Harpford

INFORMATION

FontID: 14250HAR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Gregory the Great [some sources have St. Nicholas]
Church Patron Saints: St. Gregory the Great [St. Nicholas in some sources]
Country Name: England
Location: Devon, South West
Directions to Site: 5-6 km WNW of Sidmouth, 13 SW of Honiton, 17 km ESE of Exeter
Century and Period: 12th century [lower base only?] [composite font], Medieval [composite]
Church Notes: The church dedication appears to have changed between St. Gregory and St. Nicholas, but we have no certainity of when
Font Notes:
Described and illustrated in 1876 in Hutchinson's diaries and sketchbooks (2010): the basin is described by Hutchinson as "an ugly eight-sided basin of Beer stone"; it is octagonal with rounded sides and underbowl, on a plain cylindrical stem; the square lower base has the type of mouldings at the top found in bases used in five-support fonts [was this originally from such a font?] The wooden cover is an octagonal dome. Derrick's Devonshire Church Album [http://www.rca.ukhq.co.uk/temples/church/dev-harpford-s.html] [accessed 3 February 2009] notes: "The round font bowl is mounted on a Norman pillar". There is no mention of a font in Stabb (1908- ) or in Pevsner (1952)

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

Hutchinson, Peter Orlando, Diary of a Devon antiquarian: the illustrated journals and sketchbooks of Peter Olrlando Hutchinson, 1871-1894, Wellington, Somerset: Halsgrove, 2010