Selsey

Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Harrison (1920) writes: "The old parish church of St. Mary, at Norton (two miles from the village), was demolished in 1865, with the exception of chancel. The material of the old church was used in building the new church of St. Peter", as was the old late-Norman font. The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 4, 1953) notes: "Till 1864 the parish church of St. Peter [...] stood at Church Norton on the south bank of Pagham Harbour; it consisted of chancel, aisled nave, south porch, and an incomplete tower rising about 8 ft. above ground. It was built of flint rubble with ashlar dressings, and roofed with tile. [...] In that year this church, with the exception of the chancel, was demolished, and the materials used for the construction of a new church at the northern end of the village at Selsey [...] The font, of about the 12th century, is a square bowl with shallow arcading on the sides supported by one thick and four slender shafts." In Nairn & Pevsner (1965) with date ca. 1100" [cf. infra]. Whiteman (1994) informs that the old church at Church Norton was demolished in 1864, with most of the materials being "used in building Selsey's present church of St Peter a mile to the south. The old chancel, now a chapel dedicated to St Wilfrid and in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund, still stands on the wild shore of Pagham harbour. [...] The Norman font from the old church is also there." Noted and illustrated in the CRSBI (2008): "Located at the W end of the nave. A square, Sussex marble bowl carved with four shallow, round-headed arches with curved plinths on each side. Circular interior. The underside of the bowl is moulded to receive the four slender angle shafts. These and the thick, central shaft rest on a worn plinth incorporating base mouldings. [...] Nairn dated the font c.1100. This is probably rather early, although it belongs to a type which seems to have been produced in large numbers throughout the 12thc. and early 13thc. and which is difficult to date. [...] It has been suggested that the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was demolished soon after the transfer of the see, and replaced by a new aisleless church. A new font would have been provided at the same time." [NB: the base looks in a suspiciously much better state than the basin; was it a later replacement?]. Of the old church in Church Norton only the 13th-century chancel remains, which is now used as a chapel dedicated to St. Wilfrid; inside there is 19th-century font with a decagonal basin; it is said to be originally from the demolished church of St. Martin, in Chichester.