Ashurst / Ashurt nr. Henfield

Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Early English period. Noted in Walker (1908). Harrison (1920) reports a "Square font, with arcade" of the Early English period in this church. Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as an early baptismal font consisting of a square basin mounted on a broad central column and four outer colonnettes. In Drummond-Roberts (1935). The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 6, pt. 2, 1986) notes: "The church at Ashurst, begun before 1200, [...] remained a chapel of Steyning parish [...] until the 16th century. [...] Most internal fittings are 19th-century, but the font has a square 13th-century bowl of Sussex marble decorated with arcading on one side and carried on five columns." Whiteman (1998) writes: "The 13th-century font has a square bowl incised with pointed arcading on one side". Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2008), which notes: "The font was found embedded in an internal buttress. Although it may be 12thc. in origin, the carved arcade is Gothic, and probably dates from 13thc. The arcade is notionally formed, however, from intersecting round-headed arches. The similar font at Buxted is carved with pointed arches enclosing trefoil tracery)".