Cornworthy / Corneorde

There is an entry for Cornworthy [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SX8255/cornworthy/] [accessed 9 September 2024]; it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Noted and illustrated in Stabb (1908): "The font is circular, has two rows of carving, and is supported on a shaft with spreading base." Described and illustrated in Clarke (1916) as one of twelve Devon fonts of about the same period [Norman/Late Norman] decorated with a prominent band of honeysuckle or palmetto motif all around the basin [the twelve are: Ashprington, Blackauton, Buckfastleigh, Denbury, Cornworthy, Dartmouth St. Petrock's, Paignton St Andrew's, Plymstock, South Brent, Thurlestone, Ugborough and Wolbororugh, all in Devon]. In the font at Cornworthy, however, the upper band around the basin side is not made up of the more usual roll-and-rope mouldings, but of a neat row of 'Norman star' [nail-head, or 'X in a square' motif], and, like the font at Ashprington, it lacks the band of saw-tooth around the underbowl. The base consists of a plain cylindrical stem with rol a moulding at each end, and a lower base that has a moulded upper volume and a short circular lower one; square tiled plinth. Clarke (ibid.) identifies the material as "red sandstone except the neck moulding, which is of grey stone, and a false rim of slate, in four pieces, painted white. No doubt it replaces the original rim, as at Dittisham [... ] The star ornament is a little discoloured by damp, and a few inches on the western side are damaged; otherwise it is in good condition, though it is a great pity the original rim was not retained. The interior of the bowl is cemented; the sides are not lined." Described in Pevsner (1952): "Font. Circular, Norman; top frieze crosses saltire, main frieze palmettes." Listed in Betjeman (1958) as a Norman font. The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SX8294855546] notes: "Parish church. C15, (font is C12) circa early C17 south porch, refitted in late C18 and circa 1835; and other work of later C19 [...] All that remains of the early church is the C12 font. The existing church is C15 [...] Good C12 red sandstone font has a short circular stem with a moulded base and hemispherical bowl carved with a frieze of palmettos and a narrower frieze above of saltire crosses."