Acton nr. Nantwich / Actune
Image copyright © Craig Thornber, 2006
Standing permission
Results: 29 records
B01: design element - motifs - floral - lily
Scene Description: In the right arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
B02: animal - mammal - bull
Scene Description: In the left arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
B03: human figure - male - standing - frontal
Scene Description: in the centre arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
B04: symbol - cross - Greek - Maltese
Scene Description: In the right arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
B05: human figure - male - standing - frontal - right hand raised - showing palm
Scene Description: In the right arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
B06: design element - motifs - floral - lily
Scene Description: in the centre-left arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
B07: human figure - standing - frontal - right hand raised
Scene Description: in the centre-right arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
B08: design element - motifs - floral - lily
Scene Description: In the left arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
B09: human figure - male - standing - frontal
Scene Description: in the centre arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
B10: design element - motifs - floral - lily
Scene Description: with foliage, in the left arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
B11: human figure - male - standing - frontal
Scene Description: in the centre arch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Craig Thornber, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph by Craig Thornber, 2006 [www.thornber.net]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
design element - motifs - floral - lily - 11
Scene Description: a small lily in each spandrel of the arcade
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - 11 arches
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
design element - motifs - moulding
Scene Description: at the upper basin side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
design element - motifs - roll moulding
Scene Description: NB: this moulding and the lower part of the basin are the result of a later re-carving of the original cylindrical basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Timothy Marlow, 2014
Image Source: detail of a photograph taken 20 April 1981 by Tim Marlow
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (letter of 26 October 2014)
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: some of the loose stones; probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Craig Thornber, 2006
Image Source: digital photograph by Craig Thornber, 2006 [www.thornber.net]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Raymond Richards, 1973
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#8); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#7); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#7); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#6); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#5); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#4); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#3); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#2); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: one of the loose stones (#1); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church interior - detail
Scene Description: some of the loose stones (#1-6); probably Norman
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The British Academy & Ron Baxter, 2004
Image Source: The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland [www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/ch/acton/]
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 10309ACT
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century [basin only], Medieval [composite]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the nave [earlier at Dorfold Hall gardens]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Notes: a series of loose stones with figural and decorative motifs said to be Saxon by some, though most likely Norman
Church Address: Monks Lane, Acton, Cheshire East CW5 8LE
Site Location: Cheshire, North West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located just W of Nantwich (Wybunbury and Crewe)
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Chester
Historical Region: Hundred of Warmundestrou
Additional Comments: altered font / recycled font: discarded at some point and used in the manor house (Dorfold Hall) as garden ornament -- damaged font: the lower part of the basin ornamentation was hacked off to make it rounder! MUST USE [Harriet dates it to the 13th century] -- the heads of stone #8 [Image no. N061008010] are very similar to those on the font at Airaines, France -- disappeared font? (of the Domesday-time church here)
Font Notes:
Click to view
There is an entry for this Acton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SJ6253/acton/] [accessed 20 October 2014]; it reports two priests and church lands in it. The font here is noted in Pevsner (1971): "Font. Round, of Norman date, with broad arches and alternately flowers and figures." The Cheshire County council web site [www.cheshire.gov.uk/countryside/] informs that the Norman font at Acton St Mary's church "was recovered from Dorfold Hall gardens". Described and illustrated in Richards (1973): "The oldest relic in the church is the Norman font, a round bowl carved with figures and simple ornamentation [...] It now stands on a new base after serving for unknown generations in the Dorfold gardens. I doubt if it was used as the feeding trough "in the Vicarage pigsty" as has sometimes been suggested. From the weathering of its base it seems to have been buried in the ground." Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2014): "The figural but mutilated font is Romanesque [...] The sandstone, lead-lined bowl was originally cylindrical or slightly tapered, but has ben crudely hacked into a cup shape, thereby removing the lower part of its figural and foliage ornament". Under a flat moulding at the upper basin side is an arcade of round arches that rest on columns with capitals [the lower part has been obliterated as indicated above], and there are lilies in the spandrels. The CRSBI provides a description of the figures and/or motifs under the arches; these include several lilies, five human figures, a cross and foliage motif.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Craig Thornber, of www.thornber.net, and to Tim Marlow, for their photographs of this font
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 530068 5880563
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.0737, -2.5512
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 4′ 25.32″ N, 2° 33′ 4.32″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, sandstone
Font Shape: hemispheric, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Drainage Notes: lead lining
Rim Thickness: 12 cm [calculated]
Diameter (inside rim): 56 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 80 cm*
Basin Total Height: 45 cm*
Height of Base: 60 cm [calculated]
Font Height (less Plinth): 105 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * CRSBI
LID INFORMATION
Date: unknown
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
REFERENCES
- 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.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, Cheshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971, p. 54
- Richards, Raymond, Old Cheshire churches: a survey of their history, fabric and furniture with records of the older monuments, with a supplementary survey relating to the lesser old chapels of Cheshire, Didsbury, Manchester: E.J. Morten, 1973, p. 17, pl. 75