All Saints, Little Billing, Northamptonshire

I Location

Site Location: Little Billing
National Grid Reference: SP 805 618
County: traditional: Northamptonshire
now: Northamptonshire
Diocese: medieval: Lincoln
now: Peterborough from 1539
Dedication: medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): All Saints
Type of building/monument: Parish church

II General Description

: Interior to E (portrait).

: Interior to E (landscape).

The interior now presents the curious arrangement of a nave and chancel with a N aisle and N chancel chapel (rebuilt by Lewis Lloyd of Overstone in 1849) but no nave arcade. There was previously a wooden arcade on stone bases, which has been removed. The short tower is in the angle between nave and chancel on the N side, and is attributable to the restoration by E. F. Law in 1852-54. The only feature noted here is the font, an important piece on account of its inscription.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

: Font from E.

: Font, inscription (i).

: Font, inscription (ii).

: Font, inscription (iii).

: Font, inscription (iv).

: Font, inscription (v).

At W end of nave, a single block carved into a barrel-shaped bowl on a tapering stem with a triple roll between bowl and stem. The block stands on a chamfered circular base. The inner bowl is circular and lead lined. There is lock damage at the N of the rim. Around the centre of the bowl is an inscription in two rows of angular capitals, reading: WIGBERHTUS ARTIFEX ATQ. CEMENTARIUS HUNC FABRICAVIT/ QVISQVIS SVVM VENIT MERGERE CORPUS PROCUL DUBIO CAPIT.

This is all legible, and while it is certainly incomplete at the end of each line owing to the presence of a large repair, the main drift of the message is clear enough: WIGBERHTUS CRAFTSMAN AND MASON MADE THIS. WHOEVER COMES TO IMMERSE HIS BODY WILL DOUBTLESS GAIN. Although whether he will gain something specific (now lost) or simply feel the benefit in a more general way is not clear.

Dimensions

overall h.	0.96 m
h. of main block (bowl + stem)	0.71 m
ext. diam. at top	0.635 m
int. diam. of bowl	0.54 m

VII History

Gunfrid de Chocques was the main landowner in 1086 with three hides and 1½ virgates of land with a priest, formerly held by Swein. The Count of Mortain held half a hide and half a virgate.

Benefice of Great Billing with Little Billing.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Taylor (1978), VCH and Okasha (1971) all accept the angular majuscule lettering as a pointer to an Anglo-Saxon date. Earlier Paley (1844), Bond (1908) and Tyrrell-Green (1928) had compared the lettering to that on the Great Seal of William I, dating it to the early Norman period. Pevsner also called it Norman. The commonest comparison for this kind of font is with Potterne (Wilts) - inscribed with a quotation from Psalm 42 - although Okasha rejected an Anglo-Saxon date for that. Paley's illustration is interesting in reproducing part of the inscription (which he transcribed correctly in the text) entirely inaccurately.

IX Bibliography

F. Bond, Fonts and Font Covers, London 1908, 107-113.
E. Okasha, Anglo-Saxon non-runic Inscriptions. Cambridge 1971, no.85 and p.149.
F. A. Paley, Illustrations of Baptismal Fonts. London 1844.
N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire. Harmondsworth 1961, rev. B. Cherry 1973, 351.
H. M. and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture. III, 1978, 1065.
E. Tyrrell-Green, Baptismal Fonts. London 1928.
Victoria County History: Northamptonshire. IV (1937), 74-76.