Billingshurst

The present baptismal font in this church consists of a cylindrical basin decorated with four carved circles inscribing several motifs and symbols, the lower rim with a narrow band of foliage; raised on a cluster of five shafts, a broad one at the centre and four colonnettes at 90-degree angles, the latter with floriated capitals and moulded bases; moulded lower base and square plinth; the inner basin well is lined, the lining wrapped down the outside of the upper rim. The wooden [oak?] cover has a round platform with a small square pyramid on it, the sides decorated with cross, fish, etc., symbols. Bot font and cover are modern, the font probably from the 1866 re-building of the church, the cover later. [NB: the fabric of the church goes back to Norman times, but we have no information on the medieval font(s) of this church]