Hawkridge

No individual entry found for this Hawkridge in the Domesday survey. The font is described in a presentation to a meeting of the Archaeological Institute, 7 June 1850 (Archaeological Journal, vol. 7, 1850: 300): "The font stands at the extreme west end of the nave, against the north wall; its character is Early Norman, circular, but contracted towards the bottom ,without ornament of any kind; it appears to have been cut from a solid block of dark river-stone, and is lined with lead; height, 3 feet, diameter, 2 feet. The original base has been destroyed, and a few bricks raise it from the ground." Noted in Wilson (1870-1872): "a Norman font, hewn out of a native block of stone, at least half a ton in weight". Described in Pevsner (1958): "Circular, Norman, defaced cable-moulding at the top of the bowl." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SS8611230649] notes: "Parish church. Norman south door, C14 chancel and base of tower, rest Perpendicular, restored 1878.Norman baluster font, cable moulded with incised grid pattern to bowl." The basin has a decorative pattern between this thick moulding and a thinner one at the lower end; the broad cylindrical stem is plain and there is a broader lower base, also round, and a quadrangular plinth that is probably modern, as is also the round and flat wooden cover.