Caldecote nr. Letchworth / Calcott / Caldecota / Caldecott / Chaldecote

There is an entry for this Caldecote [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL2338/caldecote/] [accessed 19 October 2016]; it mentions a priest but not a church in it, though there probably was one there. Cox & Harvey (1907) describe "an exceptionally large and ornate canopy over the stoup, about 6 feet high. It appears to be of the reign of Richard II" [i.e., 1377-1399]. Noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hertforshire (1911): "Font: octagonal, 15th-century, ornamented with traceried panels and shields bearing the heraldry of the Passion." The Victoria County History (Hertfordshire, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "In 1086 the nine villeins of Caldecote with one priest had a plough and a half. [...] The advowson was probably attached to the manor from the first [...] The whole of the [presednt] building belongs to the middle of the 15th century, with later repairs. [...] The chancel is of the same width as the nave, and there is no chancel arch; the old screen was demolished before the middle of the 19th century. [...] The font is octagonal, of 15th-century date. The sides of the basin are decorated with traceried panels. Underneath are shields facing the four cardinal points; that on the east bears a saltire, that on the north a cross, that on the west the instruments of the Passion, and that on the south three crowns." Tompkins (1922) mentions "a font dating from, say, 1480", and "a very finely canopied holy water basin". There is no mention of the latter in Pevsner & Cherry (1977): "Font: Perp[endicular], unusually rich, octagonal, with traceried and cusped panels and shields and foliage under the bowl." [NB: the RCHM (1911) reports also a holy-water stoup: "in the porch, of rough design, under a richly crocketed, spire-shaped canopy, much defaced, not in situ" -- no separate entry in this Index]