The Font At Winterbourne Monkton

[poliphilo]

The font is Saxon and the carving Norman (that's what my sources say, anyway) 



The zig-zag meander suggests water, and the curving shapes underneath look like horns of plenty.

And then there's this extraordinary figure.



A big-bellied woman, legs splayed, with a leafy sprig coming out of her vulva. In her right hand she holds a sickle. Her face is blank. Her headdress has little points suggesting either horns or a crown. The meander begins at the tip of her sickle and terminates in her cupped left hand. 

That's what I think we're seeing anyway. The carving is so rough there may be other interpretations. Traces of paint remain. 

Who is she- A river goddess? A fertility goddess? St Mary Magdalene? I really don't know. 

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

On second look, I'm interested in the post that is smack in the middle of the pews--looks like a tree!--to Ailz's left.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, well spotted! There are two of them and they're there to support the tower. They seem old- 17th century perhaps.