Canford Magna / Cheneford / Great Canford

There is an entry for Canford [Magna] [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SZ0398/canford-magna/] [accessed 27 February 2023]; it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Reported in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848: "the font, of Purbeck marble, is of great antiquity". Noted in the 3rd ed. of Hutchins (1973 c1861-1874): "The font of Purbeck marble has an octagonal bowl on small circular pillars (one under each angle) surrounding a large central one. Each face of the bowl has a pair of shallow trefoil arched niches." A baptismal font of the Early English period is listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) in "Great Cawford" [sic]. Noted in Long (1923) as a good example of "a considerable number of Early English fonts in this county [...] mostly of Purbeck marble, a fact which leads one to suppose that the majority were constructed in or near the Isle of Purbeck, and exported in considerable quantities to other parts of Dorset, and even much further afield. The type consists of an octagonal bowl, with shallow pointed arcading on the sides. The bowl is usually mounted on a thick central, and four or eight smaller detached angle shafts, standing on a low plain base." In Newman & Pevsner (1972): "Font. Octagonal, C13, of Purbeck marble, with two foiled arches on each side." The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SZ0319598813] notes: "Church. Late Saxon with C13, C14, C15, C19 and C20 additions. Nave of late Saxon minster church, now chancel of aisled nave and tower added by Augustinian Canons of Bradenstoke Priory c1200. S chancel chapel and S chancel aisle remodelled C14. Nave aisles and other alterations made C15. Nave extended westward 1829 by Edward Blore, remodelled 1876-8 [...] Purbeck marble font has octagonal bowl with 2 shallow trefoil-headed panels to each face on octagonal stem and 8 subsidiary circular shafts and octagonal base." Noted in Leach (1975) as a font made of Purbeck marble, Polygonal I Type (Octagonal): no details [source given: Dr. G. Dru Drury].