Norton-sub-Hamdon No. 1

The Church Guide [http://www.nortonchurch.org.uk/guide1.asp] [accessed 30 March 2008] informs: "The Tower was struck by lightening on Sunday 29th. July 1894 at 4.30 am., and the resultant fire completely gutted the tower.The restoration, which was carried out within one year, was so carefully done that, though there are many fired stones, the original design is preserved unaltered. More about the fire of 1894 can be read in the extract from the parish magazine of August 1894." This entry is accompanied by an old photograph that shows the interior of the tower right after the fire, and, among the debris, in the foreground, can be seen the old baptismal font in two pieces on the ground: the octagonal basin appears plain, as does the octagonal pedestal base, except for a slight splaying at the lower end; the basin is lead lined, and the stem shows the central drain. The Parish page [cf. supra] informs of an earlier Norman building, but it dates the present church to the 15th century, to which the old font could probably be dated. [NB: confirmation received from Martyn Hamlin, Hon. Sec. Norton-sub-Hamdon PCC (e-mail of 16 April 2008): "The ancient fot was repaired and restored and is now situated at the front [East side?] of the South aisle and used regularly"]. This font is not mentioned in Pevsner (1958), who mentions the early-20th century font. Confirmation of the good-repair condition of the late-Medieval font received in October 2011 from Phil Rose [cf. Images area] with phtographs; one of these photographs includes a peek inside the inner well of the font, in which nests yet another font, one of the diminutive replicas occasionally found in English churches; the small font is octagonal, the sides of its basin carved with trefoiled panels; it has its own decorated little cover.