Winterbourne Steepleton / Winterborne Steepleton

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Results: 11 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

B01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - round arches

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

LB01: design element - architectural - column - attached - 4

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

R01: design element - motifs - rope moulding

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of basin - interior

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior - southwest view

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church interior - detail - angel

Scene Description: pre-Conquest angel? [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font - left side

Scene Description: looking west

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font - plan, elevation, section and sketch

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font - right side

Scene Description: looking west

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: digital photograph supplied by Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 09393WIN

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels

Church Patron Saints: St. Michael & All Angels

Country Name: England

Location: Dorset, South West

Directions to Site: Located on the B3159, 5-6 km W of Dorcherster

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, S side of the nave, just W of the entrance

Century and Period: 12th century [basin only] -- 13th century [shaft only] [composite font], Medieval [composite]

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Gerald Duke, of www.martinstown.co.uk, and to Robin Adeney and The Dorset Historic Churches Trust [www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk], for the photograph of this font

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Noted in the 3rd ed. of Hutchins (1973 c1861-1874): "The font is somewhat peculiar. The bowl has a massive arcade of round arches sculptured in three orders; it has also the cable ornament, and is perhaps Norman." Long (1923) and Mee (1939) list it as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The RCHM (1970) identifies the material of the basin as 'Bath stone' and dates it to the 12th century, whereas the stem is described as 'Purbeck marble' and the base are dated to the 13th century. The RCHM (ibid.) also notes a few remains of the pre-Conquest church, including a beautiful 'sleeping' angel [which Kendrick (1938) describes it as "a piece of sculpture of no ordinary kind" of West Saxon art "in the time of Alfred" [NB: King Alfred died in 899 A.D.]] Newman & Pevsner (1972) date the font to the 12th century and the angel to the 10th century. Described and fully illustrated in Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]. In The Dorset Historic Churches Trust [www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/winterbornesteepleton.htm]: "The font is 12C supported on a 13C shaft of Purbeck marble. There is evidence of hinges that once would have supported a lockable lid". The baptismal font is located in the south side of the nave, to the left of the entrance; it consists of a basin, round and slightly tapering in from the protruding rope-moulding rim, is decorated with a blind arcade of round arches, the angle columns of which are thicker and make the shape of the font almost square; the base is exactly the same shape with an extension of the motifs of the basin; the lower base is square and very short; the plinth is circular and considerably wider, with a quadrangular "kneeling stone" extension towards the west. The flat wooden cover appears modern.

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone [Bath stone]

Number of Pieces: three

Font Shape: round (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round

Drainage Notes: lead lining

Rim Thickness: 11 cm*

Diameter (inside rim): 46 cm*

Diameter (includes rim): 68 cm*

Basin Depth: 20 cm*

Basin Total Height: 57 cm*

Height of Base: 38 cm*

Font Height (less Plinth): 95 cm*

Notes on Measurements: * [all measurements courtesy of Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]]

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern

Material: wood,

Apparatus: no

Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1970

Hutchins, John, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, Wakefield: E.P. Pub. Ltd., 1973

Kendrick, T.D., Anglo-Saxon Art to A.D. 900, London: Methuen & Co., 1938

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

Pevsner, Nikolaus, Dorset, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972