I’ve visited a lot of churches in recent years and am impressed by the wide range of design, size and that many churches have several. Bristol’s St Mary Redcliffe has a possible record of four. This is the old one from Ross on Wye. I was told they keep it to confirm the church as a place of worship, but I think that’s covered by various Consecration crosses

But in Gloucester Museum is this industrial quern which they claimed was also used as a baptismal font. Many people lived in tiny isolated communities so may not have been close to a church, so it seems apt that a bowl for providing family food would also be used to welcome a newborn to their community.

Another curious form comes from Axmouth in Arthur Mee’s book on Devon: “On a garden wall by the churchyard rests a shallow bowl with a hole in the bottom brought here from a deserted farm and thought to be one of the old standard measures for corn once kept in porches.”

Here’s a few old fonts in churches: Shrewsbury Abbey seems to fit the pattern but with strange beasts on each corner with cloth draped between them and traces of paint. Made in 1653 for nine shillings and sixpence. Maybe the Evangelists? It’s a mystery.

This is from Shrewsbury Museum which they guess might be carved from a column:

But the most impressive and convincing comes from StDavids in Exeter where the Victorian font includes its predecessor which looks like a granite quern.