Thorncombe

Image copyright © The Dorset Historic Churches Trust, 2003

Standing permission

Results: 1 records

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © The Dorset Historic Churches Trust, 2003

Image Source: digital photograph in The Dorset Historic Churches Trust [http://dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 11387THO
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Mary
Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin
Country Name: England
Location: Dorset, South West
Directions to Site: Located off (E) the A358, about 10 km NNE of Axminster [Thorncombe was until 1844 part of Devon]
Historical Region: formerly Devonshire
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the W end of the nave
Century and Period: 11th - 12th century [basin only], Medieval / composite
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Robin Adeney and The Dorset Historic Churches Trust [www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk], for the photograph of this font
Described in Pulman (1854): "The font stands near the western doorway. It is square and shallow, on a high circular stem. It is quite plain, and is probably ancient. Noted in the 3rd ed. of Hutchins (1973 c1861-1874): "The font stands near the south door; it is very ponderous, and consists of a plain square stone basin on a circular shaft." Listed in Long (1923) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The Dorset Historic Churches Trust [http://dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk] illustrates the font and notes that the basin was "refixed on a Hamstone pedestal". The basin is square but has a rounded underbowl which may have been re-carved at a later date to match the new pedestal base. [NB: Hutchins 3rd ed. (ibid.) adds: "There is the base and elegant moulded shaft of a small Norman piscina, or possibly font, of Ham-hill stone, which was discovered in the rebuilding of the church, and formerly stood against some wall, now preserved at Forde Abbey." -- not listed here]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: square (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: square

REFERENCES

Hutchins, John, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, Wakefield: E.P. Pub. Ltd., 1973
Long, E.T., "Dorset church fonts", 44, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 1923, pp. 62-76; r["References"]
Pulman, George P.R., The Book of the Axe: containing a piscatorial description of the stream, and a history of all the parishes and remarkable spots upon its banks […], London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1854