By the Rev. P. Oakley Hill.

When those sermons in stone—the beautiful fonts of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods, which preached to a bygone age—come to be translated into modern English on an extensive and systematic scale, they will be found to be not only sermons theological, but treatises on hagiology, music, contemporary history, symbolism, and art of the highest order. One of the richest fields in font-lore is to be found in East Anglia, and Norfolk alone contains examples of sufficient importance and of vivid interest, to fill a whole volume on this particular subject. Only to mention a few, that will rapidly occur to a Norfolk antiquary, is to conjure up a varied and rich archÆological vision, which can be extended indefinitely at will.

Of canopied fonts perhaps that of S.Peter (Mancroft), Norwich, takes the palm. The carved oak canopy is supported by four massive posts, giving great dignity to the stone font [p 146] which it overshadows. The canopy at Sall is of a more graceful type, being in the form of a crocketed spire, suspended by a pulley from an ancient beam projecting from the belfry platform. Elsing, Merton, and Worstead also possess font covers of great interest.

Seven Sacrament fonts are numerous, that of New Walsingham being one of the finest of its kind in England. It belongs to the Perpendicular period, and is richly carved. On seven of its eight panels are sculptured figures representing the Seven Sacraments, the eighth exhibiting the Crucifixion. The stem carries figures of the four Evangelists and other saints, and rests on an elaborately-carved plinth, the upper part of which is in the form of a Maltese cross. A copy of this magnificent structure has been erected in the MediÆval Court of the Crystal Palace. A counterpart of the Walsingham font (more or less exact, though perhaps not so rich in carving) is to be seen at Loddon, with similar Maltese cross base, but the Vandal’s hand has nearly obliterated the figuring of the Sacramental panels. Other instances of Seven Sacrament fonts are to be seen in Norwich Cathedral, at Blofield, Martham, and elsewhere.[p 147]
Fonts bearing the date of their erection are found at Acle and Sall, the former having the following inscription upon the top step: “Orate pro diabus qui huc fontem in honore dei fecerunt fecit anno dni millo cccc decimo.” An instance of a Posy font with date (sixteenth century) occurs in one of the Marshland churches, the Posy being:—

Thynk and Thank.

The leaden font at Brundall is believed to be one of three only of its kind remaining in England; a fourth, somewhat damaged, existed at Great Plumstead until a few years ago, when alas! it perished in a disastrous fire which practically destroyed the church. Lion fonts are numerous, those of Acle and Strumpshaw being excellent examples.

Remarkable examples of carved fonts are those at Toftrees, Blofield, Wymondham, Bergh Apton, Aylsham, Ketteringham, Sculthorpe, Walpole (S.Peter), etc. At Hemblington, dedicated to All Saints, there is a perfect little hagiology around the font-pedestal and upon seven of the panels of the basin, the eighth panel shewing the mediÆval presentment of the Holy Trinity, the Almighty Father being somewhat [p 148] blasphemously represented as an old man, while the Crucifix rests upon an orb, and (what is perhaps somewhat unusual) the Holy Dove appears about to alight on the Cross.

Of Decorated Fonts in the county of Norfolk, that of Upton must be accounted facile princeps. In beauty of design, in fulness of symbolism, in richness of detail, it is a faithful type of the elaborate art of the Decorated Period. It was originally coloured, fragments of red and blue [p 149] paint being still visible. A massive base is formed by three octagonal steps rising tier upon tier, the upper step divided from the second by eight sets of quatrefoils, flanked at the corners by sitting dogs with open mouths. Upon the stem of the font there are eight figures in bas relief, standing upon pediments beneath overhanging canopies exquisitely carved. These canopies are adorned with crocketed pinnacles, and the interior of each has a groined roof, with rose boss in the centre. Some of the pediments are garnished with foliage, others exhibit quaint animals, e.g., a double dragon with but one head connecting the two bodies, two lions linked by their tails, and two dogs in the act of biting each other; all, of course, highly symbolical of various types of sin. The canopied figures around the pedestal represent the two Sacraments, an indication that even in the fourteenth century the two Sacraments of the Gospel were esteemed as of the first importance. Holy Communion is symbolised by five figures. A bishop in eucharistic vestments, his right hand raised in blessing, his left holding the pastoral staff, while the double dragon is beneath his feet. It is not unlikely that this ecclesiastic was deSpenser, the [p 150] contemporary Bishop of Norwich, of military fame. The bishop is supported to right and left by angels robed and girded, circlets and crosses on their heads, each holding a candle in a somewhat massive candlestick. The graceful lines of the wings suggest the probability of the artist having belonged to a continental guild of stone carvers. The next two figures are priests, each vested in dalmatic, maniple, stole, and alb, acting as deacon and sub-deacon, the first holding an open service book, the second the chalice and pyx.

The three remaining figures portray Holy Baptism. Of the two godmothers and the godfather in the lay dress of the fourteenth century, the first holds a babe in her arms in swaddling clothes, the swathing band being crossed again and again. The other sponsors carry each a rosary.

To digress for a moment; here is an interesting deduction. The infant is a girl—witness the two godmothers. The font cannot have been made later than about 1380, at which time the Decorated merged into the Perpendicular. Now the lord of the manor of Upton from 1358 onwards, for many years, was one [p 151] John Buttetourt, or Botetourt, who, with his wife Matilda, had an only daughter and heiress, to whom was given the baptismal name Jocosa. It appears highly probable that the lord of Upton, rejoicing at the birth of his little heiress, caused the font to be designed and built as a memorial of her baptism. But it would seem that he did not live to see her settled in life, for in 1399 she had grown to early womanhood, had won the affection of Sir Hugh Burnell, who made her his wife, and by the following year, if not before, she had inherited the manor in her own right.

To return to the description of the font. Resting on the canopies above described, and supported by eight half-angels with musical instruments, etc., is the large and handsome laver. The principal panels are occupied by reliefs of the four living creatures of the Revelation—the historic emblems of the four Evangelists—the flying lion, the flying bull, the man, and the eagle, the last named with scroll facing east. The four alternative panels represent angels, two holding instruments of music, two with heraldic shields. The panels are separated from each other by crocketed buttresses. The musical [p 152] instruments shewn upon the font are of great interest. A kind of rebeck or lute twice occurs, and once a curious pair of cymbals. One half-angel is playing on a crowth, an early form of the fiddle, consisting of an oblong box, a couple of strings, a short straight and round handle, and a bow. Another of the half-angels holds an open music book, containing the ancient four-line score.

The font has suffered some amount of mutilation in the five centuries of its existence; three or four heads have disappeared, also the right hand of the bishop, and the top of the pastoral staff; the chalice has been broken off, and the flying lion is fractured. And as a reminder of the iconoclastic century which was most likely responsible for the damage, these dates are roughly cut into the leaden lining of the bowl: 1641, 1662, 1696.