Barking

Noted in Parker (1855): "Font, an octagon, wit slightly sunk panels in the bowl." Baptismal font probably of the 15th century in the Perpendicular style and of a type common in in the area: the basin is octagonal with vertical sides decorated with the symbols of the Evangelists and angles holding shields alternately, all deeply carved; the upper underbowl chamfer has cherubs at the angles, the wings spreading and decorating the sides; the lower underbowl chamfer has eight rosettes; the stem of the base has four protruding sedente lions at 90-degree angles, while the sides themselves have four standing woodwooses or wildmen armed with clubs, all of it in keeping with this common design. Ornate wooden cover, about 5-6 feet tall, in the shape of a traceried carved-through pyramid, all the arches ending in cusped pinnacles; dated in Betjeman (1958) to the 15th century, the same period as the font. The font-cover is noted in Howard & Crossley (1919).