Armitage / Hermitage of Handsacre

No entry for Armitage found in the Domesday survey. The font at Armitage is illustrated in two 19th-century drawings at the William Salt Library [refs.: SV-I.83c (45/7374) and SV-I.83d (45/7376)], one is dated 1823. Reported in Lewis' Dictionary of 1831 as one of the most remarkable fonts in the county. A lithograph (approximately 8 x 11 inches; 20 x 28 cm) of the font and the south portal, by Helen Spode, dated 1856 was announced for sale at Amazon.com [www.amazon.com/Lithograph-Baptist-Armitage-Church-Doorway/dp/B00NI2CI34] [accessed 20 October 2014] under heading "1856 Lithograph Helen Spode Art St John Baptist Armitage Church Doorway Font ZZ1 - Original Lithograph". Studied in Jeavons (1941-1942). English Heritage [Listing NGR: SK0772016484] (1964) reports: " Late C11/C12 stone font with frieze depicting a 7-bay arcade of round arches springing from cable-moulded columns with scalloped capitals. A pair of figures stands beneath each arch." In Drake (2002). Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2014) as "a savagely magnificent example of early Romanesque figure carving; perhaps the finest and certainly the most alien-looking piece of medieval sculpture in the county [...] The bowl is a lead-lined cylinder of grey sandstone, slightly tapering inwards towards the bottom. It stands on a 19thc. cylindrical shaft and a chamfered octagonal base and has a modern step to the W for the priest. The bowl is carved in relief with arcading in seven bays. The arches are round and decorated with a row of beading. They are supported on fictive shafts decorated with single-strand cable carrying multi-scallop capitals. The cable twist alternates in direction to provide symmetrical frames for each bay composition (except for bay 7 - the odd number of bays makes this inevitable). Each bay contains a pair of frontal figures in bold relief, carved to almost fill the available space. Their heads are oversized, and their bodies or garments unarticulated except for surface detail, like Romanesque chessmen, although in most case hands are shown, and in some cases small feet too. They all have large bulging almond-shaped eyes, drilled for pupils, and most are shown with a distinct philtrum on the upper lip. The bowl is a lead-lined cylinder of grey sandstone, slightly tapering inwards towards the bottom. It stands on a 19thc. cylindrical shaft and a chamfered octagonal base and has a modern step to the W for the priest. The bowl is carved in relief with arcading in seven bays. The arches are round and decorated with a row of beading. They are supported on fictive shafts decorated with single-strand cable carrying multi-scallop capitals. The cable twist alternates in direction to provide symmetrical frames for each bay composition (except for bay 7 - the odd number of bays makes this inevitable). Each bay contains a pair of frontal figures in bold relief, carved to almost fill the available space. Their heads are oversized, and their bodies or garments unarticulated except for surface detail, like Romanesque chessmen, although in most case hands are shown, and in some cases small feet too. They all have large bulging almond-shaped eyes, drilled for pupils, and most are shown with a distinct philtrum on the upper lip. In the descriptions that follow, bays are numbered from left to right starting at the E[ast]. The condition of the font is generally good. Both upper and lower rims are irregularly worn, but the upper is largely obscured by the lining. There is a deep groove in the upper party of the bowl, between bays 7 and 1. [...] Bay 1 (E) The L figure, possibly a cleric, has a relatively small head on a columnar neck (he is the only figure on the font with a neck), and wears a short tunic from which his lower legs and feet appear, and over this a heavy cloak or cope decorated overall with parallel reeding. On his head he wears a cap made in left and right halves with raised borders. His hands are shown clasped at his chest. He turns slightly away from his grotesque companion, pressed up against him, who has an enormous egg-like head and no neck, hair shown in oblique zigzags, fleshy, creased cheeks and a downturned mouth. His feet protrude from a heavy cloak decorated with fleshy foliage stems, and his hands are shown pressed against his stomach. Bay 2. The two figures are similar in proportions. The L has a cap similar to the L figure of bay 1, but with borders decorated with drill holes. He wears a cope or cloak over a long tunic, both decorated with cross-hatching. His R hand lies across his stomach and his L is raised to his chin. The R figure has a cap with a brow band decorated with drill holes. He has a long pointed beard and a moustache and holds his hands across his stomach with