The Herefordshire School of Carvers

In the church of St Michael, Castle Frome, Herefordshire is a magnificently carved Norman font. It is the product of a group of sculptors who carved distinctive fonts and other objects within the county. They date from the twelfth century and incorporate a number of styles - Anglo-Saxon, Norse (Viking), Benedictine, Western France and Northern Italy. The font in Castle Frome is probably one of their last works, perhaps carved c.1150. The top of the font exhibits bold plaiting and the lower features interlace. In between are figures of the Evangelists and scenes telling the story of the baptism of Christ. St Luke holding a book is prominent in the photograph. At the base, in a different type of stone are three disfigured crouching creatures.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

A font from afar

The church of St John Baptist, Lea, Herefordshire has a remarkable font. It is an Italian stoup bought from an antiques dealer in London in 1909 as a memorial. The shallow bowl has fine decorative carving and stands on a slender column that has a capital made of interlocking rams' heads and a single knot half way down. This column stands on the back of a small elephant. It is thought to date from the late C11 and to be influenced by work in Canossa and Bari. I know of no other font in Britain that is remotely like this example in the small medieval parish church at Lea.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Font, Hereford Cathedral

Fonts are frequently the oldest feature in a church, often surviving refurbishments and rebuilds. Congregations and clergy seem to value the continuity that the font brings to the building. Hereford Cathedral's stone font dates from the Norman period (C12), as does much of the building itself. It is circular with twelve figures (the Apostles) under arches that rest on spiral carved columns. Above is a key pattern. The base is simpler, made of different stone and features four carvings of lions. The coloured mosaic looks to be nineteenth century.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Circular floral display

One of the best locations to find a good floral display is inside a church. The beautification of churches with natural flowers and vegetation is a year-round activity. Many groups of churches hold flower festivals, often in July when they are plentiful. Nature's bounty and beauty is celebrated with leaves, fruit and flowers at the time of harvest festival. At Easter a particular effort, often including lilies, is evident. And flowers and trees make an appearance across the Christmas period. At other times flowers are usually on view, often refreshed weekly by a rota of helpers.

This particular floral arrangement, in Hope Mansell church, Herefordshire, is located in the bowl of a seven hundred year old font - in my experience an unusual place to see flowers.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Fonts, ballflowers and chancels

Medieval builders almost always started building a church at the east end of the chancel, the place that housed the high altar, the necessary prerequisite for worship. Consequently this is often the oldest part of a remaining medieval church. However, rebuilding in a more modern style, or expansion of the church, often meant building anew, and in such cases the area around the high altar may not be the oldest. Sometimes a font, the necessary prerequisite for admission to the faith, is the oldest part of the church. And, many churches kept a venerated old font even when rebuilding took place. But a font, though usually made of stone, is easily moved, and many were replaced, or even moved elsewhere. The font stem at Tewkesbury Abbey (above) has ballflower decoration that dates it to the fourteenth century (the bowl is newer), similar to the age of the chancel, but a couple of hundred years more recent than the nave. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Norman Font, Eardisley, Herefordshire

One of the most magnificent church fonts in all England can be found in St Mary Magdalene, Eardisley, in Herefordshire. It was carved c1150 and depicts two knights fighting with sword and spear (the latter piercing a thigh), the Harrowing of Hell (including a lion), God the Father, and Christ. Weaving through the figure carving are sinuous tendrils. The top of the font has a plaited band. On the stem is rope moulding and an interlaced knot pattern. The quality and style of the work shows it to be a product of the Herefordshire School of stone carving. Some other nearby churches have carving of similar quality and style dating from the same period.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Nave, Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral is, arguably, the UK's best, most overlooked, cathedral. Its eastern location, relatively remote from the main centres of population militate against it, as does its location in a city off the tourists' itineraries. But, at every turn, the building offers delights and treasures. It is a former monastery that, after successive rebuildings achieved, by 1238, essentially the structure that we see today. The nave is a fine piece of Norman construction. The bowl of the font dates from the C13 and was recovered in 1820 from a canon's nearby garden. After being combined with a purpose-made stem it became a permanent feature of the cathedral.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

A wooden font

The fonts of English churches are usually made of stone, sometimes with a lead lining to the bowl. However, in the eighteenth century wood gained a little popularity and the wood carver's art was turned to the embellishment of these baptismal objects. Today's photograph shows a detail of the carved bowl of the wooden font in St Mary Magdalene, near Croome Court in Worcestershire. The church is in the "Gothick" style i.e. a self-conscious eighteenth century re-working of Gothic at a time when the classical style was ascendant. It was built in 1763 and there is no reason to believe that the font doesn't date from that time.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

A font, ecclesiastical not typographical

The 7th Edition of the Canons of the Church of England say this with regard to fonts: "In every church and chapel where baptism is to be administered, there shall be provided a decent font with a cover for the keeping clean thereof. The font shall stand as near to the principal entrance as conveniently may be, except there be a custom to the contrary or the Ordinary otherwise direct; and shall be set in as spacious and well-ordered surroundings as possible." At St Lawrence in Evesham, Worcestershire, a font must have been in the south chapel for centuries and thus the exception prevails. It is a fine setting and a good architectural composition.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100