Chitterne

Classed in Buck (1950) as one of a group of "Middle Norman circular Fonts, c. 1100-1150" in Wiltshire. Noted in Pevsner & Cherry (1975): "Font. Circular, Norman, plain, except for a band of blobs at the foot of the bowl." The Chitterne web site [http://www.chitterne.com/history/newchurch.html] [accessed 7September 2008] has: "the ancient font came from All Saints. The font is probably Norman in origin, given the simple design, and the oak cover was made by James Townsend in 1767" [but was this octagonal cover meant for the round font?] The basin of the font at Chitterne is similar to the one at nearby Stockton [cf. Index entry], both towns located towards the SW end of the Salisbury Plains, and can probably be similarly dated to the Norman period, 11th-12th century. The Chitterne basin has the scallopes of the lower basin side carved almost as full circles, and some of the angles thus created have been decorated with a tiny ball motif. This basin appears to have been re-tooled to some degree, and its underbowl is slightly different from the one at Stockton. The cylindrical base and the octagonal lower base appear to be a later addition.