Mendlesham No. 1

Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 reports: "the pulpit, reading desk, and cover of the font, are enriched with elaborate carvings." Betjeman (1958) notes: "17th-century woodwork: pulpit, reading desk and font cover all made by John Turner of Mendlesham in 1630." Jenkins (1999) mentions "the unforgettable the font cover", made by a local carver, John Turner, who also did the pulpit, in 1630; he describes it as "a confection of pediments and obelisks on columns, a classical answer to Ufford's Gothic wedding cake." Knott [www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/mendlesham.htm] [accessed 19 February 2007], however, notes: "The font cover [...] was made locally, but contains Renaissance imagery rarely seen in this country; it would be quite at home at St Eustache in Paris." The font itself, by contrast, is chiefly a plain octagonal specimen, the only decoration visible being a graded chamfer. [cf Index entry for Mendlesham No. 2 for a beautiful late font now used as holy-water stoup in the porch].