Pulborough No. 2 / Poleberge

A lead tank of circular shape and Romano-British origin marked with the Chi-Rho symbol, believed to be an early baptismal font. First (?) reported in E.C. Curwen's "Roman Lead Cistern from Pulborough, Sussex", in Antiq. Journal 23 (1943): 155-157. Curwen describes the cistern as having been made of three sheets of cast lead, two rectangular ones for the sides and one for the round bottom; the cistern has a calculated capacity of 46 gallons; measurements are given in ft-in; the cistern has side handles. Noted in Guy (1981) with reference to Curwen [cf. supra] and its discovery in 1943 during drainage work in the river Arun, about 3 km southeast of Pulborough. Reported in Petts (2003: 111) as a baptismal lead tank found near the River Arun. Petts cites E.C. Curwen's "Roman Lead Cistern from Pulborough, Sussex", in Antiq. Journal 23 (1943): 155-157, as source Noted in Crerar, B. (2012). Contextualising Romano-British Lead Tanks: A Study in Design, Destruction and Deposition. Britannia, 43, 135-166. doi:10.1017/S0068113X12000232. The entry for this object in Discover Pulborough [https://discoverpulborough.uk/pulborough/] [accessed 5 July 2023] gives a diameter of 76 cm. The object is reported in Parham Park, Sussex and noted in the Historic England Research Records, Monument Number 392908 [https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=392908&resourceID=19191] [accessed 5 July 2023]