Wareham No. 2 / Warham

There are two entries for Wareham [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SY9287/wareham/] [accessed 21 February 2015], one of which, in the hands of the Abbey of Saint Wandrille, mentions a church and church lands in it. A second object listed for the church of St Mary's. It appears to be a pedestal holy-water stoup (?) consisting of an octagonal basin raised on an octagonal pedestal base and short lower base of the same shape. The basin side has a wide groove all around its middle, and the upper side has an inscription identifying it as a donation of churchwardens ca. 1660. In Newman & Pevsner (1972): "Another font, octagonal and perfectly plain, except for initials and the date 1620, in the N aisle." At present [May 2005], the stoup is being used as a stand for a planter. [We are grateful to Peter Fairweather, of www.churchmousewebsite.co.uk, for the photograph of this object]