Sonning / Sonninges

There is an entry for Sonning [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SU7575/sonning/] [accessed 25 March 2015]; the chief tenant in 1086 was "Roger the priest", and there was a church in it. Buck (1951) notes: "the stone book-rest is attached to the pillar alongside which the font has been placed", of which Buck mentions Wraxall (Somerset), Sonning (Berkshire), Beckley (Oxfordshire) and Gillingham (Kent). The Victoria County History (Berkshire, vol. 3, 1923) remarks that the font was 'renewed' in 1852; a church interior plan in the VCH entry shows a font in south aisle, near the north side of the aisle, by the 3rd pillar, and further notes that some parts of the church date back to the Norman and Early English periods. An entry describing a photograph of this object in the Historic England Archive in The National Archives [ref.: CC97/02849] [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/7c2e254e-9d1b-4600-a264-2f3ef9424213] [accessed 18 March 2024] reads: "The pillar font, with an original Norman spiral shaft and tower-like cover, standing against a painted column in the church. The church was mainly rebuilt in the Victorian period [...] Black and white [...] Photographer: Henry W Taunt" [NB: the photo is not available]. Paper Size: 5 x 8 INS Photographer: Henry W Taunt