Since Easter, work has been underway to move the cathedral’s 12^th century Romanesque font from its cramped and awkward location between two pillars into a far more central location. The font has now successfully been moved to the West End of the cathedral ensuring that baptism can regain its pre-eminent role in the life and worship of the cathedral community. Whilst the works aren’t completely finished, we thought it would be good to provide an update so far!

Works began with the digging of a 6m x 4m hole (with a depth of 90cm) to allow a firm foundation to hold the 2.5 tonnes of stone and font. The font was then removed from its Victorian base and moved on to a set of large Wattscliffe Sandstone sections which had been installed. The four protomes (lion heads) have also been moved and installed with the font, but rotated by 45 degrees to allow clergy better access to the font when conducting baptisms.

The stone floor tiles which were in the area have all been removed, carefully cleaned and then reinserted around the font in its new position and its previous location. During the project it was discovered that there was an 8cm fall in the floor level from the west doors moving eastwards as well as a fall on both the north and south side. This meant that the replacement tiling had to be built back up to create the impression of a level floor and to keep it fully accessible.

With the font in its new position and the majority of the tiles relayed, the focus of the works will now turn to the making good of the previous font site. Finally, there will also be the creation and mounting of a red and gold quatrefoil plate within the existing quatrefoil above the west doors to finish the project.

This brief update does not fully illustrate the huge range of incredibly skilled work carried out by the teams from Miles Building & Conservation Ltd and Hudson Stonework Ltd (with additional ground workers from TS Jones Ltd in Marden) on this intricate and very special project. Some fencing around the site will remain in place over the coming weeks as the final stages of the project are carried out and to protect the tiles as they bed in.

We look forward to sharing more with you once the project is finally completed!

Images by Gareth Miles

The contractors working on this project are:
Miles Building & Conservation Ltd
Hudson Stonework Ltd

The Chapter is grateful to Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust for securing the following generous donations and grants which were made specifically for this project by: 
Lord Savile’s Charitable Settlement (1981) in memory of Tom Davies, Chair of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust 1998-2007
In memory of James Nicholas DL
The Headley Trust
Sir Roy Strong CH
Clive Richards Foundation
Derek Trumper
David Plowman
Carolyn Beves
Marcus and Liz Steel
Patrick, Oliver & Tommy Vaughan
The Reverend Canon Bill Richards & Mrs Jane Richards
This project has also been generously supported in memory of Jeremy and Anne Clay who were both great supporters of the Cathedral during their lifetimes.