Great Barford / Bereforde

There are four entries for [Great] Brford [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL1352/great-barford/] [accessed 15 September 2015], none of which mention cleric or church in it, except for "Ansketil the priest", who was lord of one of the parts in 1086. A font here is illustrated in a drawing of May 1840 by Henry E.L. Dryden, now in the Sir Henry Dryden Collection, Northamptonshire. The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Oxfordshire (1850) notes: "The font large and early N[orman]." Noted in Kelly's Directory for Bedfordshire (1898): "The font, of Early English date, is octagonal and supported on four low shafts" [NB: 'octagonal' on account of the chamfered angles of the square basin]. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Early English period. Noted in the Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 3, 1912) : "In the reign of Henry II [i.e., 1154-1189] Simon de Beauchamp granted the advowson of Great Barford to the Prior of Newnham [...] The church, which formerly consisted of chancel, nave and west tower, has been rebuilt in 14th-century style [...] The font dates from the 13th century, and has a square bowl with the angles chamfered off, on a square pedestal with angle shafts; it stands in the south aisle to the west of the south door". [NB: not mentioned in Pevsner (1968), who lists a C13 font for Little Barford -- cf. Index entry]. The font consists of a coarsely-carved square basin with chamfered angles, both vertical and horizontal, raised on a cluster of four round columns with moulded capitals and bases; a modern lead lining shows a central drain but does not allow for a view of the original inner well, which is round; the wooden cover is modern and, accodring to a posted label, a gift of Churchwarden J.H. Brown and his wife in 1905; this same label dates the font to the 13th century.