Tottenham / Toteham

Image copyright © John Salmon, 2013
CC-BY-SA-2.0
Results: 10 records
animal - bird - pelican
animal - fabulous animal or monster - dragon or wyvern
animal - fabulous animal or monster - siren - female
design element - motifs - floral - rosette - in a quatrefoil
head?
symbol - plant - Tree of life? - in a quatrefoil
view of church exterior in context - southeast view
view of church interior - looking east
view of church interior - looking west
Scene Description: with the modern font visible at the far [west] end of the centre aisle
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Salmon, 2013
Image Source: digital photograph taken 2 March 2013 by John Salmon [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3363098] [accessed 19 June 2019]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0
view of font and cover - east side
INFORMATION
FontID: 12803TOT
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of All Hallows [aka All Saints]
Church Patron Saints: All Saints
Church Location: Church Ln, Tottenham, London N17 7AA, UK -- Tel.: +44 20 8808 2470
Country Name: England
Location: Greater London, South East
Directions to Site: Located off (N) the A10 [aka The Roundway], in the London Borough of Haringey, 10 km NNE of Charing Cross
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of London
Historical Region: Hundred of Edmonton -- formerly Middlesex
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Century and Period: 15th century (early?) [re-tooled in 1854], Perpendicular [altered?]
Font Notes:
Click to view
There is an entry for Tottenham [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ3390/tottenham/] [accessed 19 June 2019]; it mentions a priest and "0,5 church lands", but not a church in it, though there must have been one there. The Parliamentary Gazetteer of 1843, p. 349, mentions "a font of very ancient workmanship", obviously referring to the font before it was re-carved [cf. infra]. The Lewis' Directory of 1848 entry for Tottenham All Saints' reports: "the font is of great antiquity". The Natinal Gazetteer of 1868 notes: "a font of the 15th century, ornamented with sculpture in Gothic panels". Described in 'Old and new London' (1878): "The font is octagonal in shape, having ornamental panels enclosing quatrefoils, within which are roses, a tree-leafed plant enclosing berries, a pelican, a mermaid, a dragon or wyvern, and a figure representing a human head; there are also corbel heads at the angles beneath the basin. The carving is of the Perpendicular period, and is in a fair state of preservation, although somewhat worn with age and disfigured with paint. The figures, as well as the font, were re-chiselled in 1854 by a local tradesman, at a charge of £5. The font is probably as old as the present church; the roses carved upon it correspond with those on the doorways of the porch, from which we may infer that it was made early in the fifteenth century." The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Middlesex, vol. 5, 1976) notes: "In 1086 a priest held ½ hide at Tottenham. [...] By 1134 King David I of Scotland had given the church of Tottenham to the Augustinian canons of Holy Trinity, Aldgate. [...] The many changes and slight 20th-century war damage have left few of the architectural details unaffected, although much original stonework has been reset"; the VCH entry mentions no font in this church. The present font in use in this church is modern and does not match he descriptions given above [did it also disappeared? / was it removed?].
COORDINATES
Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.6006, -0.0767
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 36′ 2.16″ N, 0° 4′ 36.12″ W
UTM: 30U 702447 5720666
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
REFERENCES
The National Gazetteer: a Topographical Dictionary of the British Isles, London: Virtue & Co., 1868
Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2019-06-19 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831
Thornbury, Walter, Old and new London: a narrative of its history, its people, and its places, 1878