I am repeating my popular Zoom course on Kent Churches this March, to tie in with the publication of my new book, Churches of Kent. The course will run for three Wednesday evenings commencing 9th March. Each session is from 7.30pm - 8.30pm and will cover history, architecture, furnishings, monuments and stained glass. The cost is £25 for the three sessions which may be booked here.  Kent Churches Course

The book can be purchased in all the usual outlets or direct from the publisher Amberley Books . It is a new look at 50 famous and not so well known churches and is profusely illustrated with 100 colour photographs.

John Vigar`s Church Day Visits

Tuesday March 17^th 2020

Coach Departs

Tonbridge School 0830

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 11^th to the 17^th 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.