Wool nr. Dorchester No. 1

Fryer (1899) writes: "The font in this church dates from the fifteenth century, and is of special interest, as it was evidently designed for the position it still occupies against the westernmost pier of the north arcade of the nave. The bowl has a diameter of 20½ ins., and is 11 ins. deep. Each face is 11½ ins. square, and is adorned with a quatrefoil within a circle. The lower portion of the bowl is chamfered away 7½ ins., and rests on a pillar 8½ ins. high. This pedestal has a 2 in. chamfer at the bottom and rests on a plinth 10 ins. wide and 8 ins. deep." [source: Alfred C. Fryer's "Notes on Wool Church Dorset", originally in The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, New Series, vol. V, 1899, pp. 35-38 -- cited in www.bath.ac.uk/~lismd/dorset/wool/fryer-1898.html] [NB: Michael Day, our source for the baptismal font that was at Wool for some years, though originally from Coombe Keynes, has reported that Fryer is probably wrong in assuming that the Wool font's position was the original; he argues that "plans of the church made before the 19th century restoration [...] show that it was embedded in the same pillar, but on the west side closest the tower"]. Mee (1939) reports a 500-year old font "built against a pillar". Noted in Newman & Pevsner (1972). This font appears to have been cut as part of the pillar base, all in one, and is not a separate piece; some damage on the upper sides of the basin has been repaired with insert of new stone, most evident on the south side panel. [NB: this church has an odd-looking stoup that used to belong to Coombe Keynes - cf. Index entry for Wool No. 2]