The Font

We now move towards the Font which is near the great West door of the church.

 

Here is the starting point of every Christian’s journey into the faith of Jesus Christ. The word Font comes from the Latin word fons meaning a fountain. It holds the holy water used for baptism, a ceremony in which people of any age are admitted into the Christian church.

 

The original Font is now in Sevenoaks Church, having been removed there in 1625 by the Astley family who lived next to the church in the former Archbishop’s Palace. They replaced it with our current Font which bears their coat of arms on one of the side panels. Around the top edges can be seen the remains of hinges and locks, dating from the time in the middle ages when fonts had to be protected from people trying the steal “holy water”.

 

 

 

The Nave looking from the Font

 

The All Saints Window

The great west window was made by Clayden  and Bell in 1890 and is in memory of John Holdsworth who died in 1888 and Thomas Holdsworth who died in 1889. The window depicts 28 Saints, 4 Coats of Arms and 6 Bible scenes. At the top are the Arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Arms of England.

 

 

The All Saints Window

 

 

A section of the All Saints Window

 

The Astley Family Memorials

These memorials were originally placed on the right of the High Altar.

The large marble memorial on the back wall next to the benefactors’ boards is that of Sir John Astley who died in 1596 and was a cousin of Anne Boleyn, Master of the Jewel Office to Elizabeth 1 and an MP for Maidstone. He and his wife are represented on the upper part of the monument.  The lower figures represent his son, also called Sir John (died 1640) and his wife. A rare feature is that the figures are shown wearing their grave clothes.

 

 

 The John Astley Memorial

                                  

Also on the back wall to the left of the large memorial is a tablet memorial to Sir Jacob Astley who commanded the Royalist troops at the battle of Edgehill and Naseby during the Civil War of 1642 and who died in 1652. The large table tomb to Sir Jacob was commissioned by his German wife and consists of a massive slab of black marble resting on 4 white marble columns.

 

The Sir Jacob Astley Memorial

Sir  Jacob Astley