Bixley / Bichesle / Biskele / Biskeleyam
Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Standing permission
Results: 6 records
view of basin - interior
Scene Description: after the May 2004 fire
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2005 by Simon Knott [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm] [accessed 16 July 2009]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of church exterior - south view
Scene Description: the church exterior after the May 2004 fire
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2005 by Simon Knott [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm] [accessed 16 July 2009]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of church exterior - southwest view
Scene Description: Bixley church before the fire -- Photo caption: "A fire in 2004 gutted this late thirteenth century church, dedicated to the seventh century French monk, who is the patron saint of Flemish weavers"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © George Plunkett, 2013
Image Source: B&W photograph taken 16 August 1984 by George Plunkett [www.georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norfolk/B/Bixley St Wandregesilius church from SW [6316] 1984-08-16.jpg] [accessed 19 November 2013]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission by Jonathan Plunkett
view of church interior - nave - looking west
Scene Description: the font at the west end of the nave after the May 2004 fire
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2005 by Simon Knott [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm] [accessed 16 July 2009]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font
Scene Description: after the May 2004 fire
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2005 by Simon Knott [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm] [accessed 16 July 2009]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font in context
Scene Description: in the northwest corner of the nave after the May 2004 fire
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2005 by Simon Knott [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bixley/bixley.htm] [accessed 16 July 2009]
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
INFORMATION
FontID: 14999BIX
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Wandregeselius
Church Patron Saints: St. Wandrille [aka Wandregeselius, Wandegisilus]
Church Location: Bungay Road, Bixley, Norfolk NR14 8RY
Country Name: England
Location: Norfolk, East Anglia
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Norwich
Historical Region: Hundred of Henstede
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the nave [cf. FontNotes]
Century and Period: 14th - 19th century, Medieval? / Victorian?
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Simon Knott, of www.norfolkchurches.co.uk, for his photographs of church and font; we are also grateful to Jonathan Plunkett for the 1984 photograph of this church taken by his father, George Plunkett
Church Notes: medieval church built before 1272; set in fire by arsonists in May 2004
Of the two entries in the Domesday book for "Biskele" the "Terra Rogeri Bigoti" reports "i. ecclesie xxiiii. acr.". As Blomefield (1805-1810) notes, this part had belonged to Bishop Stigand (+1072) until the Conqueror took it from him, as he did gradually with many of the Bishop'd properties, and gave it to Roger le Bigot. This "church and 24 acres of glebe" must have existed well before the Conquest, but the one described in Blomefield is of a later date: "The church here is an antique small building, of one isle only, which, with the chancel, is 18 yards long and 5 broad; and is tiled, as is the south porch, and tower, which is low and square, and hath in it two small bells [...] It is dedicated to St. Wandragesilius the Abbot, to whose image pilgrimages were made in those days: (fn. 9) the present fabrick was built by William de Dunwich, who was one of the bailiffs of Norwich in 1272 for on a stone at the south-east corner of the chancel, are these words [ANIME WILELMI DE DONEWICO FVNDATORIS HVIVS ECCLESIE PROPICIATVR DEVS [as reproduced in Chambers (1829)]". Lewis's Dictionary (1811) notes too that the church was built in 1272 [NB: this Willielmi de Donewico appears in an undated document related to his son, Johannes ["ego Johannes filius Willielmi de Donewico"] noted as being of the time of Henry III's reign, therefore 1216-1272, which helps to date the church at Bixley -- source: Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica, vol,. II, 2nd ser., 1888: 382; the entry itself is noted "Add. Ch. 10,356, Brit. Mus.] Pevsner & Wilson (1999) note the 14th-century tower and a reconstruction in the 16th century, as well as restoration of 1868 when the "rest of the church was completely rebuilt." Knott (2005) informs: "On the night of Thursday 3rd May 2004, the church was completely destroyed by fire […] The font suffered intense heat from the burning of the wooden floors of the belfry, which which fell when the tower became a chimney in the inferno, and has completely calcified; it is now breaking up in the frosty air. Someone has thrown a singed bible into the bowl." The remains show a bowl now almost round but originally octagonal, raised on a plain octagonal pedestal base; the shape of the inner well hints at a late, rarther than medieval font, so it is quite possible this is the replacement font installed in the 19th-century rebuilding [NB: we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]
COORDINATES
Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal:
52.595199,
1.333359
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS:
52° 35′ 42.71″ N,
1° 20′ 0.09″ E
UTM: 31U 387112 5828546
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
REFERENCES
Blomefield, Francis, An essay towards a topographical history of Norfolk, 1805-1810
Chambers, John, A General History of the County of Norfolk, intended to convey all the information of a Norfolk tour […], Norwich: J. Stacy, 1829
Knott, Simon, The Norfolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 2004. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon (February 2005]. Accessed: 2009-07-16 00:00:00. URL: www.norfolkchurches.co.uk.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, Chapelries, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsy, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions [...], London: S. Lewis, 1831
Pevsner, Nikolaus, Norfolk 2: North-West and South (2nd ed.), London: Penguin, 1999