Arres / Arraise / Arrés

The church is lsted in SIPCA as 16th-century. A baotismal font is built between the chancel and the nave, inside a wall the doors of which open from both sidess to gve access to the not; the font appear rectangular, of crude stone, and has a flat wooden cover. This font was brought to our attention by Michael Kenning, who was undertaking a Masters in Theology through Trinity College Dublin and the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in 2019 when he came across this object, and inquired about it with BSI: "The baptismal font was inside a cupboard in a wall between the chancel and the area for the congregation, with doors opening into both areas. During baptism, the hospitalero explained that the child is symbolically transferred from the 'secular' area, via baptism in the font, to the 'sacred' area of the chancel. I had never encountered this practice before and thought that if true, it was most unusual and interesting [...] Have you heard of any similar baptismal practices in north eastern Spain or know of any other examples of this practice? I personally wondered about the accuracy of the hospitalero's explanation, but no other font was in evidence in the church and it seemed plausible?" This type of closetted away font is not very rare, nor is it very common in France and Spain, whether totally hidden, like this one, or just partially built into a recess of the nave wall. In the southeast of France fonts entirely cover by wooden structures are not uncommon and, unlike the one in Brittany, thet can be totally hidden in the carpentry.