The church of St John the Evangelist was newly built in 1851 in this N Oxfordshire hamlet. It houses a decorated Romanesque font that came from Over Worton nearby.

The Romanesque font came from Holy Trinity, Over Worton, a church nearby that was almost entirely rebuilt in 1844, just before St John’s, Hempton (Sherwood and Pevsner, 1974).

Hempton is in the Deddington benefice with Barford St Michael and Barford St John.

The font looks as if a slice has been removed from the top of it, resembling that at Sandford St Martin, less than 5 miles away, where the design is also interrupted at the top. Neither of these fonts show any lock damage, and this might provide a possible explanation. If there was major damage to the font rim, then excising the top part might have been the best way to salvage it.