Piddinghoe / Peddinghowe / Pidingeho / Pydynghowe

Harrison (1920) reports a late-Norman square font in this church. The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 7, 1940) notes: "The church of St. John [...] the nave and tower are probably of early-12th-century date [...] The font is a plain square block mounted on a square pedestal having on each face a pair of vertical square recesses, each containing another vertical trefoil-headed recess, the whole standing on a square base and apparently dating from the late-13th century." Described in Whiteman (1994): "The square green sandstone font is 13th-century". [NB: green sandstone was not an uncommon building material in Sussex in the 15th century. The tower of Little Horsted St. Michael's, for instance, dated ca. 1500, was also built of green sandstone ashlar (cf. Whiteman, ibid., p. 101). Another baptismal font in this county made of the same material is at Litlington - cf. Index entry]. The Roughwood British Churches Album [www.roughwood.net/ChurchAlbum/EastSussex/Piddinghoe/PiddinghoeStJohn2004.htm] [accessed 31 October 2012] has: "The font is 13th century and during the 1882 work was moved from the west end of the nave to its present position in the south aisle. It is carved from green sandstone known as Eastbourne rock. The cover was given by the Sunday School in 1905." [NB: we have no information on the font from the 12th-century church here].