Broadwindsor / Broadwinsor / Broad Windsor / Windesore

There are two entries for Broadwindsor [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/ST4302/broadwindsor/] [accessed 11 February 2023], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. Pulman (1854) notes: "The font, which stands in the north aisle, is perhaps coeval with the oldes parts of the church, and deserves the particular attention of the visitor. It is a large square bason of stone resting upon a single shaft, or rather a cluster of shafts, composed of a large central cylinder, with four circular columns of smaller size set against it at equal distances from each other ;[…] At Broadwinsor the font has been moved more than once, having occupied its present position but a few years only." Noted in the 3rd ed. of Hutchins (1973 c1861-1874): "The font is Norman, and has a square bowl and base of Purbeck marble." Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907), in Long (1923) and in Mee (1939) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. Described in Kelly's 'Directory fo Dorset' of 1931 as a Norman font, the upper part made of 'Purbeck marble' [a type of limestone]. In Newman & Pevsner (1972): "Font. Square, of Purbeck marble, with simple geometrical motifs. It is of c.1200?" Described and illustrated in The Dorset Historic Churches Trust site [www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk] The font consists of a square basin with a round inner well, mounted on a quadrangular block with highlighted corner columns, lower base and plinth. The flat wooden cover with metal reinforcements appears modern. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: ST4377702651] notes: "Parish Church. Late C12, early C13 core, C15 west tower with reset material. Drastic restoration by G M Allen of Crewkerne (1868) [...] font: square Purbeck stone bowl with stone base corner responds, Cl3." Noted in Leach (1975) as a font made of Purbeck marble: "bowl with checker and diagonally cut patterns on faces; the subsidiary shafts are atteched" [source given: RCHM (W), 1952].