St Peter, Henfield, Sussex

I Location

Site Location
Henfield
National Grid Reference
TQ 212 162
County
traditional: Sussex
now: West Sussex
Diocese
medieval: Chichester
now: Chichester
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St Peter
Type of building/monument
Parish church

II General Description

This highly restored church comprises a W tower (Perp.), nave with aisles to N and S (13thc.), and square-ended chancel with chapel on N side (15thc.). The restoration was carried out in 1870.

V Furnishings

1. Fonts

(i)

Font.

Font.

Location: W end of S aisle. The font has an octagonal bowl of unidentified stone, probably sandstone. Its rim has been replaced (in cement?), imperfectly matching the original. The basin is lead lined. The lower part of the bowl is chamfered and rolled, and a red tinge to the underside suggests that it suffered severe fire damage at some time. The bowl is supported by an octagonal central column and four round angle colonnettes, all of which appear to have been renewed. Three of the two-roll bases may be original; the fourth has certainly been replaced, as has most of the square upper plinth. The shallow lower plinth is modern.

Dimensions
h. 1.08 m
h. excl. modern plinth 0.98 m.
h. of bowl only 4.35 m.
diam. 0.72 m
diam. of basin 0.47 m.

VII History

VIII Comments/Opinions

The polygonal form of this font is strongly in favour of a date in the early 13thc., but the decoration at the bottom of the bowl is suggestive of hyphenated chevron. It is clearly related, formally, to the Sussex marble fonts, which abounded in late 12thc. Sussex. Drummond-Roberts nevertheless dated it to the 15thc.

IX Bibliography

  • M. F. Drummond-Roberts, Some Sussex Fonts Photographed and Described. Brighton 1935, 43.
  • A. K. Walker, An Introduction to the Study of English Fonts with Details of those in Sussex. London 1908, 91-92.