All Saints, Beckley, Sussex

I Location

Site Location: Beckley
National Grid Reference: TQ 842 236
County: traditional: Sussex
now: East Sussex
Diocese: medieval: Chichester
now: Chichester
Dedication: medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): All Saints
Type of building/monument: Parish church

II General Description

Beckley church has an 11thc. W tower with herringbone masonry at the lower level. The nave is flanked by aisles with late 13thc. arcades and the chancel seems to date from the early 14thc. The present font is 18thc., but fragments of its 12thc. predecessor survive in the church.

V Furnishings

: Font fragment

: Font fragment

: Font fragment

: Font fragment

: Font fragment

1. Fonts

(i)

Located at the W end of the S aisle. Fragmentary angle of Bethesden (Sussex) marble bowl which was originally rectangular or square externally and ovoid (?) internally. Each face is fluted; there is no trace of carving on the worn spandrel.

Dimensions

max. h. of bowl	0.205 m
max. w.	0.345 m
max. d.	0.370 m

VII History

Beckley was not mentioned in the Domesday Book. The gift of Beckley church to the canons of St Mary-in-Castro, Hastings, by Count Robert of Eu was confirmed by Robert's grandson, Henry, in the 12thc.

VIII Comments/Opinions

There is no comparable font in Sussex, as arcading was always more popular than fluting. A fluted Sussex marble capital from Battle Abbey cloister can be datedc.1160-70, providing some guidance for the date for this font (c.1175?).

IX Bibliography

I. Nairn and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex. Harmondsworth 1965, 412-13.
Victoria County History: Sussex. 9 (Rape and Honour of Hastings). 1937, 147-48.