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The Font
liturgical | stonework
stone
Font
The Fount of Faith
The font [HEXAB6504] holds the water used in baptism (also called christening).
Baptism is the entry into Christian life
which is why the font is near an entrance to the church.
In the baptism service all who are baptized
join “the company of Christ's pilgrim people”.
Jesus Christ said to his followers:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew chapter 28, verse 19.
The ancient font stands on a 12th-century pillar. There is an
18th-century cover [HEXAB102] and a tall canopy [HEXAB103] made in 1916
which includes many mediæval fragments.
The Font, like the Abbey itself, is an assembly of parts from different eras. The ancient bowl, a great drum of dressed stone, may have Roman origins and could be that used in Wilfrid's church. It stands on a pedestal of alternating attached colonnettes and panels of ‘dog-tooth’ decoration. This occurs elsewhere in the Abbey and is typical of Early English Gothic carving around 1200. [H Dixon, “Hexham Abbey Revealed” (2017) p.52]
It is made up of two parts, the stem and the bowl, which no doubt belong to widely-separated periods. The bowl is of circular form, of great size, plain, and massive. Its only decoration is a semi-circular moulding or band round the upper portion. Its general appearance, and the manner in which the stone has been dressed, give some colour to the supposition that it is of pre-conquest date, and that in the 13th century it was mounted on a stem ornamented with four engaged shafts, between which the dog-tooth flower is worked. [Hodges 1888 p.45; illus. Pl.35]
Roman, Saxon, mediæval
Font locations:–
Pre-Dissolution. S bay of N. transept aisle. [Hodges 1888 Pl.8]
1795. Chancel, NW corner, against the angle of stalls. [Hexham Abbey Record, 674 to 1907, Savage & Hodges, 1907, Carter's plan on Plate V]
1855. South transept, side aisle (formerly in the Chancel). [Directory of Northumberland, Whellan. 1855, p.833]
1870. In bay to w. of crossing. [Hodges, Monograph 1888, Pl.8]. Photographed there with its cover [HEXAB102].
1907. Proposed: Nave, immediately west of the western pier of the arcade – (not implemented). [Hexham Abbey Record, 674 to 1907, Savage & Hodges, 1907, Plate XXVIII]
1907–1916 In the south bay of the south transept aisle. [Hexham Priory, C.C.Hodges, 1913, p.8 plan]
When he moved the font Cuthbert James Herdman put under it a bottle containing his name and those of his son, George Edward Herdman (my father), and that of a labourer. [Pers. memo of a grand-daughter, Mrs Joyce Stockdale, 21 Nov. 2002 – CND]
“Proposed by Mr Harrison, seconded by Mr Walker, and unanimously agreed:— That the Abbey Font be completed with steps and ancient tabernacle cover (pendant) [HEXAB103] and be placed with ancient kneeling boards at the west end of the Nave as advised by Mr Temple Moore and Mr C C Hodges, and that an appeal be made by the Rector to defray the cost of the same at or about the sum of two hundred pounds; and that application for faculty be made.” [Churchwardens' Minutes HEXAB5086 04/11/1915]
H c.960 | Dia max c.1000
on ground
Nave/West End
1916. Faculty: 1. To remove the Font to the West end of the Nave. Faculty reg. no.1. Faculty no.520, 13.4.1916. NRO EP.184/80.

HEXAB6504.1
The Font: Bowl
liturgical | stonework
stone
The bowl is of circular form, of great size, plain, and massive. Its only decoration is a semi-circular moulding or band round the upper portion. Its general appearance, and the manner in which the stone has been dressed, give some colour to the supposition that it is of pre-conquest date.
Roman, Saxon
Quarried AD 78 – in the time of the Apostles. Probably the pedestal of a Roman Statue. Utilized by St Wilfrid for his Cathedral as a Christian Font AD 674, and so used to 1915. Of abnormal size. Ancient Font Cover [HEXAB102] and 1916 Font Canopy [HEXAB103].
Ext H c.430 × Dia max c.1000 | Int H c.350 × Dia c.690
Nave/West End

HEXAB6504.2
The Font: Pedestal
liturgical | stonework
stone
In the 13th century [the bowl] was mounted on a stem ornamented with four engaged shafts, between which the dog-tooth flower is worked.
13th cent
mediæval
13th century, and same date as Transepts
Pre-1916 mounted on a circular plinth. From 1916 mounted on a three-step octagonal plinth with steps to a platform on the west side.
“The supplying and fixing of the stone base, which lends a dignity and nobleness to the structure was entrusted to Messrs Herdman and Sons and the whole scheme for which Mr C C Hodges was the architect, has been completed with a success that need by gratifying alike to all concerned…” [Hexham Herald 22 April 1916]
H 530 | W 560 × 560
Nave/West End



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