fingers touching. His cloak is decorated with parallel grooves and cross-hatching. No feet are shown on either figure. Bay 3. The two figures are similar in proportions. The L figure has a cap similar to that worn by the L figure in bay 2. His mouth is small and slightly open. His drapery is articulated with parallel vertical reeding. His R hand grips the cloak at his breast, while his L gestures upwards. This hand apparently emerges from a sleeve, articulated with cross-hatching and sketchy folds, but extending right down to the hem of the cloak. No feet are shown. The R figure wears a cap with a drilled brow band and has a thin mouth in the form of a double bow, like a cat's. He also has a wavy chin beard. He wears a long belted tunic, the lower part with parallel vertical reeding, and the upper with symmetrical oblique reeding on either side and a central double band or hem. His hands are held vertically, backs forward (i.e. thumbs out) against his chest. No feet are shown on either figure. Bay 4. Two very simple figures of similar proportions, both with simple peg doll-like bodies and no hands or feet shown. The L figure has hair shown as nested vees with their angles running back down the centre of the crown. His mouth is downturned. His tunic has vertical parallel reeding and a border decorated with drill holes. The R figure's hair is combed straight back, shown by parallel reeding. His mouth is open but bifurcated; the lips meeting in the middle. His tunic is decorated with curved nested-vee reeding, the angles running up the front centre. No feet are shown on either figure. Bay 5. The L figure has a doll-like face with nested-vee hair as bay 4, L figure and a small mouth, slightly open. The cloak has borders richly decorated with zigzag and nebuly grooves, and is otherwise decorated with parallel reeding. The hands are raised to touch the jaw. No feet are shown on this figure. The impression, to the modern viewer, is of shock or surprise. The R figure has an even larger head than usual here, with a wide open mouth and eyebrows decorated with oblique ridges. The body may be naked; it is articulated in large, smooth sections. The hands are clasped together over the stomach. An elongated feature hanging down below the hands may be a penis. He sits on a stool, rectangular in shape with a central boss or pellet. Bay 6. Two more peg-doll figures like those in bay 4. The L wears a crown with a band of leaf forms and spiral terminals above a fillet decorated with drill holes. The face is solemn with a closed mouth and large lips, and hands to the throat. The figure wears a richly ornamented cloak, decorated with a pattern of overlapping scales. The R figure has hair decorated with cross hatching and a long handlebar moustache. His tunic is not belted but the upper and lower parts are differently treated; the upper with cross-hatching with raised fields, and the lower with vertical reeding. No feet are shown on either figure. Bay 7. The L figure is the only unambiguous female; indicated by long plaits of hair that cross at around waist level and continue to the ground. The face is remarkable for the long upper lip, the garments are unmarked by any ornament, and no hands are shown. Her companion is a king with a crown decorated with a zigzag above a fillet decorated with drill holes, and a large handlebar moustache. Again, no hands are shown, and his body is dominated by a large saltire cross formed of two pairs of three bands of beading, interlaced where they intersect. No feet are shown on either figure. [...] The author knows of no other sculpture by the author of the font. Dating is difficult on account of the idiosyncratic style, but the developed fictive architecture and the rich repertoire of decorative forms on crowns and clothing, suggest a date well into the 12thc., perhaps as late as 1130. Pevsner calls it 'an important Norman piece'; the church website reports that it 'is reckoned to be 10thc.' Drake's comments on it are worth paraphrasing here. He noted that all the figures are male except one, and all are standing except one who sits on a stool (bay 5R), and he is the most grotesque and dynamic of all. Half of the figures are clean shaven; the other males have large moustaches. Some are bare-headed while others wear crowns or early bishops' caps. The dress is consistently depicted, with close parallel vertical pleats on the robes. There is no clue to their identities, other than that four may be bishops, several may be minor clerics, and two, including the woman, wear dress indicative of high social standing." [NB: figure 5R [cf. supra] could be chained, as the wrists appear manacled and the hanging "elongated feature", which does not resemble a penis at all, appears to have links, as a chain does].