Earnley

Described in Bond (1908) as a Norman octagonal font that "is built into a wall and slopes off to a point." Harrison (1920) notes: "the font is old". The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 4, 1953) notes: "The nave is apparently 13th-century, the chancel 14th [...] The font is a plain octagon on an octagonal base, of uncertain date." The Sussex Parish Churches site [www.sussexparishchurches.org/content/view/41/33/] [accessed 20 September 2012] notes: "Font: C15 plain octagonal with a later stem. Adelaide Tracy (I p82) in 1852 shows it built into the wall below a window. Such an arrangement is unlikely to be original.", confirming the earlier location given by Bond [cf. supra]. The font consists of an octagonal basin with plain vertical sides and a plain chamfered underbowl, raised on a plain octagonal pedestal base and a moulded octagonal lower base, all the base modern. It stands on semi-buried square plinth that appears also modern. The wooden cover, low octagonal with Latin cross finial/handle, is modern. The date of the font in Bond does not match the appearance of the font, and it is very unlikely that even the basin be Norman.