Billesdon / Billesdone
Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2013
Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)
Results: 6 records
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2013
Image Source: B&W photograph taken 1 May 2013 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)
design element - motifs - roll moulding
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2013
Image Source: photograph taken 1 May 2013 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)
design element - motifs - roll moulding
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2013
Image Source: photograph taken 1 May 2013 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)
view of church exterior - southeast view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Richard Croft, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph taken 8 February 2011 by Richard Croft [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2264285] [accessed 21 October 2014]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0
view of church interior - nave - looking east
Scene Description: Source caption: "St.John the Baptist's nave. Looking east with 13th century north arcade and 19th century south arcade"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Richard Croft, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph taken 8 February 2011 by Richard Croft [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2264321] [accessed 21 October 2014]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0
view of font and cover in context
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2013
Image Source: photograph taken 1 May 2013 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2013)
INFORMATION
Font ID: 06967BIL
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century, Transitional
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. John the Baptist
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. John the Baptist
Church Address: Church Street, Billesdon, Leicestershire, LE7 9AE
Site Location: Leicestershire, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A47 [Uppingham Rd.], about 15 km E of Leicester
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Leicester
Historical Region: Hundred of Gartree
Font Notes:
Click to view
There is an entry for Billesdone [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SK7102/billesdon/] [accessed 21 October 2014], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The font here is noted and illustrated in Upcott (1818). Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Transitional period. The Victoria County History (Leicestershire, vol. 5, 1964) notes: "Billesdon church was given to Leicester Abbey by William de Syfrewast before 1162, [...] and it is clear that by 1220 the abbey had possession of both the revenues and the advowson. [...] The earliest parts of the building are the base of the tower and the north arcade of the nave, both of which were probably built before 1250. [...] The circular moulded font may [...] date from the 13th century [...] The oak font cover was probably provided about 1607 when the lack of one was commented on by the archdeacon at his visitation." In Pevsner (1984): "Font. Circular, E[arly] E[nglish], with a few big mouldings, rather like those of a magnified capital." The slightly tapering moulded basin rests now on an octagonal lower base that appears modern, and a two-step plinth that is definitely modern. The wooden cover consists of a round platform base with eight tapering sides towards an acorn-like finial; date unknown.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Tim Marlow for his photographs of this font
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 639538 5831556
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.616056, -0.938886
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 36′ 57.8″ N, 0° 56′ 19.99″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: cylindrical, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
LID INFORMATION
Date: ca. 1607?
Material: wood, oak
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
- Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
- Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 206
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Leicestershire and Rutland, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1984, p. 102
- Upcott, William, A bibliographical account of the principal works relating to English topography, London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, 1818, [vol. II, part II, p. 501] and pl. lxxvi fig. 9 [on the letter-press] / [http://books.google.com/books?id=gLwuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq=upcott+1818&source=web&ots=lJwT-K00zU&sig=oVT6Kc6G03vqjYf4Synuk_Aek9w#PPP15,M1] [accessed 23 September 2007]