Huntingdon No. 1 / Huntandene / Huntantum
Image copyright © Robert Edwards, 2005
CC-BY-SA-3.0
Results: 2 records
view of church exterior - west view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Robert Edwards, 2005
Image Source: digital photograph taken 10 August 2005 by Robert Edwards [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/131990] [accessed 20 April 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0
view of font and cover in context
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Huntingdon St. Mary's Parish, 2012
Image Source: digital photograph in the Parish web site [www.stmaryshuntingdon.org.uk/html/gallery.html] [accessed 20 April 2012]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 05978HUN
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century, Early English
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: High Street, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE29 3AQ
Site Location: Cambridgeshire, East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located on Market Hill, Huntingdon, 25 km WNW of Cambridge up the A14
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Ely
Historical Region: formerly Huntingdonshire
Additional Comments: altered font: restored? re-tooled?
Font Notes:
Click to view
Cooke (1802) notes that an ancient steeple from an earlier church stood in one of the nearby cemeteries, but "was taken down, about five years ago, to prevent the danger of its expected fall"; of St. Mary's church it notes that the date over the north doorway indicates its origin in James I's reign [i.e., 1603-1625], and, of its font, it adds: "The font consists of an octagonal base [sic], supported by a central column, surrounded by small pillars" [NB: "base" may be typographical error for 'basin' or 'bowl']. Reported in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848: "the font is of octangular form, and supported on a column encircled by small pillars". Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy baptismal font of the Early English period, with "a plain octagonal bowl, but the pedestal has a fine cluster of circular shafts". Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one in a very large group of baptismal fonts that are plain octagonal with straightsided basins. The Parish web site [www.stmaryshuntingdon.org.uk/html/features.html] [accessed 20 April 2012] notes: "The font is of marble and like the tower door dates from the 13th century. This was originally in front of the Altar on the south aisle and was moved in the early 19th century to its present position and was restored in the last few years." [NB: the present font looks suspiciously sharp for a 13thC object, and must have been either totally re-tooled or partly re-tooled and partly replaced; the low-pyramidal cover appears modern].
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 692032 5801314
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.32849, -0.181802
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 19′ 42.56″ N, 0° 10′ 54.49″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern?
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
- Cooke, George Alexander, A topographical and statistical description of the County of Huntingdon [...] Also, a list of the markets and fairs and an index table, [London]: Printed for C. Cooke [...] by Brimmer and Co., 1802, p. 34
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 203
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831, [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=51054] [accessed 13 February 2007]
- Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928, p. 31