Arreton / Adderton / Adherton / Adrintone / Aireton / Arreton / Artone / Atherton

There is an entry for Arreton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SZ5386/arreton/] [accessed 13 February 2020]; it reports "1 church. 0.25 church lands" in it. Cox (1911) reports a good modern font on an Early English base: "a beautiful Purbeck marble font, modelled from fragments of the old one, c.1200, which came to light during the restoration." The Victoria County History (Hampshire, vol. 5, 1912) notes: "The church of Arreton was held in 1086 by the abbey of Lire [...] must have been built before 1086 […] In 1863 a 'restoration' […] took place, which was completed in 1886 […] At the latter date shattered remains of the 13th-century font were brought to light as well as some fragments of sculpture now fixed in the east wall of the north aisle. The latter are excellent work of the period of the rebuilding of the chancel, and represent a dragon's head in freestone with traces of colour and a draped figure inclosed in a quatrefoil in Purbeck stone" [NB: some claim that the dragon's head may have one of the fragments of the font]. The VCH (ibid.) adds that "The font is modern, based on the motif of the remains found at the 1886 restoration." In Lloyd & Pevsner (2006): "Font, 1886. Square bowl of grey marble, with round corner shafts; the design is based on remains of a C13 font found during the restoration." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SZ5344486760] ntes: "Parish church. C11 nave and part of chancel, north aisle of c.1200 altered C15, South aisle, west doorway and clerestorey C13, late C13 chancel including chancel arch and 3 bay south chapel. Upper stage of tower and angle buttresses C15. South porch C16. Some restoration c1885. [...] Font is Victorian copy of a Norman one." [NB: the Purbeck marble plinth on which the restored [new?] font stands may the original one of the 13th century] [NB: the fabric of the church goes back to late Anglo-Saxon times, but we have no information on the earlier font of that church -- cf. infra] [NB: we have no information on the present location of the 13th-century fragments(s) of the font, although some sources claim that they are now built into the chancel. A further claim is that the panel with two fish adorning the new font came from the vicarage garden]. Listed in Leach (1975) without details as a font made of Purbeck marble [source given: Dr. G.C. Dunning].