Portishead

Described in Rutter (1829): "The font is massive Norman, and has characteristic ornaments, executed in very bold, but rough style." Parker (1850) notes three strikingly familiar" fonts of the late-Norman period in North Weston, Portishead and Portbury. The handbook for travellers… (1869) notes: "A Norm[an] font, one of the few still well preserved." Noted in the Proceedings (1881) of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (1882): "the Norman font, now disused, which had formerly been buried in a garden." Noted in Cox & Harvey (1907) and in Wade & Wade (1929) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Bond (1908) comments about the shape of this font, as well as that of Bere Regis: "the mason may have thought that he was carving a Corinthianesque capital". Described in Pevsner (158): "Norman. Square on a circular stem, with impressive heavy angle volutes." The sides of the basin are decorated with large scrolls or volutes, and there is a roll moulding at the centre ring position; the inner well of the basin is round and lead-lined.