White Ladies Aston / Aston Episcopi / Aston White Ladies / Bishop's Aston / Byshoppes Aston / Bysshopusaston / Easton / Eston / Estun / Estvn / Whiteladiaston / Whiteladies Aston
Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2008
Standing permission
Results: 4 records
design element - motifs - piping
Scene Description: defining the angles of the dodecagonal basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Wilkes September 2008
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Wilkes September 2008
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of church exterior - south view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Wilkes September 2008
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, 2014
Image Source: B&W photograph by Ben Read in the CRSBI [www.crsbi.ac.uk/site/389/] [accessed 2 October 2014]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 09864WHI
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th - 14th century, Decorated
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. John the Baptist
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. John the Baptist
Church Address: White Ladies Aston, Worcestershire WR7 4QQ
Site Location: Worcestershire, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off the A4538, 5 km SE of Worcester
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Worcester
Historical Region: Hundred of Oswaldslow [in Domesday] -- Hundred of Halfshire
Additional Comments: recycled font? (the present font: the base is of a later date) -- disappeared font? (the one from the 12thC church here?)
Font Notes:
Click to view
Theere are two entries for [White Ladies] Aston [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO9252/white-ladies-aston/] [accessed 2 October 2014], neither of which mention cleric or church in it. Noted in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848: "a curious old font". Miller (1890) writes: "The font is circular, with ribs, and is either of the 12th or 13th century." The Victoria County History (Worcester, vol. 3, 1913) notes: "The aisle and vestry were added in 1861, up to which date the church had stood unaltered in plan since the 12th century [...] The font, probably of the 13th century, is of a dark red sandstone with a twelve-sided bowl." In Pevsner (1968): "Font. Twelve-sided, with thin rolls along the edges. What date is that?" Brooks & Pevsner (2007) respond: "perhaps C13-C14". Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2014): "Twelve-sided, the lower part of the sides tapering inwards to a later base and the angles defined by narrow rolls. Of red sandstone, with traces of a coating of lighter paint. Lead-lined, and damaged at rim when hasp and hinge removed [...] The date of the font is uncertain; it could be of the same period as the church, or possibly 13th century". Andrews (1912) dates it to the Decorated period [i.e., 1250-1350]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Wilkes, of www.allthecotswolds.com, for his photographs of church and font
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 560792 5780398
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 52.17071, -2.11108
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 52° 10′ 14.56″ N, 2° 6′ 39.89″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, sandstone (red) [basin only]
Number of Pieces: two?
Font Shape: dodecagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: dodecagonal
Drainage Notes: lead lining
Rim Thickness: 10.5 cm [calculated]
Diameter (inside rim): 62 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 83 cm*
Basin Depth: 29 cm*
Basin Total Height: 46 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * CRSBI (2014)
LID INFORMATION
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: round and flat; appears quite old
REFERENCES
- The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Worcestershire, London: Victoria County History, 1924, vol. 3: pp. 557ff
- Andrews, Francis Baugh, Memorials of Old Worcestershire, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1912, p. 107-108
- Brooks, Alan, Worcestershire, New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007, p. 656
- Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. URL: http://www.crsbi.ac.uk.
- Gardner, Samuel, A Guide to English Gothic Architecture (illustrated by numerous drawings & photographs), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1925, Worcester, vol. 3: 557-561 / [www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43173] [accessed 9 June 2010]
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831, p. 108
- Miller, George [Revd.], The Parishes of the Diocese of Worcester, Birmingham: Hall & English, 1890, vol. 2: 133-134
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Worcestershire, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968, p. 288