West Wickham

Hone (1827) shows righteous indignation at the ignominious state of the interior of West Wickham church, and of the action resulting from his wrath: "Worst of all. --and I mean no offence to no one, but surely there is blame somewhere,-- the ancient stone font, which is in all respects perfect, has been removed from its original situation, and is thrown into a corner. In its place, at the west end, from a nick (not a niche) between the seats, a little trivet-like iron bracket swings in and out, and upon it is a wooden hand-bowl, of about twelve inches diameter, called a font, I found a common blue Staffordshire-ware halfpint basin. It might be there still; but, while inveighing to my friend W. against the depravation of the fine old font, and the substitution of such a paltry modicum, in my vehemence I fractured the crockery. I felt that I was angry, and, perhaps, I sinned; but I made restitution beyond the extent that would replace the baptismal slop-basin." Many years later the story is related by Bond (1908), refers to Hone's visit and some of its findings: "found a small basin in a large bowl at West Wickham"; plainly, adds Bond (ibid.), "the practice was to use a small vessel for affusion, and a large one to receive the drippings. It is true that this practice may have been adopted in late days merely for convenience, but it is also possible that it is a survival of Pre-Reformation usage." Later, Bond (ibid.) gives his own version of the wrathful action: "a little trivet used to swing out, and upon it was a wooden hand bowl, such as scullions use in a kitchen sink; and in this hand bowl of about twelve inches diameter Hone found a common blue and white Staffordshire ware half-pint basin. While inweighing against it, Hone in his vehemence broke 'the baptismal slop-basin' and had to replace it at his own expense." Bond uses this incident to add a further baptismal anecdote in a footnote (ibid., p. 273n), one referred to a Mr. 'Compo', the eminent architect of Gothic Revival, who had "submitted plans for a church; a thing after the manner of Pugin's Contrasts, only more so. The good old parson timidly remarked that he did not see any indication of the font. 'Font, my dear sir, Font', says Mr. Compo, 'I assure you that fonts are now quite obsolete. We supply a charmin little thing in Wedgwood at three-and-six [3s. 6d], which can be placed on the Communion table when wanted, and beneath it when not wanted." [Bond gives "J.T.F." as source for the anecdote]. The church itself is reported in the Victoria County History (The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796)) as having been "rebuilt by Sir Henry Heydon, in the reign of Henry VII [i.e., 1485+]. It consists of a chancel, nave, and north aisle: on the south side, at the west end, is a low square tower." The font is succontly mentioned in Glynne's vist of 1833 (1877) as "a plain octagon". [NB: we have no information at present about the discarded font, whether it was the original one or a late-15th century replacement]