Stone in Oxney No. 1

Hussey (1852) notes and illustrates an object in this church: "At the vicarage is preserved, and had been so 'time out of mind' in Stone church, an altar of stone, with a basin hollowed in the top, and the figure of an ox carved on the sides, three feet four inches high. It had been turned out of the church, and used as a horse-block, whereby it became cracked, but was repaired, and placed in the vicarage garden. (Hasted.) This altar still, September 1849, continues at the vicarage ; and long may it remain in safety in the spot, since the interest of this relic of ancient times would be diminished, if it were removed elsewhere. The figures, carved upon the stone, will perhaps be recognized by most persons as a confirmation of the apparent meaning of the appellation, Oxney; oxen eye, that is, oxen island. Only one side of the altar is now tolerably perfect, the others being greatly decayed. The iron ring, represented in the woodcut, at the foot of the altar is supposed to have been used for securing thereto the victims for sacrifice. Some persons yet living can recollect the vestiges of what probably was the iron lining to the basin in the upper part of the altar. Private information, from the same party who kindly supplied the above account and the drawing, states, that Roman bricks, or tiles, were recently discovered in sinking a well near the vicarage." The Victoria County History (Kent, vol. 3, 1932: 169) [cited in the Kent Archaeological Society web site [www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/03/03/01G/169.htm] [accessed 30 May 2012] has: "STONE-IN-OXNEY.—An uninscribed altar with an ox carved on each of its four faces, and an iron ring on the bottom, stood in the church of Stone for many years, until it was turned out as a pagan relic and used as a horse block. In 1751, the then Vicar—Mr. Gostling—had it repaired, and placed it in the Vicarage garden; at the present day it once again stands in the church. [Soc. of Antiq. MS. Minutes, viii, 6b, where there is a drawing of it; hence Hasted, Hist. of Kent, viii, 478, and Gough in Camden Brit. (1806), i, 368, Plate XVI, fig. II; Arch. Journ. xv, 165; Arch. Cant. xiv, 101.] Whether the altar was found locally or not must remain unknown, but as it is made of Kentish ragstone from the Hythe Beds we may surmise that it came from Lympne." Noted in Woodcock's 'Gazetteer of Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon Sites in Romney Marsh and the surrounding area' [www.redcourt.dsl.pipex.com/monographs/Volume%201%20-%20EVOLUTION_OCCUPATION_RECLAMATION/CHAPTER%2016.pdf] [accessed 30 May 2012] p. 182: "TQ940273 A -- A Roman Mithraic altar, of Kentish ragstone, is reputed to have been found under the chancel of Stone-in-Oxney church. It is now housed in the church tower. NMR: TQ 92 NW 4 -- Cock, F.W. 1935 Arch. Cant. 47, 1-12". The upper part of the object is irregular, with a protrusion at top where a round-ish hollow was made in the past to retain holy water.