Felsted nr. Braintree No. 1 / Felesteda [Domesday] / Felstead / Felstede [Domsdayy] / Phensteda Domesday]

There are three entries for Felsted [variant sppellings] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/TL6720/felsted/] [accessed 5 January 2023], none of whhich reports cleric or church in it. A font here is noted in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (Essex, 1916-1923): "Font: Circular bowl with square upper member; below the angle are attached moulded capitals, and above them, supporting the angles of the upper member, are carved human heads of limestone, much weathered, probably early 14th-century, central stem and side shafts modern." In Pevsner (1976): "Font. Early C14? Circular, with human heads connecting the circular with an upper square part." Bettley & Pevsner (2007), however, change the dating of the font to Norman; the base is described as "Neo-Norman [...] by Woodyer" [i.e., Henry Woodyer]; the cover by W.D. Polley. The upper part of the basin is square with a projecting moulding; four large heads give the rest of the basin a square shape, and serve as capitals to the outer colonnettes of the base, somewhat in the manner of the Cornish fonts; there is a fifth central shaft much broader than the others; all five columns are decorated with upper and lower mouldings and are of the Victorian period. Wooden font cover with four carved-through ribs around a central pivot topped with a large floriated cross finial; Victorian. Listed in Historic England [Listing NGR: TL6765320387]: "Church. E.C12 with C14, C16 and later additions and alterations […] Font. A square Norman bowl with a head carved on the boss at each angle. Supports are C20. Alleged to have been found in the River Chelmer." [NB: the basin, square at the top but rounded below with the four human heads set at 90-degree angles, is the only original part part of the font; not Norman, but quite likely 14th-century, as suggested by Pevsner [cf. supra]].