Reed / Estrede / Rede / Rete / Retth / Rode / Roed / Rud / Ruth

There are six entries for this Reed [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL3636/reed/] [accessed 20 October 2016]; one of these, in the lordship and tenancy of of Hardwin of Scales in 1086, mentions a priest but not a church in it, though there probably was one there; another part appears in 1066 as being in the lordship of "Leofing the priest, Edeva's man", which may suggest the existence of a pre-Conquest church there; the lordship of this part being in the hands of Hardwin of Scales in 1086. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Hertfordshire (1911) reports: "Font: in the church, modern: in adjoining farmyard, remains of font from the church, decorated with shields and roses, 15th-century, defaced." The Victoria County History (Hertford, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The nave appears to belong to a pre-Conquest period, probably about the middle of the 11th century; part of the chancel dates from about 1350; the west tower is early 15th-century work; the east wall of the chancel, the chancel arch and the south porch were rebuilt in the 19th century [...] The font is modern, but the remains of the 15th-century one formerly in the garden of Reed Hall, are now in Barkway Church; the bowl is octagonal, and underneath are carved flowers and shields and some emblems of the Passion; some fragments of tracery are also at Reed Hall." [NB: also reported in the RCHM (ibid.), a holy-water stoup in the northeast corner of the south porch -- no separate entry in this Index]