2015

SZ7798 : West Wittering - SS Peter & Paul - Saxon font

taken 9 years ago, near to West Wittering, West Sussex, England

West Wittering - SS Peter & Paul - Saxon font
West Wittering - SS Peter & Paul - Saxon font
This ancient tub font has been identified as dating from Saxon times - which means it has been used for baptisms for a thousand years. The wooden cover is obviously more recent, but itself looks quite venerable. I would suggest that the cylindrical stand for the font, and the plinth that this sits on, are both considerably younger than the main bowl of the font too.
The font is to be found towards the south-western end of SS Peter & Paul in West Wittering - the church dates from the C12th making it a hundred-or-two years younger than this font.
West Wittering - SS Peter & Paul

The church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in West Wittering dates from the C12th, the nave being from quite early 1100s while the Lady Chapel is from nearer to the end of that century. The following century saw the addition of the chancel and the tower, while the porch was not added until the C15th.
The tower contains a bell cage dated to about 1500.
Inside the church are a number of interesting things; most notable are two fine C16th monuments - either both are to William Ernley († 1545), or one may be to his first wife Elizabeth who died 17 years before him in 1528. The monument(s) to William were built by his second wife, Bridget. (For more details see the write-ups against the relevant photographs). These monuments are of the so-called Selsey style. (Selsey Bill is only a few miles away).
The church also contains a C13th marble slab with an incised crozier, usually denoting a bishop. It is thought that this was carved by masons from nearby Chichester Cathedral.
The oldest artifact in the church however, is undoubtedly the font, which is thought to date from Saxon times, making it over 1000 years old. There is also a gable-end cross (displayed in a case) which is thought to date from the earlier Saxon church which would have stood here.
The church is EH Grade I listed LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rob Farrow and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · SS Peter Paul [14] · Church Dates from the C12th [4] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
SZ7798, 167 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rob Farrow   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 12 September, 2015   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 22 September, 2015
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SZ 7769 9839 [10m precision]
WGS84: 50:46.7936N 0:53.9650W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SZ 7769 9840
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image classification(about): Supplemental image
This page has been viewed about 156 times
You are not logged in login | register