Divine Art

The church contains the finest seven sacrament font in England. It was carved and painted towards the end of the 15th century with images of villagers being baptised, married, given the last rites and so on.

About thirty of these wonderful art objects survive in England, but I find the Westhall font remarkable for still retaining its original colour which is a reminder that our medieval churches were originally vibrant and thrilling spaces. However many times I see it, it fills me with awe.

It is so ancient, and yet it speaks to us today with an immediacy. It was created at a time when England was still a Catholic country, but it has been retained and used for baptisms down the centuries since, and is still in use today.

Westhall font detail

I find it so inspiring because it gives us an insight into the minds and imaginations of Westhall's parishioners more than half a millennium ago. It is a touchstone down the long generations to the lost England of our remote past.

If art is inspiring, it is often because of the passion and faith of those who created it. Here at Westhall, there is a perfect example of this. The Westhall font is beautiful and it was at the spiritual centre of a community of people whose lives were often nasty, brutish and short.

It lives on to link us to the people who created it, the people who loved it and who were inspired by it themselves. This is humbling. If it were in a museum in London we would all gladly trek down and pay handsomely for the privilege of seeing it, but here it is in the Suffolk fields, in a simple church which is open every day.

I visit it as often as I can, spending time interpreting the panels and looking at what the figures are doing. I see something new every time, whether it be the expression on the face of the man on his death bed being given the last rites, or the excitement of the couple beginning the adventure of marriage in their 1480s clothes. Facing east, towards the altar, is the mass panel which is the most dramatic image of all. The Priest raises the host, and the centuries fall away.