The octagonal stone basin, just over a metre tall and supported by a matching shaft and pedestal, has a small smooth depression worn into one of its eight sides, almost certainly shaped by generations of arms resting there while an infant was held over the water. It is a quiet, functional detail that makes the object feel less like a monument and more like a piece of equipment, used repeatedly over centuries by people who needed somewhere to put their elbow.

The font dates to 1637, as recorded in an inscription carved around the basin: 'ANO DOM WD:WG: CHURWA 1637 R/N', with the M of 'ANO DOM' now damaged. The initials WD and WG refer to two church wardens, and the remaining letters abbreviate the words 'church warden', though some of the lettering was later incorrectly blackened, obscuring the reading. The font predates the current church building by nearly two centuries. The present St Mary's was constructed in 1823, itself built on the site of a church erected in 1723, which in turn replaced an earlier structure demolished during the early months of that same year. A commemoration stone from the 1723 building survives inside the present church, naming Philip Gillman and Richard Dorman as church wardens. These men may well have been descendants of the wardens whose initials appear on the 1637 font, since the role of church warden was frequently passed down within families, making the connection across the inscriptions something more than coincidence.