Aller No. 1 / Alre

There is an entry for this Aller [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/ST3929/aller/] [accessed 6 February 2018], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The Ecclesiologist (no. CXLV, August 1861: 285) reports on the restoration of Aller St. Andrew's, which was about to start at the time: "A curious font, supposed to be of Saxon date, and the very one in which the Danish Viking, Guthrum, was baptized after his defeat by King Alfred, which has long been an ornament in the vicarage garden, is to be restored to the church. It is merely a circular bowl, but it is to be raised on a new circular shaft, with base and lead lining. The present font is of Debased date." [NB: Guthrum was a ruler of the Danelaw; defeated by Alfred in the Battle of Eddington in 878, Guthrum was baptised under the name of Æthelstan]. The Handbook for travellers… (1869) notes: "A large ancient font was some years ago dug out of a pond in the vicarage garden, and has been replaced in the ch[urch]. It is asserted that it is the identical font in which King Guthrum was baptised." Reported in Lesley & Roy Adkin's 'Aller and the Battle of Langport 1645': "Aller church has two fonts [...]. The original font was retrieved from a pond in the vicarage garden in the late 19th century. It is probably of Saxon date, although whether it is the font to baptise Guthrum, King of the Danes, in 878 is disputed [...] it is quite likely that the original font at Aller was removed as an act of Puritan vandalism." Drawing of a font in the Harvey Pridham Drawings of English Fonts (MS 56). [Folder Number, Item Description]. University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept., done by Harvey Pridham in April 1889 accompanied by the following description: "[…] All circular, except footpace, and irregular. The square footpace and circular plinth above are modern […] The font, as here shown, was only reinstated of late years. The present Rector found the bowl in his garden, where his predecessor kept it for rearing gold-fish. The stem was discovered during the restoration of the church, built into the wall. Inside bowl circular, lead lined, basin shape, sides slightly raked, scooped plan, 9" deep, 3 3/4 margin: No cover. Position, West side South doorway of Nave" [NB: the rest of the text in Pridham repeats the legend of the baptism of Gudrun, etc.] Wade and Wade (1929) report an ancient font in this church. A recent photograph of this font by Barry Chidgey appears in [http://www.britainspast.co.uk/Anglo-Saxon%20font.jpg] [accessed 1 March 2008]. [NB: the font that is claimed to have such great antiquity consists of a roughly hemispherical basin with a pronounced roll moulding at the upper rim, being otherwise plain; it is raised on a plain cylindrical pedestal base, and a modern square plinth; the lead lining of the inner basin is also modern. There is evidence of repairs [stone inserts] around the upper rim of the basin, the kind consistent with damage related to the staples of the cover. -- The claims that this font be Anglo-Saxon are unfounded; the font could be dated to the late 12th century at the earliest]. Not mentioned in Pevsner (1958). The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Somerset, vol. 3, 1974) notes: "The baptism of Guthrum, king of the Danes, at Aller in 878 (fn. 274) is strong presumptive evidence for the existence of a church in the parish at that date. Possession of a baptistry and the later payments of church scot by the tenants of the manor [...] suggest that in origin the church was a minster, probably of royal foundation. A rector was mentioned in c. 1200 [...] The nave probably retains its 12th-century dimensions, although the only feature of this date is the south doorway [...] There is a font with a 12th-century bowl at the west end of the nave and an octagonal font dated 1663." The CRSBI (2018) notes: "At W end of nave, just W of S door & S of central aisle; occupying the otherwise empty SW part of church. It consists of a low, tulip-shaped bowl with a heavy square-section upper rim with a chamfer. The bowl stands on a cylindrical stem with a plain chamfered circular base standing on a large, square plinth. The bowl shows the usual repairs & evidence of former lock-fittings, and the internal sides curve to a flattish bottom. A lead lining covers approximately one third of the rim. The bowl is of grey stone, the stem a paler grey stone. The base is a replacement. There are no major losses, although the bowl is generally worn owing to its spell outside". [cf. Index entry for Aller No. 2 for the later font in this church]