Harlton / Herletone

There are two entries for Harlton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL3852/harlton/] [accessed 16 May 2016], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. A stoup of the Decorated period is noted in Parker (1850). Holy-water stoup described and illustrated in Cox & Harvey (1907): a "most uncommon example of the same period [i.e., the early 13th century] is to be seen in the porch of Harlton St. Mary, Cambs." The illustration shows what looks like a unique composite of parts: the basin is outwardly polygonal (hexagonal or octagonal probably) whereas the inside shows a concave-rib pattern; the sides of the basin are vertical, those of the underbowl are chamfered, both plain; the stem of the base is columnar, with three detached colonnettes visible and resting on a hemispherical volume; below the latter are two other volumes, both quadrangular, the upper surface of the top one slightly rounded. [NB: a late baptismal font, not listed in this Index, is illustrated in the RCHM (Camdridgeshire, 1968), some of its comments cited in Pevsner (1970): "The Perp[endicular] font is C19. It replaced a font described by the Camden Society as an 'absurd pagan vase'". -- there is no mention of the stoup in Pevsner]. Paley's Guide (1844), which does not mention the stoup, describes the newer font as "a vase, of non-descript style". The Victoria County History (Cambridge..., vol. 5, 1973) notes: "Although Harlton church was not recorded in 1086 it has been suggested that before that date Walter Giffard gave it with the tithe of the demesne and one tenant to the priory of St. Faith at Longueville (Seine Maritime) [...] Certainly Walter or his son Walter had done so by c. 1155, when the gift of Harlton church was confirmed. [...] The whole of the medieval church is the product of a complete rebuilding which took place in the later 14th century. [...] In 1843–4 the church was restored; [...] the Cambridge Camden Society was responsible for the design of the font".



[NB: the RCHM (1968) suggests the fabric of the church goes to the second half of the 14th century, but we have no information on the font of that period]