Thorncombe
Image copyright © The Dorset Historic Churches Trust, 2003
Standing permission
Results: 1 records
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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
Font ID: 11387THO
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 11th - 12th century [basin only], Medieval / composite
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: Dorset, South West, England, United Kingdom
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
Additional Comments: recycled font: recarved font: set on a modern base
Font Notes:
Click to view
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]
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
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, vol. 4: 530
- Long, E.T., "Dorset church fonts", 44, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 1923, pp. 62-76; p. 75
- 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, p. 224 / [http://books.google.ca/books?id=7vcGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA256&lpg=PA256&dq=hawkchurch+church&source=bl&ots=TjjxLXpAV-&sig=_dtNZhp4BN5ikgeudqfOs24TWIU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPR1,M1] [accessed 3 February 2009]