Broughton Gifford / Broctone / Broctune
Image copyright © David Smith, 2017
CC-BY-SA-2.0
Results: 1 records
view of church exterior - south view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © David Smith, 2017
Image Source: digital photograph taken 8 June 2017 by David Smith [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5463394] [accessed 1 September 2019]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.0
INFORMATION
Font ID: 13723BRO
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century [altered font?], Transitional / Early English [altered]
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end, beneath the tower
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: The St, Broughton Gifford, Melksham SN12 8PT, UK -- Tel.: +44 1225 782717
Site Location: Wiltshire, South West, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off (N) the B3107, 3 km W of Melksham
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Salisbury
Historical Region: Hundred of Bradford
Additional Comments: altered font: "redressed" [cf. FontNotes]
Font Notes:
Click to view
There are two entries for Broughton [Gifford] [variant spellings] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/ST8763/broughton-gifford/] [accessed 1 September 2019] neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. Buck (1951) mentions one of "several fonts dating from the latter half of the 12th century which, whilst retaining some Norman characteristics such as the chamfered edge, are devoid of all the other usual Norman ornaments, thus showing the tendency towards the Early English style during the period generally known as Transitional Norman", in which group Buck includes: Alvediston, Berwick St. James, Broughton Gifford, Collingbourne Ducis, Odstock and Westwood. [NB: The National Gazetteer of 1868 describes St. Mary's as "an ancient structure of the time of Henry VII., built with the materials and on the site of a more ancient edifice"; perhaps this font is the original from the earlier church]. The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 7, 1953) notes: "The 'chapel' of Broughton Gifford with land and tithes was given to the abbey of Shaftesbury by 'Gundrada' when her kinswoman Albreda 'de Bosco Roalda' entered the monastery. The gift was confirmed by Henry I [1100-1135] [...] The church [...] dates from the 13th century [...] The font, which has been redressed, is of uncertain date." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: ST8780263128] notes: "Anglican parish church. C13, C14, C15, restored 1878 by G.G. Scott.[...] C13 cylindrical font bowl in tower".
COORDINATES
UTM: 30U 557355 5690986
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.36723, -2.1761
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 22′ 2.03″ N, 2° 10′ 33.96″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: cylindrical
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
REFERENCES
- The National Gazetteer: a Topographical Dictionary of the British Isles, London: Virtue & Co., 1868, [cited from a transcription by Colin Wilson in http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/BroughtonGifford/index.htm [accessed 18 December 2008]]
- Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
- Buck, A.G. Randle, "Some Wiltshire fonts. Part II", LIV, CXCIV (June 1951), The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 1951, pp. 19-35; p. 32