Poitiers No. 2

Described and illustrated in Davies (1962). Delpal (1985) describes the building of this baptistery as "a vast rectangular hall and two vestries" and the inside as "disposed around an octagonal pool for baptism by immersion" (France: a Phaison Cultural Guide, 1985, p. 528). [cf. entry for Poitiers No.1 in this Index for details of the building itself]. Corblet reports that the restoration works carried out under the direction of Joly-Leterme, "architecte des monuments historiques", there can be no doubt about the function of the building: the conduits which fed the water to it were unearthed exposing the filling and drainage systems of the basin. The conduits which brought the water in from the heights of the town were rectangular sections of brick; the one which drained the water was made of earthenware and morter and the hole in the basin to which it was connected was located a little higher than the intake conduit, so that the basin was always filled with water. The basin was 1.8 m. in diameter with a coping of 40 cm. deep, and it probably dated, as the building itself, to somewhere between the 4th and 7th centuries. (Corblet, 1881-1882, v. 2, p. 70-71). Davies' illustration of the area (1980, pl. 6) shows a number of tombstones placed at the mouth of the sunken font, most probably meant as a barrier to stop curious and unwary visitors from falling into it. Delcor (1973) suggests a date for the baptistery (he does not specifically mention the font itself) to the 6th century. Described and illustrated in Le Patrimoine des communes de la Vienne (2002, v. 2: 784) as a font of the 4th century; the steps run down on three contiguous sides of the octagon [Flohic ref.: 862010ZM] [Cl. M. H. 1846)