Bristol No. 5 / Whitchurch

Described and illustrated in Sivier (2002) as a baptismal font of the Norman period: "the bowl is Norman, taken from a now demolished church in East Lydford in Somerset, though other sources suggest it came originally from St Augustine the less" [NB: cf. Index entry for East Lydford for the font from the medieval church there m, moved to the new church]. Sivier (ibid.) also informs that the basin had a "series of shields [that] appear to have been removed during Cromwell's Interregnum, though their places on the font are still visible through the remaining toolmarks made by the chisels". The font appears cylindrical in Sivier's illustration (ibid.) and only a very faint shade is discernible in the illustration [NB: shiedls are not a common motif in Norman fonts]; the upper rim of the based appears damaged. Although the font appears monolithic, the lower part of the font resembles a base, also of cylindrical shape, slightly narrower than the basin volume. There is no mention of a font in Pevsner's entry for East Lydford (1958). [NB: Kelly's Directory (1883) entry for East Lydford notes a new church built in 1865 and a font "given by Capt. Egerton", but does not pmention the previous church or its font].