Leigh nr. Worcester / Lege / Leigh with Bransford / Ley / Leyghe

There are two entries for this Leigh [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO7853/leigh/] [accessed 8 October 2014], neither of which mentions a cleric or church in it, though both parts were under the lordship of the abbey of Pershore, referred to in the entries as "ista eccl[esi]a". Noake (1848) writes: "The chapel is divided from the south aisle by an antique gallery, the front of which is curiously carved and gilt, resembling a rood screen. There is in this chapel a Norman font, apparently of the same date as the older parts of the building: it is now completely hid from the congregation, being thrust aside as though its antiquity and rudeness must needs cause it to be despised; it is also supplied with a tin can and has no cover." Noake's 1868 Guide has the font as Norman as well. The entry for Leigh in Miller (1890) is confusing, since it does not mention a church there, but gives a full list of rectors from 1274 to 1873; the only religious building mentioned in this entry is the chapel-of-ease at "Braundeford", a chapelry of Leigh. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The Victoria County History (Worcester, vol. 4, 1924) notes: "The oldest portions of the building are the north wall of the nave and the western part of the chancel, which date from c. 1100. A niche over the north doorway with a figure of our Lord in benediction and the flat buttresses of the nave and chancel are of this period, but with these exceptions little or no architectural detail belonging to the original building remains. The south arcade and the chancel arch are of c. 1180 [...] The early 12th-century church probably consisted of a chancel and aisleless nave [...] The font is of 12th-century date and consists of a circular bowl carved with cheveron and scallop ornament standing on a modern stem and base. The bowl is entirely covered with ornament with a band of cabling round the lower edge, and a small nailhead occurs in places between the scalloping." Brooks & Pevsner (2007) think it is "probably a C19 copy". Described and illustrated in the CRSBI (2014): "The font is probably 19thc., but shows Romanesque features"; the detailed description of the object (ibid.) reads: "Set on a modern neo-Romanesque stem and base. Probably 19thc. Circular bowl with tapered sides, divided horizontally into two zones of decoration. The upper zone carved with a row of chevron flanked above and below by chip-carved triangles, the lower ones larger and containing pellets; one of the triangles of the upper row is replaced by chevron points. The lower zone is scalloped, with wedge mouldings between the cones, some of the wedges notched, and with rectangular projections in the concave shields. A cable moulding at the base. The inside of the bowl is rounded and has no lead lining. The carving is of high quality, but the rim appears to have been cut down." As can be gathered from this description the decoration is somewhat suspect, especially that of the lower register of the basin sides, tending to indicate a Victorian rendition of a Norman model.