Little Baddow No. 2

A medieval holy-water stoup noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923): "In nave--E. of S. doorway, with trefoiled ogee head, 14th-century, basin gone." No font is mentioned in the RCHM, but Pevsner (1976) notes: "Font. Circular trough with four handles, resting on a mill-wheel." An anonymous and undated pamphlet entitled 'A brief description of the Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Little Baddow', reports: "A stoup, formerly used for holy water, is let into the wall by the south door." The same source notes: "The very primitive Norman Font outside the Church by the west door, was found in a garden in Boreham parish, about a mile away. The present Font in Little Baddow Church was placed there in 1858, and there is no record to show how the previous one was disposed of. It is uncertain therefore, whether this Norman Font came originally from Boreham (where there is an Early English Font) or from our parish Church. Probability, however, is on the side of the latter, as, if the Early English Font replaced it in Boreham, it would have had to have survived six hundred years of neglect." This same source informs that the font cover is the work of a local parishioner responsible for the processional cross and the list of rectors on the wall." [NB: since the RCHM does not include post-1714 materials it is likely that the font itself may indeed be a 19th-century replacement, as indicated in the pamphlet, and therefore falls outside the scope of this Index on account of its late date -- we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]