Hinton Parva / Little Hinton

No individual entry found for Hinton Parva in the Domesday survey. Font described in Scarth (1883-1884) with date ca. 1100. Noted in Ponting (1899): "The font is a very remarkable one. The bowl is a circular one apparently reduced in height; round the upper part is carried a flat and rude arcade with double shafts having cushion capitals, and arches formed of two straight lines, as found in Saxon structures; this arcade rests on a band of diaper-work. Below this is a band of rudely-carved subjects representing:-- A serpent with two birds standing on it and two fishes near. A scroll of early foliated carving projecting from the mouth of an animal. A stag ascending a vertical pole with a goose standing behind. The remainder of the space is filled with a curious interlaced pattern, circular in section and of a pattern resembling the figure 8 repeated. Below this comes a cable-mould and under it a band of roughly-incised intersecting circles. The bowl has been re-faced, but the design has doubtless been more or less correctly preserved. It rests on an old circular shaft with splayed plinth and cap." [NB: this entry is commented by the editor of the Wiltshire Magazine in a footnote: "I recollect being told many years ago by the then Rector, the Rev. J. Smith, that the surface of the font had been re-cut at the time of the restoration of the Church, and that 'most unfortunately' the masons had altered the original form of the arcading. If this was so, it would account for its present curious form, and might modify opinion as to the very early date of the font".] Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a baptismal font of the Norman period in which "the bowl is supported not directly by the base upon which it is mounted, but there intervenes a short cylindrical shaft to carry the bowl"; he gives the font at Black Bourton, in Oxfordshire, as being of the same type. Tyrrell-Green (ibid.) describes "a serpent [...] depicted [...] with birds (doves) and fishes symbolising the conflict between Christian souls and the power of evil"; he also mentions an arcade on the basin side (ibid.) Buck (1951) reviews the different comments on this font made through the years (noting Ponting, Tyrrell-Green, etc., but also pointing out its absence in Paley, Bond, Wall and Cox & Harvey. Buck (ibid.) makes his own conclusions: 1)that the font is made up of two kinds of stone: oolite for most of the basin, and local chalk for the rest; 2)that the whole font was originally made of the local chalk stone, but the basin cracked from freezing of the water, and was replaced by the oolite, a harder limestone; 3)that the fragments of the old basin were used to make a close copy on the new stone; 4)that there are no cover fastenings on the upper rim, and that this may be an indication the rim was trimmed off at some point; 5)that the star and fishbone motifs on the font date from the 12th century; 6)that although some of the motifs and patterns in the lower band of decoration have been described as Saxon or Celtic, the presence of the figure eight, the "irregular convolutions of serpents" and the grotesque quadruped, make this "a Norman type of ornament"; 7)the foliated scroll lower down should be dated later than the one on the Castle Eaton font [i.e., later than 1160-1170], and that the serpent tying itself in a knot, with the two birds and two fishes, "is a Norman allegorical design symbolic of the Christian life; 8)"This font, therefore, is considered to be not earlier than twelfth century as regards the lower portion, the upper portion being of uncertain later date and probably based, more or less, on the original design". Noted in Pevsner & Cherry (1975): "Font. Circular, Norman, with one band of arcading and one partly of wild knotwork, partly with animals in a disorderly arrangement: a twisted snake with two birds pecking at it and two fishes near by, a quadruped seemingly seating on its behind, and in fact a bird." The basin has not only two registers of decoration, one above the other, but some of the patterns change from back to front; the interlace on one side changes and then stops altogether for the carvings of the animals. The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 11, 1980) notes: "in 1172 the bishop of Winchester confirmed St. Swithun's Priory as patron of Hinton church [...] he nave is earlier than its arcades. Of those, which are of two bays with long spans, that to the south is of the later 12th century and that to the north of the earlier 13th century. [...] The stem and base of the font are probably of the later 12th century. The bowl, on which various birds and animals are depicted, is possibly of later date. It was much restored c. 1860." Noted and partially illustrated in Tisdall (1998?) with his usual far-fetched interpretations. The sides show between a band of geometric design [X in squares] at the top and a parallel band of rope motif at the bottom; on the upper register an arcade of intersecting arches all around [NB: the upper rim seems to have been trimmed, which would account for the upper part of the arcade not being visible; below, a number of motifs which include, from right to left, an intricate braided and interlaced pattern which stops with open ends; a large coiled serpent facing right; underneath it, a fish; another above; two doves (?) rest on the upper coil of the serpent; at the extreme left an acanthus (?) leaf inscribed in a circle; the cylindrical stem is plain, as is the round lower base.