Cardington nr. Shrewsbury / Cardintune / Carditon / Cardynton

There is an entry for this Cardington [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SO5095/cardington/] [accessed 23 June 2015], but there is no mention of cleric or church in it. Anderson (1864) notes a very ancient church held by the Templars, and mentions "Arnolf, rector, in 1185". The Victoria County History (Shropshire, vol. 10, 1998) notes: "In 1185 Cardington was evidently a rectory in the patronage of the Templars, though the parson, Arnulf, rendered 3 marks a year to them for the church and 12d. pro fraternitate. [...] Bishop Vere (1186–98) appropriated the church [...] to the Templars of Lydley who evidently became patrons of the vicarage. [...] Parts of the church may be 12thcentury. [...] The eastern part of the nave is probably early 12th-century and one window and a blocked doorway survive in each side wall. The south doorway may have been enlarged in the later 12th century. Late in the 12th century the nave was extended west and new north and south doorways were made in the extension; the north doorway re-uses what is probably an older tympanum reversed. A Norman tub font with arcaded decoration was perhaps turned out in the 1820s." [NB: we have no information on the present whereabouts of the object]. Newman & Pevsner (2006) note an expansion of the nave in the 12th century, but do not mention a font in this church. The English Heritage entry for this church [Listing NGR: SO5063295148] (1958) notes reports a "stone font of 1868 in memory of the Rev. William Jones Hughes M.A. (d. 1865) has triple shafted stem with moulded bases and chamfered capitals, round bowl with chamfered top, and octagonal wooden cover".