A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Saxon period. It is 3 feet 2 inches high by 2 feet 9 inches in diameter at the 

 bottom, and 2 feet 5 inches at the top. 



The inscription runs round about a third of the circumference of the 

 bowl at a depth of 5 inches below the top, the letters being 2i inches deep 

 and I inch between the lines. The inscription is in two horizontal lines of 

 Anglo-Saxon capitals and reads as follows : — 



WIGBERHTVS ARTIFEX ATQ CEMENTARIVS HVNC FABRICAVIT 



QVISQVIS SVVM VENIT MERGERE CORPVS PROCVL DVBIO CAPIT 



"Wigberht the artificer and mason made this (font) 

 Whoever comes hither to dip his body let him take it (the rite of Baptism) without doubt." 



The peculiar angular letters which indicate a pre-Norman date ' are 



A C G O X W 



The font at Little Billing has been described and illustrated in Baker's 

 History of Northamptonshire, i. 30, and in Paley's Baptismal Fonts. 



Anglo-Saxon Sculpture 



Examples of Anglo-Saxon sculpture have been found at the following 

 places : — 



Barnack, Brixworth, Burton Latimer, Castor, Clapton, Desborough, Earls Barton, Gunwade, 

 Helpston, Longthorpe, Lutton, Mears Ashby, Moreton, Moulton, Nassington, Northampton St. Peter, 

 Oundle, Peakirk, Peterborough Cathedral, Stow Nine Churches. 



The monuments and structures upon which the sculpture occurs are as 

 follows : — 



Cross-heads. — Brixworth, Gunwade Ferry, Mears Ashby. 



Cross-shafts. — Clapton, Desborough, Earls Barton, Longthorpe, Moreton, Moulton, Nassington, 

 Northampton, Peakirk, Peterborough, Stow Nine Churches. 

 Cross-base. — Castor. 

 Head-stone. — Helpston. 

 Foot-stone. — Peterborough. 



Recumbent Cross-slabs. — Peterborough, Helpston, Lutton. 

 Shrine-shaped Monument. — Peterborough. 

 Slab Built into Wall. — Barnack. 

 Architectural Details.— Barnack, Earls Barton. 



Most of the monuments have been found in a fragmentary state during 

 repairs to churches, either built into the walls or under the foundations, so 

 that they can only be conjecturally restored by comparing them with more 

 perfect examples in other districts or by piecing together portions from 

 different places. Thus, judging by the fragments at Gunwade and Mears 

 Ashby, the Anglo-Saxon crosses of Northamptonshire had heads with 

 expanded ends to the arms and a circular ring connecting them. The shafts 

 of the crosses appear to have been in most cases of rectangular cross-section, 

 and had two wide faces and two narrow faces. The best specimens are those 

 at Desborough, Moulton, and Nassington. 



1 There is only one other font in England with an inscription in similar angular capitals. This is at 

 Potterne, near Devizes, Wilts, and is inscribed — 



sicvt cerws desiderat ad pontes, etc. (Psalm xlii. l). 

 An illustration of it will be found in the Sketch Book of the Ham Anastatic Drazving Society for 1876, pi. 25. 



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