The medieval church of St Lawrence, mentioned in the Domesday Book, was
demolished and rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry in 1843-45. It appears to have had
two Norman piers, but the style of their capitals is
not recorded. A late 18thc. view of the interior shows the font (V.1.i), which
was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1863. The stencilling dates from
that time, as does the machine-smooth surface. In 1908, Walker referred to the
rim as 'put on recently' (Walker 1901, 118).
The 'mortar' (V.4.i) was retrieved from Little Park Farm at an unknown
date. It was published by Walker, who identified it as a font and gave several
bibliographic references for it. Her identification of it as a font seems to be
based on the discovery of a similar piece under the floor of St Etheldreda's in
London, which was described as a 'stoup' by Scott.
Harrison also identified it as a font. A similar piece survives in Aldingbourne
Church (W Sussex).
A text of 1806 referred to 'the font, which seems very antient and is,
perhaps, the only relick of the Church mentioned in Domesday' (cited in Norris
1993, 8). This probably refers to the font (V.1.i) rather than the mortar
(V.4.i).
A previous church on the site was dedicated to St Lawrence.
