Bickleigh nr. Tiverton

Main image for Bickleigh nr. Tiverton

Image copyright © Pete Towsend, 2008

Image and permission received (e-mail of 21 March 2009)

Results: 5 records

BBL01: design element - motifs - moulding - 2

Clarke believes these are dated to the re-carving of this font in 1840 -- [cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Scene Description: Clarke believes these are dated to the re-carving of this font in 1840 -- [cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pete Towsend, 2008
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 2008 by Pete Towsend
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 21 March 2009)

BBU: design element - patterns - X-motif - inside a square - with dots

althgough it has been chiselled over, Clarke suggests it was the original motif on the late-Norman font -- [cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Scene Description: althgough it has been chiselled over, Clarke suggests it was the original motif on the late-Norman font -- [cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pete Towsend, 2008
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 2008 by Pete Towsend
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 21 March 2009)

view of font and cover

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pete Towsend, 2008
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 2008 by Pete Towsend
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 21 March 2009)

view of font

[cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes for Clarke's notes on the modifications made to the original font]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Clarke (1915)
Copyright Instructions: PD

view of font and cover in context

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pete Towsend, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph taken 2008 by Pete Towsend
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail of 21 March 2009)

INFORMATION

Font ID: 10380BIC
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century (late) [re-tooled and re-carved], Late Norman [altered]
Cognate Fonts: Another such re-carved font in High Bray, in the same county
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the nave
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Site Location: Devon, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located on the A3072-A396 junction, 8 km S of Tiverton
Additional Comments: recycled font: re-carved and re-tooled, probably ca. 1840? -- MUST USE -- GOOD EXAMPLE OF RE-CUT NORMAN FONT
Font Notes:
Noted in Worthy (1887): "The bell-shaped octagonal font has an early moulding and is enriched with carving; it is placed opposite the south door." Mentioned in Stabb (1908) as "an old font of unusual shape." Described and illustrated in Clarke (1915): "This also appears to have been a Norman tub-font, though of later date than that at High Bray. Unhappily, of the Norman work nothing remains but a border of star and pellet moulding, 5 inches deep, similar to the top band on St. Mary Steps and Farringdon fonts, though bolder and larger. Below this the tub has been worked into an octagon shape, the eight sides tapering towards the base, finished by a series of indeterminate mouldings, which lead to the conclusion that this unfortunate achievement took place around 1840. The star and pellet ornament has been entirely worked over with the chisel, and the horizontal face of the rim, 4 1/2 inches wide, has also been worked over, all but obliterating the axe marks, but of these there is just enough to show by their fineness that the original construction was late twelfth century. The ornament also is clearly of that period. Some of the rim has been broken away; it has been repaired in three places by inserted patches of stone, and four other gaps are filled with cement. On the eastern side are two holes where a staple was formerly inserted. It is lead lined." Hoskins (1954) nwrites: "Bickleigh church (St. Mary) is a badly restored 14th century building, with a 12th century S. doorway and font."
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pete Towsend for his photograph of this font

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 464802 5633264

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: octagonal, originally tub-shaped, round
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round [octagonal on the sides]
Drainage Notes: lead lining
Rim Thickness: 10 cm [calculated]
Diameter (inside rim): 48.75 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 68.75 cm*
Basin Depth: 23.75 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 70 cm*
Notes on Measurements: *[measurements given in inches in Clarke (1915: 356) -- NB: all measurements correspond to the modified font]

REFERENCES

  • Clarke, Kate M., "The baptismal fonts of Devon -- Part III", 47, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, 1915, pp. 349-356; p. 350-351, 356 and ill. on p. opp. p. 350
  • Hoskins, William George, Devon, London: Collins, 1954, [cited in http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/100425/1.html [accessed 21 March 2009]]
  • Stabb, John, Some old Devon churches, their roods, pulpits, fonts, etc., London: Simkin, [et al.], 1908-1916, p. 17
  • Worthy, Charles, Devonshire parishes, or the antiquities, heraldry and family history of twenty-eight parishes in the Archdeaconry of Totnes, Exeter; London: William Pollard; George Redway, 1887, p. 19 / [http://books.google.ca/books?id=sgcVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=lamerton+church+font&source=bl&ots=7tuSX1lDWd&sig=AP8wFkxEZsyUbnUi_FgyE5b1S6g&hl=en&ei=2xGkSbvmNIS6nQfnxP2qBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA19,M1] [accessed 24 February 2009]