Rushden / Ressenden / Risden / Risendene / Rissheden / Russenden / Russhenden / Ryshenden

There is an entry for this Rushden [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL3031/rushden/] [accessed 25 October 2016], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hertfordshire (1911) reports: "Font: octagonal basin, decorated with cusped and foliated panels, mid 15th-century; cover, 17th-century." The Victoria County History (Hertford, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The patronage of the church of St. Mary the Virgin was originally vested in the lord of the manor, the earliest recorded presentation being made by William Basset in 1220. [...] The nave dates from about 1340–50 [...] The octagonal font belongs to the middle of the 15th century; the sides of the basin are decorated with cusped and foliated panels; the base mouldings have been repaired with cement; the cover is of 17th-century work." In Pevsner & Cherry (1977): "Font. Octagonal, Perp[endicular], decorated with small panels with quatrefoils or four-lobed leaves in three tiers." [NB: we have no information on the font of the 13th-century (?) church here].