Hartford Hundred West Group of Parishes
The Wedgwood Font
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The Essendon font is one of six “black basalt” baptismal fonts made by the famous pottery firm Josiah Wedgwood. Black basalt ware is a type of hard, black stoneware first produced by Josiah Wedgwood around 1768. The name comes from the volcanic rock basalt, and the ware was inspired by Egyptian Black pottery.
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Only two of these fonts remain in churches. Both were donated by Samuel Whitbread, the brewer and friend of Wedgwood. The other may be seen at Cardington, Bedfordshire, Whitbread’s birthplace. The remaining fonts are located in museums in England and USA.
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In 1765 Samuel Whitbread moved to Bedwell Park in the parish of Essendon. He gave the Wedgwood font to the church in 1778 to mark the completion of rebuilding work. The font was presented to the church by his 8 year old daughter Mary. This portrait is of Mary at the age of 13.
The font nearly left Essendon around 1880, when the present church building was being constructed. Richard Green, son of Isaac Green of Essendon Mill, had previously emigrated to Australia and settled near Melbourne, naming the area in which he had made his new home Essendon. When the church of St James, Essendon, Australia was built, Richard requested the Wedgwood font for it. At that time the font had been discarded in the belfry. This was agreed but fortunately no one was willing to pay the freight charges, so the font remained at Essendon.
When the font is in use, a small silver gilt paten is placed on a pedestal inside. Its base bears the inscription: ‘Mary Whitbread, born at Bedwell Park, gave the font and this vase to the Church of Essendon in the County of Hertfordshire. MDCCLXXVIII’.