London No. 81 / Holborn

INFORMATION

Font ID: 13654LON
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Date: ca. 1687?
Font Century and Period/Style: 17th century(late?), Stuart
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Christopher Wren?
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Andrew
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Andrew
Site Location: Greater London, South East, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located on the S side of Holborn, corner of Shoe Lane
Font Notes:
Allen (1839?) notes that this was "a rectory, and was originally in the gift of the dean and canons of St. Paul's, London […] the largest and the most regular of the many built by sir Christopher Wren […] In a spatious pew beneath the western gallery, is the font, a handsome circular basin of white marble, enriched with four cherubic heads, and sustained on a pillar of the same material". Blatch (1995) explains that "St. Andrew's escaped the Great Fire [1666] but, by that time, was so decayed that it had to be rebuilt under Wren (in 1684-7)", and describes the font as "a chaste furnishing of white marble".

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble
Font Shape: round, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

REFERENCES

  • Allen, Thomas, The History and Antiquities of London, Wsetminster, Southwark, and parts adjacent, London: published by George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, [1839?], p. 615 / [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BVEGAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA717&lpg=RA1-PA717&dq=queenhithe+church+font&source=web&ots=9dzBGxXJDM&sig=mvPDHDDOyNJa-B_jKtBxJr4-Ny4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA371,M1] [accessed 28 July 2008]
  • Blatch, Mervyn, Guide to London's churches (2. ed.), London: Constable, 1995, p. 12, 14