Abbess Roding No. 1 / Abbots Roothing / Abbess Roothing / Roinges

Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2011

Standing permission

Results: 12 records

B01: design element - motifs - floral

Scene Description: on the E side of the basin [cf. Font notes]: two large six-petalled flowers; six other smaller ones of various shapes

B02: design element - motifs - vine

Scene Description: on the N and W sides of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B03: design element - motifs - vine

Scene Description: on the N and W side of the basin

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B04: symbol - moon - crescent

Scene Description: on the S side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B05: design element - motifs - spiral

Scene Description: or whorl, on the S side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B06: symbol - star? - 2

Scene Description: two large stars or encicled flowers within flowers, on the S side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B07: symbol - sun

Scene Description: or disc, on the S side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior - southeast view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church interior - nave - looking west

Scene Description: the font at the west end

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font - east side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2011

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 October 2011 by Simon Knott [www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/6295782637/] [accessed 26 March 2012]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover - east side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Whitworth, 2010

Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Whitworth [www.essexchurches.info]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover in context

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2011

Image Source: digital photograph taken 26 October 2011 by Simon Knott [www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/6296317308/] [accessed 26 March 2012]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 06694ABB
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Edmund
Church Patron Saints: St. Edmund the Martyr [aka Edmund of East Anglia]
Church Location: Abbess Roding, Essex, CM5 0PA
Country Name: England
Location: Essex, East
Directions to Site: Located S of the A1060, W of the B184, 11-12 km E of Harlow; just N of Little Laver with a similar font
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Chelmsford
Historical Region: Hundred of Ongar
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the nave, centre aisle
Century and Period: 12th century (late?) [basin and lower base only] [composite font], Medieval [composite]
Cognate Fonts: the fonts at Little Laver, Moreton and Fryerning [cf. FontNotes]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Whitworth, of www.essexchurches.co.uk, and to Simon Knott, of Suffolk Churches and Norfolk Churches, for their photographs of church and font
Lewis' 1831 Dictionary entry for this church states: "The church contains an ancient font of lead, on a pedestal of stone" [NB: there is no confirmation of this being a lead font anywhere else. Was it a reference or mistake due to the iron girders?]. Noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923) as one of "a curious group of four square bowls (Abbess Roding, Fryerning, Little Laver [...] and Moreton), somewhat rudely carved with various designs including the sun, moon, stars, whorl (for a comet?), etc. [...] square bowl with carved sides, N. and W. with scrolled foliage, E. with large flowers, S. with crescent, disc, whorl, two circles with flowers, etc.; circular stem with four small shafts, square base with moulded edge, late 12th-century, bowl bound with iron." Described in the Victoria County History (Essex, vol. 4,1956): "The plan indicates a 12thcentury origin and the dedication suggests that there was a church here before the Norman Conquest. [...] The position of the north and south doorways suggests that the nave was originally built in the 12th century. The font is of the late 12th century and is similar in type to others in the neighbourhood [...] The square bowl, which is bound with iron, has vine ornament carved on two sides and conventionalized flowers on another. On the fourth side appear the disk, crescent, whorl, and stars which are characteristic of these fonts. The stem is circular and has small angle shafts." [The VCH (ibid.) gives the fonts at Moreton, Little Laver and Fryerning as being of the same type]. In Bettley & Pevsner (2007). The basin sides are badly damaged and there is an iron band holding them together; the base is a reconstruction, mostly modern except, perhaps, the square lower base. [cf. Index entry for Abbess Roding No. 2 for a later stoup in this church]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.77919, 0.27733
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 46′ 45.08″ N, 0° 16′ 38.39″ E
UTM: 31U 312186 5739987

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, Caen stone
Font Shape: square (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: square

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern?
Material: wood,
Apparatus: no
Notes: octagonal and flat, with metal decoration and ring handle; modern?

REFERENCES

Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2006-05-09 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
Bettley, James, Essex, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007
Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, An Inventory of the historical monuments in Essex, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1916-1923
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