Leigh nr. Reigate / Lee / Legh / Leghe / Leygh / Lye / The Lea

No entry for this Leigh found in the Domesday survey. A letter to the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of June 1828: 489) on the Parish of Leigh, in the Weald of Surrey, notes the church and its font: "The font is a large stone, surmounted by a leaden reservoir." Appears in Allen (1831) described in exactly those words. Brayley (1850) mentions an old gallery at the west end of the nave, "beneath which is the font, a large circular basin, of lead, for immersion." The Victoria County History (Surrey, vol. 3, 1911) notes: "The advowson of the church was granted to the priory of St. Mary Overy, Southwark, by charter of Hamelin de Warenne in 1202; [...] it is not evident when it ceased to belong to this priory, but the church was in the hands of the Prior and convent of Newark next Guildford by 1262 [...] The [present] building is of 15th-century origin, but has been much modernized [...] The font has an octagonal bowl of grey marble with shallow trefoiled panels in 13th-century style, carried on a central stone stem and a cluster of shafts." The entry for this church in English Heritage [Listing NGR: TQ2245346944] (1966) notes: "Octagonal marble font on centre stem with surrounding pillars and three 'shouldered' arched panels on each face", but has nothing on the missing lead basin. [NB: the leaden reservoir must have been removed between 1850 and 1911 -- we have no information on its whereabouts]