Great Waltham No. 1 / Waltham Magna

INFORMATION

Font ID: 09968WAL
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century [basin only], Medieval [composite]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary and St. Lawrence
Font Location in Church: In the S porch [cf. FontNotes]
Church Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17536395
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin & St. Lawrence [aka Laurence]
Church Address: Great Waltham, Chelmsford Rd, Chelmsford CM3 1AR, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1245 364081
Site Location: Essex, East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off (W) the A130, about 6 km NNW of Chelmsford
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Chelmsford
Additional Comments: recycled font / disused font / buried font: cf. FontNotes
Font Notes:
Neither the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923) nor Pevsner (1976) [cf. infra] mention any early font in this church. Noted in Paul (1986). Listed in Stocker (1997) as a "deep burial" instance in his listing of "font bowls reportedly discovered under church floors and set beneath successors." Bettley & Pevsner (2007) report: "In S[outh] porch, plain square bowl, C12, discovered during reflooring in 1961-2." [cf. Index entry for Great Waltham No. 2 for the later font of this church]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: square
Basin Exterior Shape: square

REFERENCES

  • Bettley, James, Essex, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007, p. 424
  • Paul, W. Norman, Essex Fonts and Font Covers: Norman to Nineteenth Century, Baldock, Herts.: Egon Publishers, 1986, p. 99
  • Stocker, D.A., "Fons et origo: The Symbolic Death and Resurrection of English Font Stones", I (1997b), Church Archaeology, 1997, pp. 17-25; p. 24