Offley / Doffeleye / Great Offley / Little Offley / Offanleáh / Offanlege / Offelegh / Offelei / Offeley

No entry found for Offley in the Domesday survey. Cox & Harvey (1907) list a noteworthy baptismal font of the 14th century, of the Perpendicular period, in this church. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as a font for the decoration of which "the extraordinary course was adopted of filling the faces [of the basin] with specimens of the diversified window tracery of the day". The Victoria County History (Hertfordshire, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The advowson of the church of Offley was granted probably about the middle of the 12th century by Amice Delamare and her son Geoffrey (see Delamers Manor) to the church of St. Mary, Bradenstoke, co. Wilts. […] The church consists of a chancel, nave and aisles, south porch and west tower. The nave and aisles belong to the original church of c. 1220, which probably consisted of a chancel, nave and aisles and west tower, and the south porch contains re-used masonry of that date […] The font is octagonal, of Totternhoe stone. Each side contains the head of a heavily crocketed ogee with a finial, inclosing tracery of various designs; pinnacles with heavy finials are carved at the angles, and rosettes fill the spaces between them and the finials of the ogees. The bowl rests on a low stem with eight engaged half-octagonal shafts on plinths, with four-leaved flowers between them. The date of the font is the middle of the 14th century. The wooden cover is of the early 17th century." Noted in Tompkins (1922): "well carved Perp[endicular]. font." The octagonal basin is raised on a modified scalloped capital base with several very short engaged columns. The whole is raised on an octagonal plinth with "priest's stone". The lid is octagonal and flat, but has the raised crown ribs of the Jacobean models, though in a modest version of the type with only four not very tall ribs. Noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hertfordshire (1911): "Font: bowl of Totternhoe stone [i.e., clunch] with traceried panelled sides, mid 14th-century; wood cover, early 17th-century." Described and illustrated in Tyrrell-Green (1928) among a group of baptismal fonts of the Decorated period ornamented with window tracery: "One of the very best fonts of this type is at Offley (Herts) [...], where the tracery is contained under crocketed ogee arches in bold relief." T-G (ibid.) includes in this group are: Offley in Herts.; Weobley in Hereford; Goadby Marwood and Noseley in Leics.; Barrowby, Carlton Scroope and Haydor in Lincs.; Northampton St. Peter's; Kiddington, Bloxham and Woodstock in Oxon.;Brailes in Warwick, and Patrington in Yorkshire. Noted in Pevsner & Cherry (1977): "Font. A most interesting C14 piece, stone, polygonal, with tracery panels of which some are still entirely flowing, but others equally clearly Perp[endicular], So thge date must be second half of the C14, and an unexpectedly long survival of Dec[orated] forms is proved."