St James, Ewhurst, Sussex
I Location
- Site Location
- Ewhurst
- National Grid Reference
- TQ 795 245
- County
-
traditional:
Sussex
now: East Sussex - Diocese
-
medieval:
Chichester
now: Chichester - Dedication
-
medieval:
not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St James - Type of building/monument
- Parish church
II General Description
The church comprises a W tower (Transitional, with an Early English doorway), a nave with S aisle (early 13thc.) and N aisle (late 13thc.), and a square-ended chancel. The vestry is modern. Restored 1874.
V Furnishings
1. Fonts
(i)
-
-
Font
-
-
Font, spandrel
The font (location: in S aisle, to W of S doorway) is of Sussex marble, with a tapering, square bowl supported by a cylindrical shaft on a square plinth. The interior is circular and lead lined. The sides are carved with plain sunk panels and the spandrel areas on the upper surface with stylised leaf motifs. Damage to the E and W sides of the rim was probably caused by the removal of staples for a lock. The cylindrical shaft is topped by two fat roll mouldings rather than a conventional capital. The shallow, heavily eroded base clearly had prominent angle spurs. The original plinth stands on a square modern plinth in a different type of stone.
Dimensions
| h. of ensemble | 0.98 m |
| h. of original font (without modern plinth) | 0.81 m |
| h. of bowl | 0.21 m |
| l. of N and S sides of bowl | 0.70 m |
| l. of E and W sides of bowl | 0.69 m |
VII History
Ewhurst is not mentioned in the Domesday Book.
VIII Comments/Opinions
Although this font probably just squeezes into the 13thc., it represents the continuation of a regional type, which originated and thrived in the late 12thc.
IX Bibliography
- M. F. Drummond-Roberts, Some Sussex Fonts Photographed and Described. Brighton 1935, 36.
- I. Nairn and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex, 1965, 498.
- F. Harrison, Notes on Sussex Churches, 109.
- (Not in Walker, 1908.)