Bratton / Bratton Clovelly / Bratone

There is antry for Bratton [Clovely] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SX4691/bratton-clovelly/] [accessed 12 February 2019] but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Bond (1908) describes and illustrates the font here as Norman, one quite similar to those at Altarnun and Launceston, with a cushion-capital basin ornamented with heads at the corners and large medallions containing 8-petal flowers at the basin sides. The stem of the Bratton font is octagonal and very short and the lower base is square with trimmed edges that make it octagonal. Described and illustrated in Stabb (1908): "The font [...] is Norman, a massive square block of granite is supported on a short shaft resting on a large block of granite. The four sides are all carved alike; at the corners are men's heads or masks and each panel has a circular design, possibly intended for the sun, surrounded by two animals, their tails joining beneath the circle and their protruding tongues almost meeting at the top; the interior of the bowl is circular. There are holes cut in the granite in the rim of the bowl as if there had at one time been a high font cover." Described and illustrated in Clarke (1919), who sees a new factor in the design of this type of font: "Hitherto the ornaments on fonts has been free, and devices are not perfectly symmetrical. This is still the case here with regards to the masks and dragons, but geometrical instruments must have been used to produce the stars [in the medallions]. At this point free ornament begins to retreat, and soon disappears altogether, so that the designs are found to be set and accurate, but more formal." Described in Pevsner (1952): "Font. Circular, Norman, the Cornish type of St-Stephen-by-Launceston, i.e. with faces at the angles and rosettes, etc., in the centres of the four sides." The entry for this church in the CRSBI (2019) notes: "Romanesque sculpture is found on the late 12thc. font. [...] Located in the third bay of the S aisle. Unlined, with drainage hole. The bowl takes the form of a cushion capital with human heads on the angles. It is supported by a short, octagonal stem and a chamfered plinth. The plinth is roughly the form of an inverted cushion capital. Bowl and stem are integral. The basin is round (squared inside). Of Tintagel stone. The font has a rim/lip of app. 0.07 m depth. Each of the shields is bordered by a thick fillet with dragon-head terminals. The dragon heads face each other and have protruding tongues. Each shield has an eight-petalled rosette within a circle. The human heads at the angles have long wide faces with close-set protruding eyes, small ears, a long triangular nose and a small straight mouth. The head carved on the NW angle has cross hatching on the lower part of his face, indicating a beard. There is a roll between the bottom of the bowl and the octagonal stem. [...] The font is very similar to that at Ashwater. Clarke and Bond draw attention to a number of fonts in Cornwall of this type. These are: Altarnun, Callington, Jacobstowe, Landrake, Laneast, St Thomas (Launceston), Lawhitton, Tideford (St Germans), and Warbstowe. (Clarke, 214; Bond 151, 155)."