In most of the church
re-orderings I do the stone font gets moved, they vary hugely in age, a
different one in each church. Some are ancient and look amazing, others are
terrible and are badly made from poor (cheap) stone. Most I come across which
get moved are Victorian. The Victorians left few churches untouched during the
19th Century, this was not helped by the grants available at the
time increase numbers of people attending church, these grants paid out based
on pew numbers and seating capacity. This is why in many churches, altered in
the 19th Century, you will find pews squeezed into corners which
have no view, except of a stone column or other built features which completely
blocks any views.
Photo of the split-pin lewis.
Most of the churches that
approach us for a re-ordering want to move away from these restrictive Victorian
layouts. Many churches want to move away from the authoritarian approach to
worship, the growth of the evangelical ways of viewing Christianity were the traditional
liturgical rules which had always applied to a church where you entered through
a south porch and one of the first things you see is a font and you move
through the building you see things in the a certain order. There are a lot of
people today who do not think this is that important, they feel it is the
written word carries more importance than where physical objects are. They feel
the space should be flexible and help them facilitate them in worshiping God in
a way which they feel is the most inclusive and appropriate way.
An wonderful, ancient, font
relocated by the Victorians to be near the south door.
The location of many Victorian fonts
are in places where they are now seen as being in the way or impractical. Therefore
when they think about how they wish to change their church the font is often on
the list of things which need to be relocated.
Despite appearances stone fonts
are made from several sections of stone, this then has a lead pipe which runs
through the font and drains into a small soak away below the font base. After a
while you learn to find the joints and you can build a picture in your own mind
on how a stone mason could approach the work.
A typical 19th
Century stone font
Now before I move on the
practicalities used it is incredibly important to state that an experienced
stonemason who knows his/her trade should always be used, they will make it
look deceptively easy. The first font I moved I had the pleasure of working
with three brothers, all stonemasons and all working together. These three men made
it look so incredibly easy and were happy to talk to me about what they were
doing. I love listening to craftsmen who know their trade, they are minds of
information which they are usually happy to share and explain.
As you can imagine a stone font
generally weighs a lot, due to the sheer size and material. Every font I have
seen relocated a movable lifting gantry has been used. The top stone, which has
the bowl carved in it will have a drain hole which is often the same size and
most other fonts, if they are not they may well have lead or brass insert which
will come out.
A mobile lifting gantry
The stones are usually, and
hopefully, joined together with a lime mortar which can be cut through with a
hacksaw blade to allow the stone above and around it separated.
The tool I seem to always see is
the split-pin lewis which is an amazingly simple but very clever lifting pin. It
is closed to form a circular pin, this is then lowered into the hole in the
stone, the links and chain are hooked onto the lifting gantry and as the pin is
pulled the pivot wants to open the pins out. It is this that forces the two
half pins against the side of the hole allowing the stone to be lifted.
Photo of the split-pin
lewis.
Photo of the split-pin lewis.
Once lifted clear of the lower
stone(s) it can then be carefully set to one side, and then it is on to the
next stone which often has a larger hole in the centre. I have seen various
ways of lifting the subsequent layers of stone, these vary from lifting Lewis
or other pins through to lifting straps slid below the stone, and it really all
depends on the font in question.
The base of the font
being lifted with straps.
The dismantled font
being moved around.
As they are removed the stones are
placed on pallet trucks or similar safe platforms; they can then be moved to
the new base formed where it is to be re-built. The process is then repeated in
reverse, using a lime mortar to be the stone back. The ability of the font to
still drain varies from church to church, when it is intended to drain then a modest
soak away need to be made below the font for it to drain into.
I’m sure there are other ways
which are used to move these, but the methods above seem to be the methods I usually
see, I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has seen a completely different
method!
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