John E. Vigar MA, FSA Scot., FRSA

Lead Fonts of England

 

As we travel around England, we occasionally come across fonts made of metal. In own time an amazing stainless-steel font has been placed in Salisbury Cathedral and many churches use a metal bowl at the front of the church. However, metal fonts have been used for centuries and over 30 medieval examples survive in our parish churches, dating from the 11th to the 17th centuries.

There must have been many more, but lead is easily damaged and can be reused for other purposes.

There are a group of 6 identical fonts in Gloucestershire that must have been cast from the same mould.

A characteristic of the early fonts is the arcading around the bowl, which can be plain or contain figures. One at Walton on the Hill in Surrey has both arcading, figures and foliage decoration.

Continue reading
  3536 Hits

Latest Blogs from John

    I`m delighted to announce my October Residential Church Tour. It will run from 16th October for 3 nights. Join me for a coach tour exploring a wide variety of churches. Staying at the Walton Hall Hotel on the clifftop at Clevedon on a D...
A few weeks ago I travelled north the town of Seaham where I was able to photograph a church that I had wanted to see for some time. For many years I`ve owned the original architects drawing dating from 1862 when it was substantially enlarged. It had...
Welcome to my February round-up   I still have some places left for the 3 day tour to Wales in April. Please email me for further information [email protected]   Next week`s lavishly illustrated ZOOM lecture is on the fascinating story of...
Now that the frenzy of New Year has passed I felt it a good time to update you on some of my future events. The following are all public events and in addition to my private bookings: Zoom lectures coming up  13th February   The 1851 R...

Don't
hesitate to
contact
me

Copyright © John E Vigar 2019Gingerweb Ltd site design and SEO In North Devon

Arts