Batcombe / Batcombe nr. Dorchester

Noted in the 3rd ed. of Hutchins (1861-1874): "a very early font" located beneath the tower arch, "curious and highly interesting. The stalk is an octagonal Norman column of Ham Hill stone, with the cap formed for the usual rolls diminishing to a point, as they reach the beaded neck-mould. The basin is of a different stone, probably Portisham, and is apparently still earlier, from its extremely rude ornamentation. It is a cube with its sides slightly and roughly rounded, with four bead-like columns at the corners, and its sides are marked with shallow incised circles, as if it had been originally painted." In Long (1923): "curious font of Norman date. The central shaft is composed of an octagonal Norman pillar with carved capitals. On the square bowl are shallow incised circles." In Newman & Pevsner (1972): "Font. Norman, round, small and badly composed. The bowl has a kind of lugs, the stem is like a volute capital. Described and illustrated in the Wriggle Valley benefice web site [using Hutchins' text without reference] [source: www.wrigglevalleybenefice.com/churcha/page.asp] [NB: unlike the base, which appears quite regular, the basin is asymetrical and, in general, rather irregularly rendered, though its crudeness should not necessarily be translated into age]. There appears to be a flat wooden cover on the basin in the old photograph, but a more recent one at The Dorset Historic Churches Trust site [www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk] shows the cover now with a Latin Cross finial. The font is raised on a low quadrangular plinth.