Dunsford / Dunesford / Dunesforda

There are two entries for this Dunsford [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SX8189/dunsford/] [accessed 11 November 2015], neither of which mention cleric or church in it. The Lysons (1806-1822) note a baptismal font "octagonal, ornamented with coats of arms" here. Oliver (1840-1842) writes of his visit to this church: "the eye was refreshed with the view of the Octagon Font, which, in spite of clotted layers of whitewash, exhibited its beautiful proportions. On the first side we could trace the armorial bearings of Bp. Edmund Lacy, Azure 3 Shovellers heads erased, arg. (this may fix the age of the Font itself between 1420 and 1455) 2. Of Fulford, Gules, a Chevron Argent. 3. Of Courtenay Or, 3 Torteauxes with a label of three points. 4. The arms of St. George, argent, a cross quarterly Gules. 5. A shield with three harps. 6 Two lions erect and combatant. 7. A bend sable, charged with three Bears' heads erased, Fitz Ourse. 8. Four Arrows of bird-bolts, Boson." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907: 170, 197) as a heraldic font, a baptismal font of the Perperndicular period. An entry in the 'Devon Notes and Queries' (1901) notes that there are eight shields, one with three harps in it, "the other seven shields represent the arms of Fulfor impaling Moreton, Fitzurse, Courtenay, Fortescue, Bozom, Richard I (as Earl of Poictou), and St. George." An added [editorial?] paragraph to this entry suggests: "The shield on the Dunsford font must be that of Harpesfeld, Co. Herts, argent, three harps sable, stinged or", and admits that there is no obvious or known connection of the Harpesfeld with Dunsford. Stabb (1908) is the only author who notes the possibility that this object may be a modern copy or replica of the original one: "There is an octagonal font with shields of arms. It is modern, but is said to be a correct copy of the ancient one." Not mentioned in Pevsner (1952). The entry for Dunsford in English Heritage [Listing NGR: SX8130089198] (1961) notes: "The arms of Bishop Lacy on a former font may indicate that building work was carried out during his episcopacy, 1420-1455. [...] The font is a circa 1846 copy of the original, an octagonal bowl carved with armorial bearings on a thick stem and moulded plinth."