Studland

Image copyright © Gerald Duke, 2004
Standing permission
Results: 10 records
view of basin - interior
view of church exterior - north view
view of church exterior - southeast view
view of church interior - looking east
view of church interior - looking west
view of font
view of font

Scene Description: Hardy (1891) suggests that the base of the font was originally part of the north-east window, which would have been much like the north-west illustrated here
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: engraving, from a drawing by J.W.B. Gibbs, in Hardy (1891)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font - plan, elevation, section and sketch
view of font and cover
INFORMATION
FontID: 09338STU
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Nicholas
Church Patron Saints: St. Nicholas of Myra [may have been originally dedicated to St. Adhelm in Saxon times]
Country Name: England
Location: Dorset, South West
Directions to Site: Located on the Purbeck Heritage Coast, just N of Swanage
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the nave
Century and Period: 10th - 13th century, Medieval
Cognate Fonts: Duke [cf. infra] suggests the font at Chaldon Herring
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Olivia Suttle, and to Chris Suttle, of www.stone.uk.com, and to Geral Duke, of www.martinstown.co.uk, for the information on and images of this font and church.
Font Notes: Click to view font notes
Hutchins (1863-1871) notes simply: "The original circular font remains." Noted, with a drawing by J.W.B. Gibbs, in Hardy (1891): "The font stands under the galler at the W. end [...], very ancient, rudely axed out of Purbeck 'burr', with a rim four inches thick, and it was either lined with lead, or rimmed for a cover -- perhaps both. The stone which supports the bowl is a window head, similar to the one inserted in N.W. window [...], evidently taken from the N.E. nave window." In Long (1923) as a Norman font. Mee (1939) writes: "The font may be older than the Normans". Described in Betjeman (1958): "Chalice-shaped font 12th century and mutilated". The RCHM (1970) dates the font to the 12th century as well. Described and illustrated in Olivia Suttle's 'Suttle Natural Stone -- Grand Origins: Purbeck Stone, A History' [www.stone.uk.com/history], who identifies the material as Purbeck stone, "a polishable fossily limestone" (after R. Legg, 1989). The basin is tub-shaped, round, tapering about 1/3 towards its bottom; the base, which may part of the same block, is cylindrical, and the lower base square, all of it plain. The quadrangular plinth appears modern, as does the flat wooden cover. Described and fully illustrated in Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk], who suggests the font at Chaldon Herring as cognate. [We are grateful to Olivia Suttle, and to Chris Suttle, of www.stone.uk.com, and to Geral Duke, of www.martinstown.co.uk, for the information on and images of this font and church]
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone, limestone (Purbeck marble)
Number of Pieces: three
Font Shape: tub-shaped (mounted) -- chalice-shaped
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Rim Thickness: 10 cm*
Diameter (inside rim): 49 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 69 cm*
Basin Depth: 29 cm*
Basin Total Height: 47 cm*
Height of Base: 43 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 90 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * [all measurements courtesy of Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]]
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern
Material:
wood,
Apparatus: no
Notes: flat and plain
REFERENCES
Betjeman, John, An American's Guide to English Parish Churches (including the Isle of Man), New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1958
Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1970
Hardy, William Masters, "A study on the work of preservation of the Church of St. Nicholas, Stdland, Dorset, from its original foundation by the Saxons to the date of its completion by the Normans", XII, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1891, pp. [164]-179; r["References"]
Hutchins, John, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873
Long, E.T., "Dorset church fonts", 44, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 1923, pp. 62-76; r["References"]
Mee, Arthur, The King's England. Dorset: Thomas Hardy's Country, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1939