Norman Font - St Michael & All Angels - Church Broughton, Derbyshire
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SMacB
N 52° 54.057 W 001° 41.780
30U E 587688 N 5862048
A Norman tub font in St Michael & All Angels' church, Church Broughton.
Waymark Code: WM10PCR
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/06/2019
Views: 3
"An entirely Norman church would have stood here but what stands today is a mostly early 14thc structure. The only Norman architectural feature is the semicircular respond of the NE arcade. The font in the W end of the nave is also Norman.
The manor of Broughton was given by Henry de Ferrers to the Priory of Tutbury on its first foundation in the reign of William the Conqueror, and 'the gift was confirmed in the next century by Robert de Ferrers the younger.' We have not been able to find any specific mention of the original gift of the church of Broughton to the priory, either in the Tutbury Chartulary or elsewhere, but we think it most probable that there was no church here when the town was given to the priory, and that the monks erected one on their estate soon after it came into their possession. The advowson, or presentation to the rectory, would thus naturally fall into their hands.
The [north] arcade is 14thc except for the E respond capital, which is a scallop capital with sheathed cones and a line of beading on the NW angle. The scallops are slightly concave creating a quirk distinguishing the abacus.
The font is of a tapered tub shape, with a large zigzag motif interlaced with large intersecting triangles and circles. A small cross is carved into the field inside one of the circles on the E side. The cross is mounted on top of a low-relief vertical moulding running towards the edge of the circle.
The triangles and circles on the font may symbolise the Trinity and Eternity."
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