Cropredy / Cropelie

There are two entries for Cropredy [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SP4646/cropredy/] [accessed 8 November 2017], neither of which mentions priest or church in it. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Oxon., vol. 10, 1972) notes: "The earliest evidence of the existence of Cropredy church is Geoffrey of Cropredy's grant, some time before 1109 [...] The oldest parts of the present building are the east portion of the south wall of the south aisle which contains a three-light window of c. 1300 [...] In 1825–6 Cropredy church [...] the font was recased [...] The medieval octagonal font was returned to the church in the mid 19th century after a long sojourn in the vicarage garden. There is also an octagonal font presented by Mrs. Tonge in 1853 [...] The interior plan of this church in the VCH entry (ibid.) shows the font located at the west end of the north aisle." A footnote in the VCH entry (ibid.) informs: "MS. Oxf. Dioc. c 1786/1, faculty; Banbury Guardian, 26 Sept. 1895; a drawing of the 1853 font: MS. Top. Eccles. b 14" [NB: this being the font donated by Mrs Tonge]. A.P. Keegan ([s.d.]: 48): "In Holloway's time children were baptised at the medieval octagonal font. In the early nineteenth century this was removed and sunk into the vicarage garden to be used as a plant pot. When returning it to the church, in the late nineteenth century, an extra seven inches of stem were added which would present a problem for any parson trying to use the raised font for baptisms." [NB: the text appears as quoted from revd. George Barr of ca. 1920 in Keegan's on-line version of her The Town of Cropredy, 1570-1640, p. 48, in the WEB site www.mewslade.freeserve.co.uk] In a direct communication with BSI (e-mail of Nov. 15, 2001) Pamela Keegan wrote: "There is very little of the Norman font at Cropredy. It was replaced by a Genoa replica in 1853 [...] Also when returned in late 19c it was in two pieces dug up from the vicarage garden. Then in 1914 the extra piece (7 inches) was let into the stem and an inscription added round the base [cf. Inscription area]." She also noted to BSI that she was informed at the Bodleian Library of a volume "Collection of sketches of baptismal fonts" (M.S.Top Eccles bl4) in which a B&W photograph of the font -but not the base- appears. Kelly's Oxford Directory of 1911 [http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/d.asp] [accessed 30 June 2007] makes no mention of the old font but notes the later font in this church: "the font, presented in 1853 by Harriet, widow of John Henry Tonge, in memory of her husband, has an octagonal basin, with panelled sides, enclosing shields" [NB: this latter font is not listed separately in the Index]. Both fonts are noted in Sherwood and Pevsner (1974): "Fonts. One octagonal, plain, C14(?), the other of 1853." [NB: a photograph of the later font can be found in Flicker, with original from Oxfordshire Church Illustrations [http://flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/421890179/] [accessed 26 July 2007]