Fyfield nr. Marlborough / Fifhide [Domesday] (Wiltshire)

There is an entry for this Fyfield [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SU1468/fyfield/] [accessed 1 June 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it, even though the part was in the lordship of a monk in 1066, and in the tenancy of the bishop of Winchester in 1086. A font here is illustrated in a ca. 1807 drawing by J. C. Buckler [NB: Buckler's watercolour of the church itself is dated 1807]. Noted in Buck (1951): "The church was generally restored in 1849, C. H. Gabriel being the architect. Previously the font of Norman origin and 'tub shape' was perfectly plain on the sides as shown in Buckler's drawing, but during the restoration all traces of its antiquity -except the marks where the positions of the cover fastenings on the rim had been repaired- were reomved, and an intersecting Norman-type arcade was carved on the outer sides." The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 11, 1980) notes: "In the 12th century there were churches at East Overton, Fyfield, and Alton Priors. [...] The nave was rebuilt during a restoration of 1849 by C. H. Gabriel but its predecessor may have been of 12th-century origin. [...] The church has a circular 12th-century font which is decorated with interlacing arcading". The present font is tub-shaped, the upper volume, the basin proper, has a blind arcade of round intersecting arches of dotted-tape motif. The lower volumes, corresponding to base and lower base, are cylindrical and plain. Colin Younger's 'Stories of Burbage & its people' [http://www.burbage-wiltshire.co.uk/FHS/stories.htm] [accessed 30 August 2008] reproduces a 'Note concerning Burbage old Font Contributed by David White', in which there is mention of a disused font in Fyfield: "Another old font lies in dishonour in the garden of the farmhouse at Fifield near Pewsey". There is no mention of a font for this church in Pevsner & Cherry (1975), which probably indicates they thought it a modern font.