Rainham nr. Barking

Illustrated with an engraving by J. Basire in Repton (1812), who dates it "from the Conquest [1066] to the reign of King Henry the Second" [1154+], but the lower parts "were added about the fifteenth or sixteenth century." The font is described in a paper 'Notes on Rainham Church' written by Miss Fry and read to the annual meeting (28 July 1864) of the Essex Archaeological Society (The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 217, 1864: 320): "The ancient font has lately been restored to use, after having been laid aside in the belfry for a long series of years. It is now placed in a pew adjoining one of the piers. It is circular, measuring 6 ft. 8 1/2 in. round, by 1 ft. 2 in. deep. There is a projection on one side, now shapeless. The stem appears to be of later date than the font itself; but, the whole is so thickly coated with white paint as to render a complete description of it difficult." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period, the bowl as Norman, the shaft of a later date; C&H point out the "semicircular projection, level with the rim of the font, standing out a little distance; whilst on the opposite side is a small portion of another similar projection, most of which has been broken away". Described in Bond (1908): "The circular Norman font at Rainham, Essex, has a small bracket attached to the rim of a circular bowl, and the remains of another similar one opposite". [NB: Bond has the county as Essex in the text and as Sussex in the index locorum -- Raingam used to be in Essex but it is now part of the Greater London area]. Noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923): "Font: roughly circular bowl with chamfered under-edge and two projecting lobes, one broken, for fastening, 12th-century." The Victoria County History (Essex, vol. 7, 1978) notes: "In 1066 a priest held ½ hide freely in Rainham. [...] This suggests the existence of a church there before the Conquest, though the present building dates only from the later 12th century. [...] The font has a 12th-century bowl with a 15th-century octagonal stem."