Alkerton

There are two entries for Alkerton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SP3742/alkerton/] [accessed 6 November 2017], neither of which mentions a priest or church in it. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Oxon., vol. 9, 1969) notes: "There is no documentary evidence for the history of the church until 1233, [...] but there are some features in the church building which point to a 12th-century origin at least ...] Although in about 1087 Miles Crispin granted the demesne tithes of his Alkerton manor to Bec Abbey [...] there is no record of the abbey receiving them, possibly because Alkerton church was already in existence and the grant was disputed [...] The earliest part of the building is the tower, its lower story dating from the 12th century" [NB: no font is mentioned in the VCH entry]. The bucket-shaped basin of the font now at St. Michael's appears modern, and may be dated, like the rest of the font, to the 19th-century restoration of this church; it is possible, however, that the basin alone may be the old one re-tolled at the time of the restoration. [NB: we have no information on the font from the Norman-time church here].