Upper Gravenhurst / Great Gravenhurst / Cravenherst

Image copyright © Rodney Burton, 2006

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Results: 1 records

view of church exterior - south view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Rodney Burton, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken 27 June 2006 by Rodney Burton [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/193499] [accessed 14 May 2012]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

INFORMATION

FontID: 05285GRA
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Giles [closed church available for disposal]
Church Patron Saints: St. Giles [aka Aegidus, Egidus, Gilles]? or St. Albans?
Church Location: High St, Upper Gravenhurst, Beds MK45 4HY
Country Name: England
Location: Bedfordshire, East
Directions to Site: Located 5 km SW of Shefford, 12-14 km S of Bedford, just east of the A6
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of St. Albans [formerly in the diocese of Lincoln]
Historical Region: Hundred of Flitt
Century and Period: 15th century [re-cut?] [composite font?], Perpendicular [altered?]
Cognate Fonts: Another decagonal font in Tingrith, in the same county
Church Notes: The Church of England web site [http://www.churchofengland.org/clergy-office-holders/pastoralandclosedchurches/closedchurches/closed-churches-available/uppergravenhurst.aspx] [accessed 14 May 20012] lists this church as "closed" and "available for disposal". An advertisement from Rumball Sedgwick, chartred surveyors, on behalf of the Diocese of St Albans reads: "The Property is available for continued Christian worship or for community use under Class D1 of the Use Classes Order 1987, or may be suitable for other uses subject to planning and to Church approvals" [http://brochures.rt-sb.net/35359_5612.pdf] [accessed 14 May 2012]
Lysons (1806-1833), Paley (1844) [after Lysons] and Bond (1908) mention a decagonal font in Gravenhurst, Beds., but neither indicates whether it is Upper G. or Lower G. The Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 2, 1908) notes"Upper Gravenhurst had no parish church, and to supply the need of the inhabitants a chantry was founded before 1189 for a priest to administer sacraments and bury the dead. [...] The first mention of the existence of the chantry occurs some time between the years 1189 and 1195 when Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, granted the tithes belonging to the chapel of Gravenhurst to Ramsey Abbey. [...] The oldest part of the church is the nave, the walls of which, together with the north doorway and voussoirs of the chancel arch, belong to the second quarter of the twelfth century. [...] The font is plain and twelve-sided, and has a twelve-sided shaft with a base of fifteenthcentury date. [...] The first book of the registers runs from 1567." The English Heritage entry for this church [Listing NGR: TL1130535987] notes: "Plain 12-sided font, Cl5, reworked C19."

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 679782 5765534

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: dodecagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: dodecagonal

REFERENCES

Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2012-05-14 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908
Lysons, Daniel, Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain, London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806-1822
Paley, Frederick Apthorp, Illustrations of Baptismal Fonts, London, UK: John van Voorst, 1844