Shermanbury / Salmonesberie / Salmonsberie

Mentioned in Horsefield (1835) [www.adur.org.uk/shermanbury_horesfield.htm] [accessed 30 October 2012] as a curious font, "of the age of Henry III" [i.e., the 16th century]. Described in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Perpendicular period, one of three in Sussex -Cowfold and Thakeham are the others- with "peculiar roundels on some of the panels, like those on chests of an earlier date". Harrison (1920), too, reports the font as Perpendicular. The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 6, pt. 3, 1987) notes: "There was a little church (ecclesiola) at Shermanbury in 1086, evidently the property of the lord of the manor. [...] Three carved corbel heads or capitals from the 12th century are reset inside the south-west corner of the nave. [...] The font is 15th-century, similar in design to that at Cowfold." Described and illustrated in Whiteman (1994): "The font is of similar age [as the nave, octagonal with quatrefoil and trefoil arches". Whiteman's illustration (ibid.) shows an octagonal basin with short sides, its side panels ornamented with an assortment of high-relief motifs.; the underbowl chamfer is also octagonal, plain and concave; the upper base, the stem proper, is narrower and shows a trefoil window, a quatrefoil over a double-trefoil window and another similar, though not clear, motif. The lower base is also octagonal, slightly wider than the stem and appears totally plain. The flat wooden lid topped with an acorn knob finial is probably modern. The parish web site [www.stgilesshermanbury.co.uk/] [accessed 30 October 2012] claims a different date for its font: "The font which dates to the time of Henry lll (1216-1272)", but does not explain such an early date for it. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: TQ2142218834] notes: "Chancel, nave with bell turret at west end and west porch. C14, largely rebuilt in 1710 and the nave extended in 1885. Retains its medieval fittings and C18 box-pews with the names of the principal farmhouses in the parish painted on them", but does not mention the font separately. [NB: we have no information on the font of the original 11th-century church here].