Doddington nr. Sittingbourne / Duddingtun / Dodington

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Results: 3 records

view of church exterior - south view

Source caption: "Church of The Beheading of St John the Baptist, Doddington. The church has one of the rarest dedications in England. The chancel is Norman and Early English, but was in poor state by the mid 16th Century, only to be repaired by the late 1500's. There are wall paintings dating from the mid thirteenth Century, one of St Francis and one possibly of Henry II (1202-1272). There is a low side window at the west end of the north chancel wall, believed to be for administration of Holy Communion to lepers outside the church. The South chapel was built around 1200, and the work of the chancel arch has been likened to that of nearby Canterbury. There is a double squint to both altars. There was originally a north aisle, but this was demolished for some reason. The nave is of 3 bays, Norman and Early English. The Medieval tower was originally north of its current position, but in 1643 was burnt down by lightning, and was not rebuilt until the first part of 18th C. with a steeple, but this eventually became unsafe and in the early 1800's was taken down and replaced with a smaller tower, weatherboarded at the top. A rood screen and loft once existed, the stair to it can still be seen."

Scene Description: Source caption: "Church of The Beheading of St John the Baptist, Doddington. The church has one of the rarest dedications in England. The chancel is Norman and Early English, but was in poor state by the mid 16th Century, only to be repaired by the late 1500's. There are wall paintings dating from the mid thirteenth Century, one of St Francis and one possibly of Henry II (1202-1272). There is a low side window at the west end of the north chancel wall, believed to be for administration of Holy Communion to lepers outside the church. The South chapel was built around 1200, and the work of the chancel arch has been likened to that of nearby Canterbury. There is a double squint to both altars. There was originally a north aisle, but this was demolished for some reason. The nave is of 3 bays, Norman and Early English. The Medieval tower was originally north of its current position, but in 1643 was burnt down by lightning, and was not rebuilt until the first part of 18th C. with a steeple, but this eventually became unsafe and in the early 1800's was taken down and replaced with a smaller tower, weatherboarded at the top. A rood screen and loft once existed, the stair to it can still be seen."

Image Source: digital photograph taken 2 June 2012 by Julian P Guffogg [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2978268] [accessed 14 April 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Image Source: digital photograph taken 2 June 2012 by Julian P Guffogg [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2978281] [accessed 14 April 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital image in Two Kent Villages [www.twokentvillages.org/doddington/doddington_buildings/3_Doddington_church.html] [accessed 21 October 2007]

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

INFORMATION

FontID: 13204DOD

Object Type: Baptismal Font1

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Church Patron Saints: St. John the Baptist

Church Location: Church Hill, Doddington, Kent ME9 0BD -- Tel.: +44 1795 886265

Country Name: England

Location: Kent, South East

Directions to Site: Located off (S) the M2, 8-9 km S of Sittingbourne

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Canterbury

Font Location in Church: Inside the church

Century and Period: 15th century, Perpendicular

Church Notes: original church 12thC; extended ca.1200, 15thC; restored late-19thC and early 20thC

Font Notes: Click to view

No individual entry for this Doddington found in the Domesday survey. Glynne (1877) writes: "The font has an octagonal bowl with concave sides, on similar stem". The English Heritage entry [Listing NGR: TQ9397857546] (1967) notes: "C15 octagonal font with C17 wood cone cover". The Two Kent Villages web site [www.twokentvillages.org] [accessed 21 October 2007] includes "Info Held by English Heritage (contributed by Peter Stuart)", among which notes is the following: "15th Century octagonal font with 17th Century wood cone cover", whereas the site itself states: "The plain hexagonal stone font [but the the font illustrated is octagonal] [cf. supra], unadorned by carving, stands two steps above the nave floor and near the entrance to the present tower. Since medieval fonts were usually near doors (signifying that baptism is the entrance to the Church of Christ) this is probably not its original position. The sharpness of the stone cutting suggests a modern date (made for the 1855 restoration?) but the wooden font cover, topped by a gilded wooden orb, may well be older."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.284317, 0.780393

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 17′ 03.54″ N, 0° 46′ 49.41″ E

UTM: 31U 345213 5683783

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone

Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Date: 17th-century?

Material: wood, oak

Apparatus: no

Notes: pyramidal, with ball fnial

REFERENCES

Glynne, Steven Richard, Sir, Notes on the churches of Kent, London: John Murray, 1877