Horspath No. 1 / Horsepath / Horspadan
Image copyright © John Ward, 2009
Standing permission
Results: 3 records
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 August 2009 by John Ward
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Guide... (1846: 350)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of church exterior - south view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Richard Rogerson, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph taken 28 April 2011 by Richard Rogerson [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2437745] [accessed 13 June 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0
INFORMATION
Font ID: 05793HOR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century, Transitional / Early English
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Giles
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the nave, near the S door
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Giles [aka Aegidus, Egidus, Gilles]
Church Notes: "In the Domesday Survey Horsepath is mentioned by the name of Hospadan, and the manor was then the property of the King, and was granted to Roger de Ivery. It was afterwards the property of the Knights Templar" (ibid., p. 353)
Church Address: Church Road, Horspath, Oxfordshire, OX33 1SE
Site Location: Oxfordshire, South East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located 6 km ESE of Oxford
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Oxford
Historical Region: Hundred of Bullingdon
Font Notes:
Click to view
The Gentleman's Magazine issue for July-Dec. 1841 includes a mention of this font in "a paper read by Mr. Grey, of Magdalene hall, on Horsepath church, near Oxford [...] The nave and aisle are of the transition Norman style, with a font, and a curious stoup, probably of the same period; this is attached to the wall close to the south door, and has at first sight the appearance of a second font, but the small scolloped basin shews the purpose for which it was used." [source: http://books.google.com]. Described and illustrated in the Guide to the Architectural Antiquities of the Neighbourhood of Oxford (1846): "Near the south door is the Font; it is hexagonal, lined with lead, and stands on circular base; it seems to be of the same age as the pillars and arches [i.e., the late 12th century]". Murray (1882) writes: "The font and are curious and of early date." Noted in Kelly's Oxford Directory of 1911: "the font, placed near the western entrance of the nave, is hexagonal and stands on a circular base of two steps". The hexagonal unmounted baptismal font is totally plain, with a round inner well. The Victoria County History (Oxford, vol. 5, 1957) notes: "The nave was probably built in the late 12th century [...] The hexagonal font is probably contemporary with the earliest parts of the church; it was originally circular." Noted in Sherwood & Pevsner (1974): "Hexagonal. C13?" In August 2009 [cf. images] this font appears furnished with a new lead lining and cover, and mounted on a two-step plinth. [cf. Index entry for Horsepath No. 2 for a stoup listed for this same church]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Ward, of Oxfordshire Churches [http://homepage.mac.com/john.ward/oxfordshirechurches], for his photograph of this font
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 626081 5733476
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: hexagonal, unmounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: hexagonal
Drainage Notes: lead-lined
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
- Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
- Kelly, Kelly's Directory of Oxfordshire, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd., 1911, p. 132 / [http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/d.asp] [accessed 2 July 2007]
- Murray, John [the firm], Handbook for travellers in Berks. Bucks and Oxfordshire, including a [...], London: John Murray, 1882, p. 239
- Oxford Society for Promoting the Study of Gothic Architecture, Guide to the Architectural Antiquities in the Neighbourhood of Oxford, A, Oxford: John Henry Parker [for the Society], 1846, p. 350
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Oxfordshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1974, p. 655