tion of the older part, which is believed to be the oldest remaining specimen of the circular churches in Englandthe others being those of Northampton, Little Maplestead in Essex, and the Temple Church in London. It is probable that round churches, wherever they occur, were originally baptismal oratories. The round church at Cambridge, dedicated under the title of the Holy Sepulchre, is supposed to have derived its circular shape from the church in which the small chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem is contained. It is forty-one feet in diameter, and has a peristyle of eight (the mystic number, according to Ambrosius in his notice of the baptisteries of Milan) rude massive pillars, supporting circular arches with chevron mouldings. Of the origin of this church no record exists. Report has ascribed its foundation to the Templars, and as bathing for chivalrous purposes was occasionally performed on the Continent in the baptismal churches of St. John,† the erection of baptisteries by the Knights Templars, both for parochial and chivalrous uses, would appear to be neither inconsistent nor improbable.

"Most of the fonts in the medieval Gothic churches of England either belonged to the original Saxon wooden churches or to the succeeding Norman ones. When these churches, in their turn, became much dilapidated, the Gothic church was either grafted on the Norman or erected on the same foundation as the original site, which was still observed. The Christianised pagans, under the Roman dominion in England, generally selected the sites of the demolished heathen temples for their new places of worship, at first setting up a mere wooden shed for

* The bath and white garment of the novice, says Gibbon (vol. xi. p. 38), were an indecent copy of the regeneration of baptism.

† Robinson's History of Baptism.

temporary baptismal purposes, but a permanent church. was afterwards generally erected over the font. In Ifley church, Oxfordshire, which is supposed to have been originally built by the Anglo-Normans, there is an AngloSaxon font, for total immersion, which was the practice adopted in the first ages of Christianity." (Sacred Architecture, by R. Brown.)

By an ancient Ecclesiastical Constitution* (A.D. 1236) a font of stone was required to be placed in every church, and it was to be capacious enough for total immersion.

At this early period fonts appear to have been regarded with peculiar reverence, and are frequently preserved, whatever changes the church may have undergone; for this reason Norman fonts are very numerous; they are frequently richly ornamented and well worthy of preservation; their form is usually square, supported on five legs, or small pillars; or circular, at first supported also upon legs, but at a subsequent period assuming the form of a cup, supported on a single pillar or pedestal, and richly ornamented, many examples of which occur during the later Norman period; sometimes they are in the form of a tub, richly decorated, or with four small pillars placed against it, giving it the appearance at first sight of being square; they are sometimes octagonal. The fonts are usually placed at the west end, near the south entrance of the church.

"In every baptismal church let there be a baptistery of stone, or, however, one that is sufficient (large enough for dipping such as are baptized in it, says Lynwood in his Constitutiones Anglia), handsomely covered and reverently kept, and not used for any other purposes. Let not the water in which a child has been baptized be kept in the baptistery above seven days." Baptisterium. habeatur in qualibet Ecclesia Baptismala lapideum, vel aliud competens (sub quod baptizandus possit in eo mergi) (vas) quod decenter cooperiatur, et reverenter observetur. Aqua verò, in qua baptizatus fuerit puer, ultra septem dies in baptisterio non servetur. (Constitutiones Edmundi, can. 10, A.D. 1236.)

A font of great antiquity is to be found in the noble church of Malvern. This font, like all those which were in use amongst our ancestors, having been adapted for

Fig. 50. FONT AT BRIDEKIRK.

immersion, is of large dimensions, being nine feet two inches in circumference, and thirteen inches in depth; the form is circular, without ornament of any kind, and an orifice remains in the centre for carrying off the water. If

not of Saxon workmanship, it is doubtless of a period not later than the twelfth century.

In the ancient church of St. Martin's, near Canterbury, is a most curious font, of great antiquity, ornamented with rude carved work, in which are no legendary images, or any superstitious figures whatever. It more resembles a great tub than a basin, and stands low on the floor, so that a person might much more easily step into it, according to the ancient mode of baptizing, than stoop down to it, in order to receive the sprinkling of water. (King's Monumenta Antiqua.) The form as well as the ornaments of this font pleads strongly in favour of its antiquity.

At Bridekirk, a parish in the county of Cumberland, there is a church dedicated to St. Bridget; a very ancient edifice which contains a singular font, a large open vessel of greenish stone. (See Fig. 50.) It exhibits in rude relief various designs symbolical of the serpent and the forbidden fruit, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, the baptism of Christ, &c., likewise a Runic inscription which has been variously interpreted by different antiquarians. In the baptism of Christ, He is represented standing naked "in a kind of font or vase, with a nimbus, almost defaced, round His head, and over Him is a dove." By the side of the font stands John the Baptist, with his left hand behind the shoulders of the Saviour, and his right on His side.

Referring to this font and the representation of baptism upon its eastern side, Bishop Nicholson wrote to the famous antiquarian, Sir William Dugdale, "Now, Sir, I need not acquaint you that the sacrament of baptism was anciently administered by plunging into the water in the western as well as the eastern parts of the Church, and that the Gothic word SIN (Mark i. 8, and Luke iii. 7 and 12), the German word Tauffen, the Danish Dobe, and

and the Belgic Doopen, as clearly make out that practice as the Greek word ВаTтioμа." (See Gibson's Camden. p. 841.) There is a font of considerable interest in the abbey church of Romsey. It is constructed upon an elevated platform of stone, paved with tiles, of the height of above fifteen inches. The depth of this font is three feet six inches, the width two feet ten inches, and consequently is large enough for the total immersion of an infant. There is at the bottom a perforation for drawing off the water.

The font in the upper church at Lewes is shaped like a barrel; the body adorned with fretwork, and an upper and lower band or fascia of rounds and quatrefoils. This font is set against a pillar.

The font in Hendon church stands on the left hand of