Elstow / Elnestou

There is an entry for Elstow [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL0547/elstow/] [accessed 17 September 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Lysons (1806-1833) include an illustration of this font, but the font itself iis not mentioned in the text among other Bedforshire fonts; the three visible sides of the octagonal basin appear decorated with 1)two blind trefoil arches, 2)grotesque head or mask in a quatrefoil window, 3)rosette in a quatrefoil window; the first (upper) level of the chamfered underbowl has a square flower on each side; the stem of the base is plain but for a thin moulding at each end; at the lower base is at least one animal, a quadruped.; plain square lower base [Pevsner (1968) describes the elements of the base thus: "an animal, two heads and a human figure (?)"]. Noted in Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire (1898) as a baptismal font in the Perpendicular style. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the early Perpendicular period. The Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The church was begun early in the 12th century, and three bays of the 12th-century nave remain [...] The font, which dates from the 15th century, is at the west end of the south aisle; it is octagonal with traceried panels, standing on an octagonal pedestal, at the foot of which are grotesque heads. The font has one plain side, having formerly stood against a wall." Noted and illustrated in Brittain ([s.d.]). [NB: the VCH (ibid.) further notes the cruciform monastic church here, but we have no information on the earlier font(s) of Elstow].