Shere / Essira / Schyre / Shiere / Shire / Shyre / Sire

There is an entry for Shere [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TQ0747/shere/] [accessed 21 August 2015]; it mentions a church in it. A font here is illustrated in Manning (1804-1814). Allen (1831) refers to Manning's illustration of this font. Described in Brandon (1849) as a baptismal font of the Early English period mounted on a columnar base. Noted in Parker's Glossary (1850) as Norman. Brayley (1850) writes: "The font, of Sussex marble, is peculiar in form, and very ancient. The upper stone is square, and has a circular bason for immersion: it is supported by a thick central column, and also by four smaller shafts at the angles, having capitals of sculptured foliage: at the bottom is a triplicated series of round mouldings, surrounding the base of all the columns." Illustrated in Hussey (1852) with an engraving by J. Swaine. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a "cublical with shafts at the angles" baptismal font of the Early English period made of dark Petworth marble from Sussex. [NB: C&H also list a font at Shere, Sussex] Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as one of "a curious and beautiful class of cup fonts". Described in the Victoria County History (Surrey, vol. 3, 1911): "Close to the west respond of the aisle arcade stands the beautiful font of Purbeck marble, mounted on a stone base-block and step. Its date may be either that of the south doorway—c. 1170—or of the aisle —c. 1200—probably the former. The upper part of the bowl is square with three scallopings, beneath which it changes into a circular form of a bold round section, and the parts left at the angles are carved into the foliated capitals of the four corner-shafts, which, with a stout central drum, support the bowl. These rest upon a continuous base-moulding, which has a deep hollow between two round members, and is carried separately round the shafts and drum." The font has a square basin ornamented with scalloped pattern on the lower sides; it is mounted on a broad centre shaft and four slender colonnettes at the corners, the latter with leaf capitals, all five with moulded bases. The whole is raised on a square plinth of approximately the same width as the basin. There is a flat wooden lid with metal handles on this font. A plaque inside the church commemorates the restoration of the font in 1954, dedicated to the memory of Reynold Jocelyn Onslow Bray, a member of the British-Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1936-1939. Noted in Leach (1975) as a font made of Purbeck marble: "bowl with lower part shaped to fit supports; the subsidiary shafts have foliated capitals" [source given: VCH, 3, 1911].