Church Fonts

Every Anglican church has a font: although it is no longer so, the sacrament of baptism was for centuries held as of equal importance to the sacrament of The Lord's Supper. And whereas now mainly infants are 'christened', in the early days baptism was sought by adults and many might be baptised at one time. Infant baptism became common by the eigth century and the form of font familiar today began to develope. Despite deliberate defacement, neglect and lack of appreciation in some generations, many beautifully designed and executed medieval fonts survive, offering a richness and diversity of examples probably unequaled anywhere else in Europe. To these have been added fine fonts in each succeeding period. This album outlines the history and significance of baptism and traces how fonts developed in Britain from the Anglo-Saxon period. There is a select gazetter of some of the finest examples of the main types.