Old Sodbury / Sopeberie

Main image for Old Sodbury / Sopeberie

Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2007

Image and permission received from the author

Results: 7 records

view of font and cover

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2007
Image Source: digital photograph 24 May 2007 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author

view of font and cover

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an engraving in Paley (1844: unpaged]
Copyright Instructions: PD

design element - motifs - moulding - graded

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2007
Image Source: digital photograph 24 May 2007 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author

design element - motifs - quatrefoil - in a circle - 8

a deeply-cut motif on each of the eight basin sides
Scene Description: a deeply-cut motif on each of the eight basin sides
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an engraving in Paley (1844: unpaged]
Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - southeast view - detail

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2007
Image Source: digital photograph 24 May 2007 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author

view of font and cover in context

Source caption: "Old Sodbury Church (Saint John the Baptist), Gloucestershire, 7 March 2019. 12th Century Transitional Norman nave, aisles and chancel with 13th Century Early English transepts and 15th Century Perpendicular tower. Heavily restored in 1858 by TH Wyatt. Pictured is the font."
Scene Description: Source caption: "Old Sodbury Church (Saint John the Baptist), Gloucestershire, 7 March 2019. 12th Century Transitional Norman nave, aisles and chancel with 13th Century Early English transepts and 15th Century Perpendicular tower. Heavily restored in 1858 by TH Wyatt. Pictured is the font."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Hugh Llewelyn, 2019
Image Source: digital photograph 7 March 2019 by Hugh Llewelyn [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Sodbury_Church_(Saint_John_the_Baptist)_(32378149447).jpg] [accessed 3 April 2025]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of font and cover in context

Source caption: "Old Sodbury Church (Saint John the Baptist), Gloucestershire, 7 March 2019. 12th Century Transitional Norman nave, aisles and chancel with 13th Century Early English transepts and 15th Century Perpendicular tower. Heavily restored in 1858 by T H Wyatt. Pictured is the nave looking towards the chancel."
Scene Description: Source caption: "Old Sodbury Church (Saint John the Baptist), Gloucestershire, 7 March 2019. 12th Century Transitional Norman nave, aisles and chancel with 13th Century Early English transepts and 15th Century Perpendicular tower. Heavily restored in 1858 by T H Wyatt. Pictured is the nave looking towards the chancel."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Hugh Llewelyn, 2019
Image Source: digital photograph 7 March 2019 by Hugh Llewelyn [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Sodbury_Church_(Saint_John_the_Baptist)_(33444220948).jpg] [accessed 3 April 2025]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

INFORMATION

Font ID: 03465SOD
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th century? [re-tooled?], Perpendicular [altered?]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. John the Baptist
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the nave, opposite the S door
Church Patron Saint(s): St. John the Baptist
Church Notes: late-Norman church much modified since
Church Address: 44 Church Ln, Old Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6NB, United Kingdom
Site Location: Gloucestershire, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A432, 4-5 km E of Yate, 25-30 km NE of Bristol
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Gloucester
Historical Region: hundred of Eddredestane [in Domesday]
Additional Comments: disappeared font? The late Norman font? [cf. FontNotes] - altered font The Perp font / scraped / re-tooled
Font Notes:
There is an entry for [Old] Sodbury [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/ST7581/old-sodbury/] [accessed 3 April 2025]; it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Font noted in Paley (1844). Octagonal mounted font of the 15th century in the Perpendicular style; each side of the basin has a deep-relief quatrefoil motif; the underbowl is a series of mouldings; the short stem of the base is octagonal as is the lower volume which fans out to the two-step square plinth, the upper with raised corners, the lower, plain; some damage visible on the upper basin sides, especially on the side where the old staple(s) may have been forcefully removed. Noted in Verey and Brooks (1999-2002): "Font. Perp[endicular], scraped, with octagonal bowl carved with quatrefoils." [NB: the church is originally Late Norman but we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Wilkes,of www.allthecotswolds.com, for the photograph of this font.

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 544821 5709475
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.5346, -2.35379
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 32′ 4.56″ N, 2° 21′ 13.64″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, unknown
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
Drainage System: centre hole in basin
Drainage Notes: lead lining
Rim Thickness: 11 cm
Diameter (inside rim): 47 cm
Diameter (includes rim): 69.5 cm
Basin Depth: 22.5 cm
Basin Total Height: 57 cm
Height of Base: 43 cm
Font Height (less Plinth): 100 cm
Notes on Measurements: Paley (1844)

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: octagonal and flat, with metal decoration and ring handle; modern

REFERENCES

  • Paley, Frederick Apthorp, Illustrations of Baptismal Fonts, London, UK: John van Voorst, 1844, [unpaged]
  • Verey, David, Gloucestershire, London: Penguin Books, 1999-2002, vol. 1: 534