Bridgham No. 1

Standing permission

Results: 21 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

B01: God - Trinity?

Scene Description: on the east side of the basin; the Holy Ghost missing? [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B02: angel - holding shield - emblem - Trinity

Scene Description: on the southeast side of the basin

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B03: cleric - bishop?

Scene Description: on the south side of the basin

B04: angel - holding shield - coat of arms - Archbishop of Canterbury

Scene Description: on the southwest side; [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B05: Virgin Mary - Assumption

Scene Description: on the west side of the basin

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B06: angel - holding shield - coat of arms - Bishop of Ely

Scene Description: three crowns; on the northwest side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

B07: Apostle or saint - St. Etheldreda of Ely?

Scene Description: on the north side of the basin [cf. Font notes]

B08: angel - holding shield - coat of arms - unidentified

Scene Description: on the northeast side of the basin

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

angel - cherub - 8

Scene Description: some of them very damaged

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

animal - mammal - lion - sejant - 4

Scene Description: very badly worn now [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - architectural - buttress - 4

Scene Description: alternating with sedente lions

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - floral

Scene Description: forming a frame around the Trinity (?) scene

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - floral

Scene Description: very worn now, all around the lower quadrangular platform of the base

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - floral - flower - 8

Scene Description: one on each side of the panel of the underbowl chamfer, behind the cherubs' wings; some damaged; are they alll square flowers?

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - quatrefoil

Scene Description: around the first step of the plinth

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior - northwest view

Scene Description: the western tower has disappeared, but the outline of the doorway leading to it is still visible on the western wall

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church interior - nave - looking west

Scene Description: the font and cover visible at the back

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font and cover in context - east side

Image Source: B&W photograph taken 20 April 2076 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/B/Bridgham St Mary's church font east side [5516] 1976-04-20.jpg] [accessed 16 October 2015]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett

view of font cover

Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of font in context

Image Source: digital photograph by Simon Knott, 2006, in Norfolk Churches [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bridgham/bridgham.htm] [accessed 11 November 2007]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 10157BRI

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin

Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin

Church Location: The Street, Bridgham, Norfolk, NR16 2RY

Country Name: England

Location: Norfolk, East Anglia

Directions to Site: Brigham is located off the A11, near Roudham, 10-12 km ENE of Thetford

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Norwich

Historical Region: Hundred of Shropham

Font Location in Church: Inside the church

Century and Period: 15th century [basin only] -- 14th century [base only] [composite font], Perpendicular

Workshop/Group/Artisan: East Anglia font / heraldic font

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Simon Knott, of Suffolk and Norfolk Churches, for the photographs of this church and font. We are also grateful to Jonathan Plunkett for the photographs of this church, taken by his father, George Plunkett, in April 1976

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Blomefield (1805-1810) describes the church and later font here: "The Church hath its nave, north porch, and chancel, thatched; it hath no steeple, but there are two bells, which hang in a house in the churchyard. In the windows, and on the font, are the arms of the Bishoprick of Ely", and its first reported chaplain/rector, "Robert de Wynewyk", in 1303. Two fonts are noted in this place by Pevsner & Wislon (1999); this one is described as Perpendicular, "on two steps, of which one is quatrefoiled. Against the stem four lions, agains the bowl reliefs of the so-called Mercy Seat, the Assumption, two seated figures, and demi-figures of angels with the emblems of the Trinity and other emblems." The East Harling United Benefice (2002) [http://www.eastharling.com/bridgham.html#font] [accessed 11 November 2007] describes the font is detail: "The 15th century font is an unusually good example of the period. The upper of the two steps upon which it stands is traceried, and there are four lions against the stem. The carved designs round the bowl are as follows: North: a saint seated with a crozier (?) probably St. Etheldreda of Ely. Northeast: an angel holding a shield (design vanished). East: God the Father, supporting Christ crucified. The design was probably originally the Holy Trinity, but the dove, which represented the Holy Spirit, has disappeared. Southeast: an angel holding a shield bearing the emblem of the Holy Trinity. South: a saint, possibly a bishop. Southwest: an angel bearing a shield with the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury. West: The Assumption of Our Lady, showing her flanked by adoring angels. This rare piece of iconography on a font is only found on one other Norfolk font, Great Witchingham. (As a pre-Conquest foundation, the church is very likely to have been dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady). Northwest: an angel with a shield bearing three crowns; the arms of the Bishop of Ely. The font cover dates from the 17th century." The Historic Churches Preservation Trust mentions a "15C font with Jacobean cover, base of the 14th C"' in this church [source: 'Recent Grants' issue of the Grants Cttee. Meeting of 22 June 2004, www.historicchurches.org.uk]. Described and illustrated in Simon Knott's Norfolk Churches (2006): "Bridgham has one of the most interesting fonts in Norfolk. It is made of a white, chalky stone, and has traces of its original colour. It appears eroded as much as defaced, and is remarkable for two of its panels. That to the west shows the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This is very rare, and only occurs once elsewhere on a font in East Anglia. The Assumption was the great late summer feast of the late medieval Catholic Church in England; its celebration on August 15th coincided with the height of the harvest. Perhaps two hundred churches in East Anglia were dedicated to the Assumption. However, it was heavily frowned upon by the protestant reformers, and the Assumption does not appear in Anglican doctrine. The image of the Assumption is consequently one of the most haunting survivals. It rarely survived at all in glass, but can be found in stone bosses in Several Norfolk churches, including Wymondham Abbey. The eastern panel has another rare image, that of the Holy Trinity. This is the traditional medieval composition of an old man as God the Father, holding the crucified Christ as the Son, with a dove descending to represent the Holy Spirit. This is found on a couple of other East Anglian fonts, most famously at Acle, and also occasionally in stained glass. Other panels feature angels holding shields." [NB: we have no information on the font of the original church here -- cf. Index entry for Bridgham No. 2 for a Norman basin originally from the church at Roudham]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 52.435201, 0.878202

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 52° 26′ 6.73″ N, 0° 52′ 41.53″ E

UTM: 31U 355763 5811562

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, [cf. FontNotes]

Number of Pieces: two?

Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Date: 17th century? / Jacobean

Material: wood, oak?

Apparatus: no

Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Knott, Simon, The Norfolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 2004. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon (February 2005]. Accessed: 2007-11-11 00:00:00. URL: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.

Pevsner, Nikolaus, Norfolk 2: North-West and South (2nd ed.), London: Penguin, 1999