"One of Suffolk's thirteen Seven Sacrament fonts, one of the best of its kind. Three of them, at Blythburgh, Southwold (
visit link) and Wenhaston, have been completely defaced. Of the other ten, this one, Denston and Woodbridge all have rayed backgrounds, and probably came from the same workshop. One of the remaining seven, at Badingham, shows a feature in common with the one here at Great Glemham, which I, for one, find fascinating. (The other six are at Melton, Monk Soham, Laxfield, Cratfield, Westhall and Weston, in case you're counting).
The fonts show the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, and are a reminder that our medieval parish churches were built as Catholic churches, not as Anglican ones. The sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Ordination, Reconciliation (also called Confession, or Penance), Last Rites (also called Extreme Unction, or Sacrament of the Sick) and the Eucharist. Each sacrament is shown on one panel, with the eighth panel featuring something else, usually the Baptism of Christ, but in this case the Crucifixion.
The fascinating detail that this font shares with the one at Badingham, and a couple of others, is that the holy oils used in Confirmation and Ordination are contained in a chrismatory, which is carried by an acolyte. This font also shows many other insights into medieval pracice. Nowadays, the Anglican rites don't include oil or a chrism cloth, but they survive in the Catholic Church. Also, in the Eucharist scene, a houseling cloth is held by the communicants to prevent the host being scattered.
Great Glemham's font may not be as awesome as Westhall's or as characterful as Badingham's, but in terms of quality and survival, it is probably the best single surviving example in all Suffolk. And the font has yet another remarkable feature. In one of the niches in the font's stem you will see, not a simple Marian lily as in the other three, but a lily crucifix. This symbol outraged the reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries, and only one other positively identified example survives in Suffolk, at Long Melford. Colour remains on the font, especially on the lilies."
SOURCE - (
visit link)