Culbone / Chetenore

There is an entry for Culbone [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SS8448/culbone/] but it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Kelly's Directory of 1883 reports an "old Norman font" here. A note from H.T. Ellacombe, published in 'Notes & Queries' (June 16, 1883: 473) on the church at Culbone reads: "within is the font, on the left hand side; the bowl is circular, of coeval date" [i.e., Norman]. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) and in Wade & Wade as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SS8421748224] notes: "Parish church, dedication unknown. Probably pre-Norman in origin, C13 porch, late C15-early C16 nave refenestrated and reroofed, c1810 spirelet added, 1888 chancel reroofed and east wall rebuilt, nave roof repaired 1928. [...] Norman baluster font." A contribution by Tim Holden to the Everything Exmoor web site [www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/_C/Culbone.php] [accessed 15 March 2008] notes: "The Font behind the door is of very early date, possibly Norman, but the pedestal on which it stands is much later and may be Victorian." Noted in a history of Culbone church by Joan Cooper in the Culbone-Kitnor page [http://www.minehead-online.co.uk/culbone.htm] [accessed 17 September 2009] notes: "In 1897 certain improvements were undertaken in Culbone church. The East end of the church was enlarged slightly, and rebuilt with a new and larger window; the woodwork of the roof and interior furnishings of the chancel were renewed, and a new reredos was made. The loft of the rood-screen was removed, so there would be more light, and the family pew was enlarged, and reconstructed. Another font was obtained to replace the one already in the church, and a plinth was constructed for it in the south-west corner of the church, beside the door. This “new” font was bought, and brought to Culbone from Sussex, where it had been carved in 1089." The font consists of a plain cauldron-shaped basin raised ona moulded upper base and a plain stem; the whole is raised on a step-like plinth. The basin is half-built into the wall. The upper base part appears either modern or re-tooled. The wooden cover is flat and round, and appears modern. Not mentioned in Pevsner (1958).