Horspath No. 2 / Horsepath / Horspadan

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): "the greatest curiosity of this Church is on the west side of the door. The vilagers say that it is a second font; some have supposed it to be the base of a cross, some the upper part of a shaft: but it is more probable that it is a stoup. If so, it is probable unique, for it is of the same as the oldest parts of the church". A stoup of the Early English period is noted in Parker (1850). Noted in Kelly's Oxford Directory of 1911: "in the south aisle, near the door, is a unique stoup, consisting of an octagonal cylinder with moulded rim, on a high base of similar shape". Murray (1882) writes: "The font and are curious and of early date." The Victoria County History (Oxford, vol. 5, 1957) notes: "By the south door is what seems to be a 12th-century stoup, the origin and purpose of which has been much debated." [NB: this VCH text is footnoted: "Parker, Guide, 350, 354; MS. Top. Oxon. d 92, f. 57."] [cf. Index entry for Horsepath No. 1 for an early baptismal font in this same church] The odd object looks like a tall octagonal mounted holy-water stoup; it consists of two volumes: the basin is octagonal with vertical sides, having a slightly protruding upper rim [it looks like a hollowed out pedestal base rather than a basin]; the lower volume is quadrangular but the front angles have been trimmed, while the back remains flat against the wall. It is an odd-looking stoup. This is probably the same stoup referred to in Cox & Harvey (1907: 236), who date it "of the earlier part of the 13th century", therefore from the Early English period.