Brent Knoll No. 1 / South Brent nr. Burham-on-Sea

No entry found for Brent Knoll in the Domesday survey. Described in Rutter (1829): "The font is of considerable antiquity, and from its more than usual depth and capacity, was calculated to admit of baptism by immersion, if required." Noted in Wade & Wade (1929) as a "font of unusual shape". The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: ST3354050744] notes: "Parish Church. C11, C14, C15; C19 restoration [...] C11 quatrefoil font, C19 cover." Several sources refer to this font as Romanesque and date it 11th-century; it is neither, as the editor of the CRSBI entry [https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=3711] [accessed 30 April 2024] notes: " In the opinion of the editor this font is unlikely to be either Romanesque or Anglo-Saxon; it presents parallels with the fine mouldings and ogee profiles typical of 14thc work [...] In the opinion of the editor this font is unlikely to be either Romanesque or Anglo-Saxon; it presents parallels with the fine mouldings and ogee profiles typical of 14thc work". There is a fairly lengthy write-up on this font in cloudfront.net [no author or date given] [https://d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net/5faea5ef35230/content/pages/documents/8-the-north-aisle-211122.pdf] [accessed 29 April 2024] that cires several sources: "At the western end of the aisle is the baptistry chapel, with its ancient font. Glynne commented, “The font is curious and early. The bowl is a sort of quatrefoil form with the rim and base moulded, the stem octagonal with moulded sides to which are attached 4 marble shafts without capital or bases and set lozenge wise.” It has been claimed that this is an original Norman font, though others have suggested that it is Early English. Pevsner states that it is, “highly unusual. C13-C14, a wavy quatrefoil in plan, with flat cardinal faces and strong upper and lower mouldings. Shaft-and-hollow stem and quatrefoil base.” More recently a book has been published containing the drawings of “Ancient Church Fonts of Somerset” by Harvey Pridham (Edited by Adrian J Webb, SANHS 2013). His drawings were made at the end of the nineteenth century and, in particular, the Brent Knoll font was examined and drawn in June 1887. He assigns the font to the period 1250 – 1272, labelling this as the Transition from Early English to Decorated, which accords with the earlier part of Pevsner’s assessment. Pridham goes a little further than either Glynne or Pevsner by stating, “The outside form of this font is, as far as known, quite unique. It may be roughly described as a “waved” quatrefoil; only, instead of four arcs of circles, the curves are all ogees.” He then refers to his “Detail Book,” whose whereabouts are now unknown, before continuing, “The font is of very unusual size, of freestone, and would accommodate, for total immersion, a person whom the Prayer Book would describe as being of ‘riper years.’ The inside bowl is of the same shape as the outside; that is, the margin is equally wide throughout. The inside has vertical sides, lead lined; nearly flat plan; 32½inches inside diameter; 11 inches deep. No cover.” Although its depth is fairly standard, the interior diameter of this font is said to be the largest in Somerset. Around 1800, Richard Warner did, A Walk through some of the Western Counties of England.” His walk included South Brent, where he was fascinated by this font, discoursing about it at some length. “The font also lays claim to a considerable antiquity, being deep and capacious intended for the total immersion of the infant to be baptized.