Heanton Punchardon / Hantone / Heanton Puncharden

There is an entry for Heaton (Punchardon) [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SS5035/heanton-punchardon/] [accessed 12 December 2023] but it mentions neither priest nor church in it. Reported in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848: "a very curious font". Noted also in The National Gazetteer of Gt. Britain and Ireland (1868): "ancient font of curious workmanship". [source: Colin Hinson's transcription in GENUKI www.genuki.og.uk]. Noted also in Pevsner (1952): "Font. Octagonal, without notable features, on five shafts." The font consists of a plain irregular octagonal basin with a chamfered underbowl, raised on a broad central shaft and four slender outer colonnettes; the latter appear attached to the central shaft; the whole is raised on a square lower base and a rectangular plinth. The octagonal wooden cover on the font appears modern. The web site of the Parish [www.heantonparish.org.uk] informs that the font "came from an earlier building but bears no indication of its date. Its unsymmetrical external shape suggests that it one stood against a wall". The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SS5021735584] notes: " Parish Church. C13 and later [...] Octagonal stone font with faceted base to bowl supported on squat central column and 4 corner colonettes on square base"