Churches and Churchyards of England and Wales by Richard Hayman

Author:Richard Hayman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784423568
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

THE FURNISHINGS

TO A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY churchgoer, to enter a medieval church today would be a shock – a vast clutter of benches and chairs, noticeboards and tables with books, not to mention priests’ chairs, reading desks and pulpits, funeral monuments and war memorials. The medieval church interior was by contrast a bare, or at least clear, space. Over time, more and more furnishings have been introduced into parish churches, most of them from the sixteenth century onwards. These will be described in their approximate order of first appearance, first in the nave and then in the chancel.

Usually the oldest item of furnishing in a church, and often older than the walls by which it is sheltered, is the font. Baptism has been a Christian rite ever since Christ was washed clean in the River Jordan, and it was well established as one of the key sacraments of the church long before the parish church system was created. As baptism was the symbolic entry to the Christian community the font was traditionally placed close to the main entrance. In practice, interiors of churches have been so re-ordered in subsequent centuries it cannot be presumed that the present position of a font is ancient.

In the medieval period, baptism occurred as soon after birth as possible – to die unbaptised would mean that a child would be unable to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. For that reason the font was always ready, with water enriched with various salts, and blessed for the purpose. Lift up the cover of a medieval font and it will most likely reveal its original lead lining. To prevent misuse of the holy water the font had a cover that remained locked. Evidence of this is usually to be seen around the rim of the font where the original staples, or holes for staples, have survived. Only a small number of medieval font covers survive, however.

Tiers of intersecting arches and interlocking rings on the font at South Croxton (Leicestershire) are typical of Norman abstract decoration.

The square Norman tub font at Bridekirk (Cumbria) is profusely carved with various beasts, on the general theme that baptism defeats the evil in the world.

Most fonts are carved from freestone. There are a few wooden fonts, for example at Efenechtyd (Denbighshire) and Marks Tey (Essex), and in the twelfth century several lead fonts were made, including a group found in churches around the lower River Severn which were probably cast in a workshop in Bristol.

Norman fonts are tub-shaped, or stand on pedestals, often with shafts at the corners. Although the rounded tub-shaped font is the earliest type, it does not necessarily follow that tub fonts are all early Norman. However, surviving Saxon fonts are also of this shape. At Deerhurst (Gloucestershire) is a font in a church of Anglo-Saxon origin, which had been discarded from the church and was retrieved from the farmyard in the nineteenth century. Partrishow (Powys) has a tub font with an inscription referring to Gennillan, who was Lord of Ystrad Yw in the mid-eleventh century.

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