Note 13 — Chapter IV · CHURCH AND PARISH

Alfred C. Fryer, Ph.D., M.A., begins an admirable, fully illustrated paper on “Leaden Fonts” in the Archælogical Journal, March, 1900, with the following statements: There are 27 leaden fonts situated in 12 counties in the south, east and west of England—8 in Gloucester, 3 in Berks, 3 in Kent, 3 in Sussex, 2 in Oxford, 2 in Hereford, 1 in Derby, 1 in Dorset, 1 in Hants, 1 in Lincoln, 1 in Norfolk and 1 in Surrey. Several of these date from the latter part of the 11th and the 12th centuries. A few belonged to the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, and the latest has the date 1689 impressed upon it. They are all tub-shaped, with the exception of two, namely, a hexagon and a cylindrical bowl. The older fonts all possessed covers, and several retain the markings to which the locks were attached. The deepest bowl (outside measurement) is 16 inches. The most shallow bowl is at Parham in Sussex, and it is only 8½ inches in depth. The diameters also vary considerably from 32 inches to 18½ inches.—(Ed.).