Burnsall / Brineshale / Brinshale

There are two entries for Burnsall [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SE0361/burnsall/] [accessed 29 May 2015], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. A font here is noted in Glynne's 10 June 1856 visit: "The font has an early character: on a square base is various sculpture and scrollwork." Circular tub dying below into a square base; Norman, though of rude and uncouth carving which makes it look older; Bond (1908) and Cox-Harvey (1907) agree that it is Norman despite the crude carving; four bands of ornamentation, rude Norman chevron and roll mouldings; equally rough execution of two upper beasts set upside down and two larger ones set tail to tail on the bottom part, rather grotesque; the two octagonal plinths look modern. Morris (1932) writes: "The rude font at Burnsall has also been claimed as Sax[on], but the ascription of this is doubtful." Mee (1941) notes: "Extraordinarily crude is the font, coming from the second half of the 11th century. Shaped like a tub, with an old oak cover like the lid of a copper, it has rough carving of birds and beasts and cable pattern on the rim." Betjeman (1958) has it as pre-Conquest. Pevsner (1986 c1967) writes: "Font. Norman, circular on square base. With crude decoration on the base and at the foot of the bowl." Muir (1997) comments that this font "shows the persistence of Anglo-Danish influences in the vigorous and rather 'primitive' decoration". In Wood et al. (2005). On-site notes: four beasts encircle the lower edge of the basin and four bands of chevron and roll mouldings ornament the upper edge. The basin well is lined with hammered lead and has a central drain [now blocked]. Old wooden lid of unknown date. The basin is mounted on two square slabs. [NB: the ca. 1908 photograph in Bond shows the font raised on a two-step octagonal plinth that appears modern. The font is now, July 1998, raised on a single-step octagonal plinth].