Lea No. 2 / Lecce / The Lea

INFORMATION

Font ID: 09696LEA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1, basin only
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century, Medieval
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. John the Baptist [believed to be of southern Italian origin]
Font Location in Church: Reported ca. 1930 in the garden of Castle End, a house about 400 yards NW of the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. John the Baptist
Church Address: Lea, Ross-on-Wye, United Kingdom
Site Location: Herefordshire, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A40, 6.5 km SE of Ross-on-Wye
Historical Region: formerly Gloucestershire -- Hundred of Bromsash [in Domesday]
Additional Comments: recycled font: said to be the bowl of the original 13th-century font from the church; replaced in 1907 (?) with a fancy Italian font of the 134th century, a gift to the church -- MUST USE -- have drawing of the Italian job
Font Notes:
There is an ebtry for this Lea [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SO6621/lea/] [accessed 16 June 2024]; it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Described in the inventory of Herefordshire (1931-1934, vol. II: 99): "In garden of Castle End [a house located about 400 yards from the church], octagonal bowl, said to be that of the old font; cover, now in house, of oak with turned central post and and eight shaped struts, 17th-century."

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 534483 5749267
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.8931, -2.4989
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 53′ 35.16″ N, 2° 29′ 56.04″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: octagonal
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Date: 17th century
Material: wood, oak
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1931-1934, vol. II: p. 99