The altar stone, or mensa, may well have been installed in the early 1200's. It is 5' 10" long, 3' 2.5" wide and 5" deep and is inscribed with five crosses representing the wounds of Christ. During the Reformation in the 1500's, altar stones were deemed illegal and had to be replaced by "decent" wooden tables. The Chickney parishoners buried their mensa in the churchyard where it lay undisturbed for 300 years. When the church was restored in 1858 the mensa was discovered and restored to its former use, mounted on a wooden frame with arches in the front. Stone altars were still illegal at that time and the Rector (Revd Robert Burdett Burgess) could have been prosecuted by the Consistory Courts for his actions.