Beckenham

Hone (1827) writes of a visit to this church, which he describes as "an old edifice -- despoiled of its ancient font"."A font often denotes the antiquity, and frequently determines the former importance of the church, and is so essential a part of the edifice, that it is incomplete without one. According to the rubrick, a church may be without a pulpit, but not without a font; hence, almost the first thing I look for in an old church is its old stone font. Instead thereof at Beckenham, is a thick wooden baluster, with an unseemlv circular flat lid, covering a sort ot wash-hand basin, and this the "gentlemen of the parish call a "font"! The odd-looking thing was "a present" from a parishioner, in lieu of the ancient stone font which, when the church was repaired after the lightning-storm, was carried away by Mr. churchwarden Bassett, and placed in his yard. It was afterwards sold to Mr. Henry Holland, the former landlord of the "Old Crooked Billet", on Penge Common, who used it for several years as a cistern, and the present landlord has it now in his garden, where it appears as represented in the engraving. Mr. Harding expresses an intention of making a table of it, and placing it at the front of his house: in the interim it is depicted here, as a hint, to induce some regard in Beckenham people, and save the venerable font from an exposure, which, however intended as a private respect to it by the host of the "Crooked Billet" would be a public shame to Beckenham parish." The illustration in Hone (ibid.) shows the bottom part of a hexagonal basin, with a central drain hole, the outer sides apparently decorated with piping of the supporting columns of an arcade. Glynne (1877) notes a "Rectilinear" church here but no font is mentioned in the entry for his 1829 visit to Beckenham. There is now [2009] a modern font in this church, octagonal, with a modern cover that is octagonal and flat, with fancy (bronze) metalwork decoration and four handles [NB: we have no information on the present whereabouts of this object]