Harpsden / Harpendene

Main image for Harpsden / Harpendene

Image copyright © John Ward, 2007

Standing permission

Results: 5 records

view of font

[cf. Font notes]
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2007
Image Source: photograph by John Ward in Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/510851734/] [accessed 22 July 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - patterns - fluted or ribbed

[cf. Font notes]
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2007
Image Source: photograph by John Ward in Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/510851734/] [accessed 22 July 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

design element - motifs - rope moulding - braided with pearl- or bead-string

[cf. Font notes]
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2007
Image Source: photograph by John Ward in Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/510851734/] [accessed 22 July 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of church exterior - northeast view

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Shaun Ferguson, 2010
Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 February 2010 by Shaun Ferguson [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1713446] [accessed 10 January 2018]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of font and cover in context

[cf. Font notes]
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2007
Image Source: photograph by John Ward in Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/510851734/] [accessed 22 July 2007]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

Font ID: 13029HAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century, Late Norman
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Margaret
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Margaret of Antioch [aka Margaret the Virgin, Marina]
Church Notes: early-Norman south doorway
Church Address: Harpsden Way, Harpsden RG9 4AX, UK -- Tel.: +44 118 940 6098
Site Location: Oxfordshire, South East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off (W) the A4155, 1.5 km S of Henley, 11 km NE of Reading
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Oxford
Historical Region: Hundred of Binfield
Additional Comments: altered font: modern lower volume?
Font Notes:
There is an entry for Harpsden [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SU7680/harpsden/] [accessed 10 January 2018], but it mentions neither priest nor church in it. The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Oxfordshire (1850) notes: "The font good round N[orman], with the scallop and cable ornaments." Noted in Kelly's Oxford Directory of 1911: "the font is of the same date" as the early-Norman south doorway. Noted in Sherwood & Pevsner (1974): "Font. C12, tub-shaped with a band of scallop decoration and cable-moulding." Baptismal font of the tub-shape type in which the rope braided with pearl-string centre ring appears to have girdled or 'waisted' the cylinder; above the ring a pattern of ribs or flutes; below it, plain but for a flat moulding at the very bottom [the lower part appears to be modern]; raised on a modern plinth; round wooden cover, probably modern as well. The Victoria County History (Oxon., vol. 16, 2011) notes: "In the Middle Ages Harpsden comprised two separate parishes, Harpsden and Bolney, each with its own church. The parishes were amalgamated in the 15th century, and only Harpsden church remained in use [...] The two medieval churches were very poor. In 1254 Harpsden church was valued at only 5 marks (£3 6s. 8d.), and Bolney at a mere £1 [...] The fixtures and fittings of Bolney church were transferred to Harpsden [...] Harpsden church is a medieval structure substantially rebuilt in the mid 19th century. The oldest elements appear to date from the 12th century [...] the survival of a 12th-century font in Harpsden church suggests that both churches had baptismal rights."
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Ward, of www.oxfordshirechurches.com, for his photographs of this font

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 645648 5709965
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.522, -0.9006
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 31′ 19.2″ N, 0° 54′ 2.16″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: tub-shaped, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

LID INFORMATION

Material: wood
Notes: [cf. illustrations area]

REFERENCES

  • Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
  • Kelly, Kelly's Directory of Oxfordshire, London: Kelly's Directories Ltd., 1911, p. 115 / [http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/d.asp] [accessed 2July 2007]
  • Parker, John Henry, The Ecclesiastical and architectural topography of England: Oxfordshire, Oxford, London: Published under the sanction of the Central Commitee of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland [by] John Henry Parker, 1850, [unpaged -- entry 161] / [http://books.google.ca/books?id=maikb1i3wSUC&pg=PT144&lpg=PT144&dq=longcot+church+font&source=web&ots=p3k5tJJE6J&sig=KYjkm8H5wOoAuH7BvnLp7JqMPus&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA17,M1] [accessed 31 December 2008]
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Oxfordshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1974, p. 634