Bere Regis No. 1 / Bere

There are three entries for Bere [Regis] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SY8494/bere-regis/] [accessed 11 January 2023], of which the Land of Brictward the priest reports " 2 churches. 1.16 church lands" in it. A font here is noted in Hutchins (1774) as the most ancient feature of this church. Described in the Handbook for travellers… (1869): "The font is Norman, with intersecting arcades on the bowl." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a noteworthy baptismal font of the Norman period. Holmes (1922) refers to it as Transitional. Long (1923) writes: "the font is of what is called the pedestal type, and consists of two portions divided by a heavy roll moulding, while on the sides of the upper portion are curious projections now much defaced, but which were probably originally meant for human heads." Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one in a group of Norman fonts the basins of which are decorated with an arcade of intersecting arches. Described and illustrated in Hutton (1976) as an exceptionally fine Norman font which should be compared to the one at Avebury [cf. Index entry for Avebury]; Hutton (ibid.) further informs that the basin was damaged during the "Laudian troubles under Charles I (when Laud ordered font/covers to be fitted)" [ca. 1642-1649? -- reference likely to William Laud, lord bishop of Canterbury, who died in 1645]. In the RCHM (1970). In Newman & Pevsner (1972): "Font. Norman, big. of cauldron shape, with intersecting arches." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SY8474094755] notes: "Parish Church. Pre-Conquest origin, largely rebuilt in C12. Further enlarged in C13, C14, C15, C16. Restored c 1875, G E Street … Font C12, with interlaced arcading." Described and fully illustrated in Gerald Duke [www.martinstown.co.uk]. On-site notes: only the basin of the Bere Regis font is original, the base being a modern column with base. The basin is almost cylindrical, slightly wider at the top, with a band of encircled six-petal flowers all around the upper rim; the rest of the basin side is covered with a blind arcade of overlapping round arches which are very narrow and as tall as the remaining surface of the basin side, except for a moulding at the bottom.