Baptismal Font, Fordington, Dorset

15th Century Baptismal Font at the Church of Saint George,
Fordington, Dorchster, Dorset, England

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To release amplet and access page for source code - press here.	GENERAL INFORMATION
	Patron Saint	Saint George
	Location	Fordington, Dorset, England
	Font location in church	South transept
	workshop	unknown
	Date/Century/Period	15th Century
	Medium	Purbeck Stone
	Drainage	Centre hole in bowl
	Date of On-site Visit	12th July 2004

FONT NOTES Font: of Purbeck Stone, octagonal, bowl with quatrfoil enclosing shield on five sides, moulded under side with paterae, the edge with damage caused by removal of the original lock, panelled stem and moulded base.
REFERENCE Francis Bond, Fons and Font Covers, published by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press 1908 John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by William Shipp and J.W. Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873, Vol. 2, pp. 799-800. John Newman and Nikolaus Pevsner, The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, pp. 179-180. 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. 110-112. Terence and Eliza Sackett, Francis Frith's Dorset Churches. Salisbury: Frith Book Co., 2000, p. 59.
DESCRIPTION		DIMENSIONS
Font Shape	Octagonal bowl with quatrfoil enclosing shield on each face	Total Height (without plinth or cover)	102
Basin Shape (outside)	Octagonal	Diameter of basin (including rim)	83 cm
Basin Shape (inside)	Circular	Diameter of basin (not including rim)	55 cm
Basin lining	Unlined	Width of rim	14 cm
Base Shape	octagonal panelled stem and moulded base	Outside Height of Basin	33 cm
Number of pieces	3	Inside depth of Basin	27 cm

View of St Georges with
the spire of All Saints and tower of St. Peter's beyond

View of St. Georges
taken from Fordington Green

View of the font and children's area in the South Transept

View of the font from the Chancel steps

View of the front of the font looking south

View of the left side of the font

View of the rear of the font

View of the rights side of the font

View of the inside of the font

Tympanum -
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1st Century tablet
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To one side of the south door of St Georges is what Bond refers to as a fontlet. Press here for further details

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In several churches, what look like deminutive fonts may be seen. Some of these fontlets are too large for use as hand fonts.... A remarkable example was found walled up at Fordington St Georges Dorset, it has a drain through the bottom plugged with lead, and may have been a piscina converted at some later period into a holy water stoup.

However, the author, Thomas Hardy who lived within the parish visited the church on many occasions to speculate on the object which he considered too large to be a stoup.

Of this font, the Royal Commision on Historical Monuments describe it as follows: "- in niche, round stone bowl with gadroon ornament and circular stem, probably a font. 17th century". There are differing views over the date of origen.

Hutchins considers this small font is of a much earlier origen "A small basin adjoining the south doorway was laid open by the removal of a pew and on examination was discovered to be a miniture font of very early date, almost certainly Norman" In support of this claim, Hutchins refers to the Journal of Arch. Inst. 1865 page 349

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LINKS

Open Churches Trust

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