Leicester No. 1 / Ledecestre

Noted and illustrated in Throsby (1791). Described and illustrated in Simpson (1828) as an Early English baptismal font that was, when he first saw it, "the bowl, the upper part of which is very deeply carved, was so completely filled with repeated coats of white-wash over red ochre, that it looked like a plain rude stone; it amply repaid the labour of cleaning." In his addendum, Simpson (ibid.) states: "We should have observed that the stem of this Font is clearly of a different date from the bowl" [NB: In Simpson's time, ca. 1821, the font was mounted on a crude octagonal pedestal totally plain, whereas by Paley's time, ca. 1844, the font was already on its present columnar base]. Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 mentions simply "a font of curious device". A reference to this font is found in an unsigned contribution in the Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries and Antiquarian [...], (vol. 1, 1889-1891: 297): "All Saints', Leicester.- This font is decidedly of Early English character, and the foliage is very deeply and elaborately sculptured. Until about 1840 the bowl appeared to rest on a massive octagonal shaft; which examination proved to be composed of a quantity of rubbish built up round the present central circular one; on removing the pavement, the original basement stone was discovered, from which it was evident that the central pillar was formerly surrounded by four smaller ones; consequently it was in this manner restored, and the bowl cleaned and repaired with great care and judgment. It has a water drain, some remains of staples, and stands upon a single step in the north-west angle of the nave. The dimensions are:-- Height (exclusive of the step), 3 ft. 6 1/2 in. Circumference of bowl at top, 8 ft. 5 in. Diameter across top, 2 ft. 8 1/2 in. Diameter of interior, 2 ft. Depth of ditto, 1 ft. 2 in." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy baptismal font of the Early English period. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908), the font at All Saints' is a cauldron-shaped basin supported on a base consisting of one wide central column and four colonnettes at the sides; all of it rests on an octagonal plinth. Bond reports the whole base as being modern, whereas Paley (1844) states that it was restored thus when the "rubbish built up round the present central circular one" was removed. The basin has a broad band of foliage under the rim; the basin sides are ornamented with large lillies and trillium-like contours over the lillies. Bond describes the "continuous tendrils of foliage" of the rim area as "vicious excess in ornament" and puts this font as an example of over-decoration. Bond (ibid.) mentions a similar font, a "sister font", at Borrough, in the same county. Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a late survivor (Early English) of a Norman design of baptismal fonts; a fine example, like the font at Norton, in Derbyshire. The Victoria County History (vol. 4, 1958) notes: "The church of All Saints was probably one of those which formed the endowment of the college of St. Mary de Castro, and which were granted to Leicester Abbey in 1143. [...] Nothing definite is known of the structure of the church until the end of the 16th century [...] The font at the west end of the nave dates from the 13th century and has a round bowl, decorated with trefoils and foliage, very similar indeed to the one in St. Mary de Castro. The base is modern." Pevsner (1984) writes: "Font. An outstanding piece of the later C13. Circular bowl of bulging shape. Eight pointed trefoiled arches come forward halfway up the bowl. Under four of them are small frontal busts. Higher up, much lush stiff-leaf foliage." [We are grateful to Colin Hyde, of the East Midlands Oral History Archive [www.le.ac.uk/emoha] for the photographs of this font]. The font at Pucklechurch, in Gloucestershire, appears to be a copy of this font [although there are claims of it beeing a re-cut]. [cf. Index entry for Leicester No. 3 for another Early English font in this town]