West Lexham / Leccesham / Lecesham / Lechesham

TOne of the two entries in the Domesday survey for "Lechesham" or "Leccesham" [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/XX0000/east-and-west-lexham/] [accesssd 19 November 2013] reports a church here with thirty acres of land. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The towns of East and West Lexham had the additional names of East and West, since the Conquest: being then called Leccesham and Lechesham [...] The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and was given to the priory of Petreston. [...] The priory of Petreston had the patronage of the church in 1229} [...] The Church is a single pile with a chancel covered with thatch, and a round tower at the west end.". The present font here is listed in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as one in a very large group of baptismal fonts that are plain octagonal with straightsided basins. Illustrated in Knott (2005). The font appears to be a composite object: the square (?) basin appears re-cut but may be originally from the 14th century; it appears to have been re-cut on the underbowl; the stem and moulded lower base are octagonal and of a later date, perhaps Victorian; the quadrangular plinth is even later, very recent..