Westhampnett / Hamptonett / Hamtona / Hentone / West Hampnett

Harrison's (1920) entry for this church notes: "Restored in 1867 and 1876. The chancel is of Saxon work ; unfortunately the arch, constructed of Roman bricks, has been 'restored' away, but the herring-bone work of Roman tiles still remains", and reports an octagonal font dated 1660. Listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one in a very large group of baptismal fonts that are plain octagonal with straightsided basins. The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 4, 1953) notes: "The church, which is mentioned in Domesday Book, originally consisted of a chancel and a nave; in the 13th century it was enlarged [...] In the north-east corner of the (otherwise rebuilt) porch are the remains of a holy water stoup."; the VCH (ibid.) further notes a pre-Conquest window now blocked; there is no mention of a font in the VCH entry. The 1938 church interior plan shown in the VCH entry has a font located in a central bay of the arcade between the nave and the south aisle, Described in Whiteman (1994): "The font, with octagonal bowl and stem, is 17th-century". The wooden font cover consists of an octagonal castellated base with eight vertical scroll ribs meeeting at an acorn (?) finial; the design is also 17th-century, but it could be a Victorin rendering of the old type. [NB: we have no information on the font of the pre-Conquest church here].