Oaksey nr. Malmesbury / Wochesie
Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2017
Standing permission
Results: 7 records
CR01:
design element - motifs - moulding
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2017
Image Source: digital photograph taken 18 May 2017 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of church exterior - south view
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2017
Image Source: digital photograph taken 18 May 2017 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of church exterior - south view - detail
Scene Description: the Sheela is visible on the exterior south wall of the church, to the right of the window, left of the south porch
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Harding, 2012
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Harding of The Sheela Na Gig Project [www.sheelanagig.org] [accessed 15 February 2012]
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received
view of church exterior - south view - detail
Scene Description: the Sheela
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Harding, 2012
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Harding of The Sheela Na Gig Project [www.sheelanagig.org] [accessed 15 February 2012]
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received
view of church exterior - south view - detail
Scene Description: the Sheela
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Harding, 2012
Image Source: digital photograph taken by John Harding of The Sheela Na Gig Project [www.sheelanagig.org] [accessed 15 February 2012]
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received
view of church interior - nave - looking northeast
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken in 2009 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font and cover
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Wilkes, 2017
Image Source: digital photograph taken 18 May 2017 by John Wilkes
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
INFORMATION
FontID: 14393OAK
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of All Saints
Church Patron Saints: All Saints
Church Location: The Street, Oaksey, Wiltshire, SN169TG
Country Name: England
Location: Wiltshire, South West
Directions to Site: Located near Crudwell and Hankerton, 9 km NE of Malmesbury, abouth 13 km from Cirencester
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Bristol
Historical Region: Hundred of Cicementone [in Domesday] -- Hundred of Malmesbury
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Century and Period: , Medieval
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Wilkes, of www.allthecotswolds.com, for his photographs of church and font. We are also grateful to John Harding, of The Sheela Na Gig Project, for his permission to reproduce the photographs of this Sheela and its environment.
Church Notes: "church of ALLSAINTS, so called in 1763" [cf. VCH entry in bib] -- A striking sheela-na-gig on the north wall of this church [http://www.sheelanagig.org/index.html#http://www.sheelanagig.org/SheelaOaksey.htm] [accessed 3 April 2009]: "This sheela is quite shocking in the explicit and exaggerated carving of the vagina even including the clitoral hood. The vagina as you can see from the photograph is incredibly exaggerated. Half of the head has broken off yet the rest of the carving is in pretty good condition. Inside the church there are a number of medieval wall paintings .There is an Irish story, "Da Derga's Hostel" where a hag's pudenda hangs to her knees. This could almost be a description of this carving. The figures right hand rests on the the thigh and it looks like a finger points to the exposed vulva. This pointing motif can be found in other figures including Lower Swell and the now destroyed Buncton figure. "
There is an entry for Oaksey [variant spelling] in the Domesday Survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/ST9993/oaksey/] [accessed 18 May 2017], but it mentions neither priest nor church in it. The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of March 1806: 212) reports on a 'Topographical Tour in Wiltshire… 1805': "The font is square, on a circular shaft". The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 14, 1991) notes: "A church stood at Oaksey in the earlier 12th century. [...] The nave walls may survive from the 12th century. [...] A carved fertility figure, possibly of the 12th century, [...] [cf. ChurchNotes] has been reset in the north wall of the nave east of the porch. [...] The church was restored under the direction of P. H. Thomas c.1934"; there is no mention of a font in the VCH entry for this parish. The present font is actually round: a short and plain cylindrical basin, it has a vertical notch or groove on one side; it does not appear to have been re-cut; the upper half of the pedestal base, down to the centre ring, appears to be part of the same block as the basin; the lower half is plain and may be modern; it rest directly on the ground. The wooden cover is round and flat, with metal decoration and ring handle; date unknown.
COORDINATES
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone
Font Shape: cylindrical (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
LID INFORMATION
Date: modern?
Material:
wood,
Apparatus: no
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
Victoria County History [online], University of London, 1993-. Accessed: 2012-02-15 00:00:00. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk.
