Saint-Germain-des-Champs

The entry for this church in photos-eglises [https://photos-eglises.fr/Bourgogne/89/StGermainC/stgermainC.htm] [accessed 11 October 2023] illustrates the present baptismal font in this church without comment or description. The article 'Le mystère des fonts baptismaux élucidé' by Michèle Thiry in the 1 September 2012 edition of L'Yonne Républicaine [https://www.lyonne.fr/saint-germain-des-champs-89630/actualites/le-mystere-des-fonts-baptismaux-elucide_1255892/] [accessed 11 October 2013] informs that the font is being brougt back to the church and restored after more than a century in the nearby hamlet of Lingoult being used as trough, water reservoir, planter, etc.l the article suggests that the font may have been removed from the church in 1843, when the church was re-built, the parish priest at the time selling it to a local in whose property the font was placed at the time; the present owner has donated it to a local asociation that will undertake the management of the funding, restoration and return to the church at Saint-Germain-des-Champs [NB: the article states that the font dates from the 12th century and that it is similar to those in Pontaubert and Vault-de-Lugny; those fonts, and this one, are likely to be 15th- or 16th-century, as is this one]. A follow-up article by the same author [https://www.lyonne.fr/saint-germain-des-champs-89630/actualites/les-fonts-baptismaux-de-saint-germain-seront-restaures_1330948/] [accessed 11 October 2023] 'Les fonts baptismaux de Saint-Germain seront restaurés' (13 November 2012) reiterates the dating suggested in the previous article: "Nous avons pris contact avec Stéphane Dupaquier, un sculpteur installé à Girolles. Selon lui, les fonts datent du XII e siècle », s'enthousiasme Michel Millet"; the same person gives the fonts at the two localities mentioned in the previous article: "Seules deux autres communes, Pontaubert et Vault-de-Lugny possèdent de tels fonts baptismaux." The entry in the web of the municipality [https://communedesaintgermain.com/la-commune/monuments.html] [accessed 11 October 2023] reproduces some earlier texts on all types of topics related to the parish; among them is the following, which obviously referes to the old font during its 'exile' in nearby Lingoult [cf. supra]: "FONTS BAPTISMAUX. Lingoult. Une grande cuve en pierre, ancien fonds baptismaux, datant du 12ème siècle provenant de la vieille église dont il ne subsiste que le clocher de l'époque, se trouve dans une cour de ferme au hameau de Lingoult où on peut l'y voir. L'abbé Tissier, dans son ouvrage : " Histoire de la commune de Saint Germain " énumérant le nom des prêtres qui s'y sont succédés depuis des siècles, écrit au sujet de l'un d'eux qui y exerçait son ministère vers 1830 " Il eut bien fait de conserver les fonds baptismaux du 12ème siècle actuellement sous un chéneau à Lingoult mais gravement endommagés"" [NB: obviously the 12th-century dating of the font was a popular one locally, no doubt in association with the known late-12th century date of the original church]. An entry in the web site of the Association des Mémoires Vivantes du canton de Quarré-les-Tombes [http://www.memoiresvivantes.org/patrimoine/saint-germain-des-champs/fonds-baptismaux/] [accessed 11 October 2023] informs on the involvement of the Association in the recovery and restoration of this baptismal font and contains several images of the font. The entry for this church in IntraMuros [https://www.intramuros.org/saintgermaindeschamps/decouvrir/9322] [accessed 11 October 2023] informs that an old bell that been removed from its place in the tower remained un-hung and, reversed and mounted on a base, served after WWII as baptismal font for a period; it was later re-hung ["Après la guerre l’abbé Joudelat, curé de la paroisse, la fit mettre sur un socle où elle servit de fonds baptismaux durant son pastorat. L’abbé Bossuyt qui lui succéda lui fit prendre sa place au clocher."]