L Font

After the Tate Panel painting, by far the most important artefact in the church is the magnificently carved font cover, for which Grinling Gibbons was paid the sum of £12. The cover is made of limewood, and was given to the church by Mr James Foyle in 1682.

The font was carved by hand from Gibraltar limestone by a Sicilian prisoner-of-war named Tulipani, and is a memorial to the tunnellers of the Royal Engineers.

It stands in the Baptistry of the church, which was rebuilt after the war by the Northcott family in memory of Commander WC Northcott RN.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FONT COVER IS ON LOAN TO TATE BRITAIN UNTIL MAY 2012 FOR THEIR EXHIBITION ON PROTESTANT ICONOGRAPHY AND THE DECORATION OF ANGLICAN CHURCHES FROM 1660 UNTIL THE 18TH CENTURY.

Information about visiting the exhibition will be available shortly - watch this space! 

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