Thursley / Thoreseley / Thoresley

No individual entry found for Thursley in the Domesday survey. The font here was noted in a letter to the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of November 1799, vol. 86: 921): "The font is the frustrum of an inverted cone. Near the top is a rude effort of ornament, but nearly obliterated by time." Allen (1831) remarks that the church must be earlier than 1292, since it appears in the rating of that time; Allen (ibid.) describes the font: "large, round, and having a belt round the middle and top, on which is some carving." In Brayley (1850): "The font is a large and circular basin of Sussex marble." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The font is bucket-shaped, with a pronounced roll moulding around its middle; near the upper rim is an incised band of chevron motif, that could very well be a later addition; stands on a modern square plinth. The wooden cover is round and flat, with netal decoration and ring handle; modern. The Victoria County History (Surrey, vol. 3, 1911) notes: "A chapel at Thursley was taxed with Witley in 1291 [...] originally a chapel-of-ease to Witley, The mother church is mentioned in Domesday, but this is not, making it a matter of doubt whether there was a chapel on the site prior to about 1100, which is the approximate date of the earliest features in the existing building." The VCH (ibid.), which has a drawing illustration of the old font, further notes that the early font in Chilworth may possibly have been originally from Elstead, brought to Chilworth ca. 1850, whereas "the original was early Norman, like that at Thursley. [footnoted: information of the late Rev. J. R. Charlsworth and of the late Mr. H. Woodyer.]"