Salisbury No. 3 / Sarum

Described and illustrated in Shortt (1964: 168ff and pl. XIIa), who informs that "in 1877 the Venerable C.W. Morse, Archdeacon of Adelaide, Rector of Yankalilla and Vicar of Glenburn (now called Dalamere) from 1869 to 1901, took two fonts with him on a return journey in Australia. One of the fonts came from Salisbury Cathedral (pl. XIIa), and this he put in Christ Church, Yankalilla." [cf. Index entry for Britford No. 2 for the other font taken to Australia in this trip]. This font can be identified as once being in Salisbury Cathedral with all certainty thanks to an engraving of the font by James Biddlecombe [shown in Shortt, pl. XIIc]. The font, similar in general design to that from Britford, is octagonal with a rounded underbowl; the upper side of the basin is decorated with mouldings and the underbowl with a ribbed pattern; the stem of the base is of the baluster type, the broad lower part decorated with foliage motif all around; the lower base is graded and moulded. In the original engraving by Biddlecombe it appears with an octagonal domed font cover, probably of the same period as the font and Shortt (ibid.) indicates that neither this nor the Britford cover exist now. Shortt (ibid.) further informs that "the Cathedral font was apparently removed about 1850 when the present one in 13th-century style was put in as a memorial to DeanLear (pl. XIIIb), and the Dean and Chapter may have been only too glad to be rid of an embarrassing redundancy", also reminding us of the mid-19th century tastes for Gothic fashion. [NB: a new font was introduced in the the cathedral in September 2008; it is a modern-design 10-feet long object; details published in http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/news.php?id=348 and in http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2008/09/05/salisbury_designer_font_feature.shtml [accessed 4 January 2009]]