LINCOLNSHIRE FONTS there is a double row of arcading with the signs of the Zodiac above, and figures cleverly emblematic of the months below. At Childrey, Berks, the figures are without arcading and represent bishops with crosiers, all quaintly of the same attenuated shape, and in very high relief. Berkshire and Oxon have several of these lead fonts, and Gloucestershire exhibits six, all cast in the same mould; Lincolnshire has only one at Barnetby-le-Wold, which is noticeable, however, as being the largest of them all, thirty-two inches in diameter; that at Brookland being the deepest with sixteen inches.
The Tournai group of black marble or basalt with thick central pedestal and four corner shafts, of which that at Winchester is the best, are described under Lincoln, in Chap. XIX. This form of support is pretty general through the thirteenth century, often with much massive carving and ornamentation on bowl and shafts, until the shafts developed, in some cases, into an open arcade round the central pillar, as best seen at Barnack, Northants. The tallest fonts and finest in design are of the fifteenth century, and are mostly octagonal pedestal fonts and frequently mounted on steps as in the churches of the Marsh near Boston, e.g., Benington and Leverton. Some bowls are found with seven panels as at Hundleby, six as at Ewerby, Heckington and Sleaford, nine as at Orleton, in Herefordshire, and at Bigby, in Lincolnshire, thus giving eight panels for figures, and allowing one to be placed against a wall or pillar; and ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen are not unknown. In our own county we have memtioned the font in nearly every case when describing a church, and will only now recall a few instances of the best. In addition to the Tournai font at Thornton Curtis and that of lead at Barnetby, the finest specimens of Early English will be found at Thorpe St. Peter's near Wainfleet—a very chaste design; the supporting shafts are gone, but the capitals show heads of bishop, king, and knight, and a knot of flowers supporting the bowl; and at Weston, near Spalding, where is one of singularly graceful form, standing on steps with a broad platform for the priest. At Thurlby, near Bourne, is a tub of Barnack stone which has pilasters all round it, and curious carved work dividing the panels, the whole being set on four square stone legs.
Of Decorated fonts, Ewerby is remarkable; hexagonal, with
