Baptismal Font, North Poorton, Dorset

FONT NOTES
There the two fonts in this church. The larger more modern one is from the period of the building of the new church in 1862. The smaller and older font is thought to have come from the former chapel at nearby West Milton rather than the earlier church of St Nicholas at North Porton later rededicated to Saint Peter, which stood some fifty yards to the north. This older font is hidden away at the back of the nave. This font is not referred to by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments under its entry for North Porton and is simply described by Hutchins as "...an old Norman font...". The entire font and base appears to be original. For a font of this age, it has passed through the centuries without damage. This may be due to the remote nature of this area of West Dorset.

The unlined basin is cylindrical with a champhered underside standing on a cylindrical stem with moulded base. A font of this description is found in the Royal Commissions entry for West Milton. A plain font such as this is often associated with an earlier period. (see Chaldon Herring and Studland).

To release amplet and access page for source code - press here.	GENERAL INFORMATION
	Dedication	Saint Mary Magdalene
	Location	North Porton, Dorset, England
	Font location in church	At the west end of the Nave
	workshop	Unknown
	Date/Century/Period	12th Century
	Medium	limestone, probably local
	Drainage	no drainage
	Date of On-site Visit	18th November 2005

FONT NOTES There the two fonts in this church. The larger more modern one is from the period of the building of the new church in 1862. The smaller and older font is thought to have come from the former chapel at nearby West Milton rather than the earlier church of St Nicholas at North Porton later rededicated to Saint Peter, which stood some fifty yards to the north. This older font is hidden away at the back of the nave. This font is not referred to by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments under its entry for North Porton and is simply described by Hutchins as "...an old Norman font...". The entire font and base appears to be original. For a font of this age, it has passed through the centuries without damage. This may be due to the remote nature of this area of West Dorset. The unlined basin is cylindrical with a champhered underside standing on a cylindrical stem with moulded base. A font of this description is found in the Royal Commissions entry for West Milton. A plain font such as this is often associated with an earlier period. (see Chaldon Herring and Studland).
REFERENCE John Hutchins, The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by William Shipp and James Whitworth Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols and Sons, 1861-1873. Vol. 2 p.170
DESCRIPTION		DIMENSIONS
Font Shape	cylindrical	Total Height (without plinth or cover)	59 cm
Basin Shape (outside)	circular	Diameter of basin (including rim)	59 cm
Basin Shape (inside)	circular	Diameter of basin (not including rim)	44 cm
Basin lining	unlined	Width of rim	6 cm
Shape of Base	cylindrical	Outside Height of Basin	25 cm
Number of pieces	4	Inside depth of Basin	14 cm