Benniworth / Beningurde

There are two entries for Benniworth [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TF2081/benniworth/] [accessed 1 October 2018], one of which reports a church in it. Pevsner, Harris and Antram (1989) note: "Font. Reconstructed from Norman fragments." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: TF2094181786] reports: "C12 round font with interesecting arcading, very heavily restored in C19." The entry for this church in the CRSBI (2018) notes: "Fragments of Romanesque sculpture are found on the W doorway of the nave and on the font. [...] Drum-shaped font located at the W end of the nave on the N side of the church. Font base is post-medieval. The font is reconstructed using some original fragments of the arcade’s lower column shafts and bases which are made of a light, grey-white stone. The drum carries an intersecting arcade motif which rests on columns with triple-scallop capitals and attic bases. Each arch is adorned with a roll mould traversing the centre of the arch face. The interior of bowl is lead-lined. [...] As for the font, it is clear from the change of stone colour and the smooth surface texture that the majority of it, which is carved from a dark beige limestone, has been replaced, probably as part of Fowler’s major reconstruction of church. Only the lower portions of the column shafts and their bases, carved from the lighter, grey-white limestone, are original. From the internal evidence it is not possible to ascertain whether or not the restored portions of the font are true to its original design. However, the Romanesque fonts at All Saints, West Torrington, and at St. Andrew, Donnington-on-Bain, demonstrate the use of the intersecting arcade motif on fonts in the local area. The West Torrington font in particular, with its intersecting arcade and columns with scalloped capitals and attic bases is a close parallel for this font." The CRSBI (2018), in the context of the font at Edenham, remarks that it "is primarily a 19thc. reconstruction based on good 12thc. fragments".