Stoughton

Harrison (1920) entry for this church notes: "The details of the fine chancel arch (11h c.) seem to indicate Saxon rather than early Nor[man] work", but reports a late-Norman font in it." [cf. infra]. The Victoria County History (Sussex, vol. 4, 1953) reports that Stoughton is mentioned in Domesday (1086) with a church already there, and notes: "The eastern part of the church is probably the very building mentioned in Domesday Book, [...] the nave was built or reconditioned in the 13th century, the porch dates from the 17th [...] The font is a copy of a 12th-century form with square bowl and five shafts, but is, like the other fittings, modern." Noted and illustrated in Chris Partridge's 'Looking at Sussex Churches' [http://sussexchurchez.blogspot.com/2009/02/sussex-fonts.html] [accessed 22 July 2010]. The baptismal font consists of a square basin with vertical sides; only two sides of the basin are visible in our source: one has a blind arcade of four round arches, the other, contiguous to the right, is decorated with a plant or Tree of Life motif; raised on a broad central shaft and four slender angle colonnettes, all plain but the base is moulded around the columns; the second volume of the lower base is made of multiple blocks. Round and flat wooden cover, with metal decoration and ring handle; probably modern as well. The font is probably not a copy of any particular font, but rather a Victorian rendition of a Norman type. [NB: we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]