Font Location in Church: Inside the church [cf. FontNotes]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: Bramford, Ipswich IP8 4AT, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1473 748914
Site Location: Suffolk, East Anglia, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located right outside Ipswich, on its NW side
Additional Comments: moved font
Font Notes:
Noted in Parker (1855) as a fine Perpendicular font "with a lofty cover". The 'Building news and architectural review' (vol. 9, 1862: 224) reports the font having been recently moved to the space beneath the tower. Stabb (1908-1916) informs that the restored cover at Cockington, in Devon, got a modern top "copied from an old font cover at Bramford, in Suffolk". Bond (1908) rates its lid among several "fine examples of Gothic covers", but does not mention the font at all. Cautlet (1982), too, notes the cover. Both font and cover are illustrated in Knott's Suffolk Churches entry for Bramford. The font is octagonal all over and has shields on the basin sides, as well as other decorative motifs on the basin and base; the font cover is of the rim-buffet type, with carved detail and crocketed upper dome. The font-cover is noted in Howard & Crossley (1919).

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 369916 5771007
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.07434, 1.1019
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 4′ 27.62″ N, 1° 6′ 6.84″ E

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

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

LID INFORMATION

Date: 16th-century?
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

  • Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908, p. 289, 299
  • Cautley, Henry Munro, Suffolk churches and their treasures, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1982, p. 87
  • Howard, F.E., English Church Woodwork: a Study in Craftmanship during the Mediaeval period A.D. 1250-1550, London: B.T. Batsford, 1919, p. 322
  • Parker, John Henry, The Ecclesiastical and architectural topography of England [...] Suffolk, 1855, [unpaged]
  • Stabb, John, Some old Devon churches, their roods, pulpits, fonts, etc., London: Simkin, [et al.], 1908-1916, p. 62