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11th Century Baptismal Font at the Church of Nicholas, Chaldon Herring, Dorset, England |
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GENERAL INFORMATION | |
| Patron Saint | Saint Nicholas | |
| Location | East Chaldon or Chaldon Herring, Dorset, England | |
| Font location in church | Opposite the door in the South Aisle | |
| workshop | Unknown | |
| Date/Century/Period | 11th Century | |
| Medium | Limestone (probably Purbeck) | |
| Drainage | central drain | |
| Date of On-site Visit | 19th November 2004 | |
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FONT NOTES Font of plain tapering cylindrical bowl, probably late 11th century, with later mortices for staples. Of this Saxon font, Arthur Mee writes "...it was discovered in a farmyard and brought back to the church in our own time". This is at variance to the guide found in the church which recites that "It was reputedly caught in a plough share close to the original site of the church at Chaldon Boys and placed in this church in 1897....The Victorians had already installed a typically large font at the base of the tower". The Dorset Historic Churches Trust offers a third version of the story. There is a link to their website at the foot of this page Long writes, "Saxon fonts survive in different parts of England, and two at least are to be found in Dorset - Chaldon Herring and Melbury Bubb - while it is quite possible that several, usually assigned to the Norman period, are in reality of Pre-Conquest origin. A similar font can be found at Studland. Compare also to the font at North Porton |
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REFERENCE
John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by W. Shipp and J.W. Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873, Vol. 1, 1861, pp. 344-345. E.T.Long, Dorset Church Fonts, Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Vol 44 (1922), p62-76 Arthur Mee, ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 59-60. John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 136. F.P. Pitfield, Dorset parish churches, A-D. Milborne Port: Dorset Publishing Company, 1981, pp. 162-163. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 2, South-East Dorset. London: HMSO, 1970, pt. 1, pp. 34-35.
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| DESCRIPTION | DIMENSIONS | ||
| Font Shape | Simple Tub | Total Height (without plinth or cover) | 60 cm |
| Basin Shape (outside) | Circular | Diameter of basin (including rim) | 65 cm |
| Basin Shape (inside) | Circular | Diameter of basin (not including rim) | 49 cm |
| Basin lining | Unlined | Width of rim | 8 cm |
| Shape of Base | Square | Outside Height of Basin | n/a |
| Number of pieces | 1 | Inside depth of Basin | 27 cm |
 Saint Nicholas church both far and near |
 View of the Saxon font from the door |
 The front (east face) of the font |
 View from the font towards the altar |
 Close up of the font |
 Inside view of the basin  Notice on base of font |
 The Victorian font installed prior to the finding of the original Saxon font | |
| LINKS |
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Dorset Historic Churches Trust |