Kirk Bramwith No. 1 / Bramuuat / Branuuet / Branuuithe / Branwite / Branwithe / Branwode

There are two entries [Kirk] Bramwith [variant spellings] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SE6211/kirk-bramwith/] [accessed 13 November 2018] neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. Hunter (1828-1831) notes: "The large octagonal font is doubtless coeval with the first foundation of the church". Laconically noted in Glynne's 30 October 1867 visit to this church (in Butler, 2007): "The font is plain." Morris (1932) notes an "octagonal font, possibly Trans[itional]. The web site of The Benefice of Fishlake, Sykehouse and Kirk Bramwith with Fenwick with Moss [www.benefice-of-fishlake...] writes: "The original font is believed to be Saxon and a later Victorian replacement now stands outside the main door." Pevsner (1986), et al., do not mention this object at all. Harman & Pevsner (2017) note: "Font. An adapted medieval(?) cross base, unearthed in the churchyard in the 1940s. -- The C15 octagonal FONT, is outside, near the S[outh] door." The font consists of an irregular square basin with the upper angles chamfered to octagonal ah a height of about seven inches, hence sometimes referred to as octagonal, very crudely carved; the inner basin well is roughly -and rough is the operative word in this font- round; the basin has been raised on a quadrangular base made of several blocks cemented together; the wooden font cover is a curious contraption: a flat round base with eight vertical ribs-around-a-pivot, a minimalistic rendition on a Jacobean theme; it is made of oak and given to the church in the memory of Ada Jackson, who died on 2 Augost 1969. Mary & John Duckitt inform that "The font was discovered in the churchyard in the 1940s when it was being levelled to make cutting the grass easier; it may have been hidden at the Reformation -- we do not know. The Victorian one standing near the church doorway was in church until the old one came to light". The entry for this church in the CRSBI (2018) notes: "The font is a later item: it recalls octagonal pillar bases with angle lugs, the chiselling-out of the basin is later too [...] The font now in use "was dug up in the churchyard in the 1940s" according to the church guide (2001, 2), adding the comment that it "is said to be Saxon". It was standing under the tower when first recorded, but now (2016) is in the NW part of the nave. This is a very worn and weathered hunk of stone, reset on a modern base. The form is an octagonal drum on an integral square plinth, with a large spur at each of the four corners making up to the cylinder; the spurs are rounded above and plain and square in line with the four sides of the base. The form recalls Gothic pillar bases but is irregular. The bowl interior is roughly worked to a hemisphere with a broad chisel. Unlined. There is an octagonal bowl now outside the door, this is probably the font replaced by the present one; it also is unlikely to be a Romanesque font." [NB: recent photographs of font and church can be found at www.goodworth.org/kirk_bramwith.htm]. [cf. Index entry for Kirk Bramwith No. 2 for a later baptismal font in this church]