Madley / Madelagie / Madeley

There is an entry for Madley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SO4138/madley/] [accessed 21 July 2017], but it mentions neither priest nor church in it; the lord and tenants in chief in 1086 were the canons of the Church of St. Peter in Hereford. Cox & Harvey (1907) report a baptismal font of the Norman period in this church. Similar to the fonts at Bredwardine and Kilpeck No. 2. Described in Herefordshire (1931-1934): "Font: large circular bowl ovolo-curved in section with rounded top, circular stem of sandstone, and chamfered base, later 12th or early 13th-century, restored; said to have been broken to pieces by the Scots in 1645." In Marshall (1950). Described in Halsey (1987) as the largest of eight baptismal fonts "made of a local reddish brown, psammitic limestone, called 'Breccia' or 'Cornstone'", that were the work of the Herefordshire School [NB: the eight fonts are: Bishops Frome, Bosbury, Bredwardine, Kilpeck, Kingstone, Madley, Turnastone and Vowchurch]. Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2017): "This is the largest of the fonts described by Richard Halsey as peculiar to Herefordshire and made of "local reddish-brown, psammitic limestone, called "Breccia" or "Cornstone". In addition to Madley, fonts in this material survive in Bishop Frome, Bosbury, Bredwardine, Kilpeck, Kingstone, Turnastone and Vowchurch. To this number should be added a ninth, the "leg" of which was excavated at Castle Green, Hereford and now in Hereford City Museum and Art Gallery. The attraction of these fonts was the polish that made them look as if made of marble. In this, the influence of the imported Tournai fonts was evident. Like most Tournai fonts, those of the "Halsey Group" were supported by several "legs". According to Marshall (p. 32), Madley font had five such supports. He dates this font to the third quarter of the 12thc., a date accepted by George Zarnecki. The damage to the font was caused by the Puritan soldiers who were quartered in the church in 1645. Subsequent restoration provided a new stem and base." The SMR entry 6867 [NGR SO 4200 6872] [http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hsmr/db.php?smr_no=6867] [accessed 12 April 2008] notes: "The font is of the five-legged type. It has been repaired, possibly after damage by the Scottish army in 1645, when they were billeted in the church [cf. CRSBI supra]. The font's bowl is 49" in diameter, making it one of the largest ancient fonts in England. It probably dates to the third quarter of the 12th century" [with reference to Marshall].