Kempley / Chenepeleie

There is an entry for Kempley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/kempley-and-kempley-green/] [accessed 7 December 2018], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Gloucester, vol. 12, 2010) notes: "When Kempley's medieval church was completed in the mid 12th century some tithes there belonged to St Guthlac's priory, successor to the church founded in Hereford by Walter de Lacy (d. 1085). [...] Built between c.1120 and 1150, Kempley's medieval church is one of the most complete small 12thcentury churches in England, retaining not only its tunnel-vaulted chancel, chancel arch, and nave with south and west doorways but also much original timberwork and a remarkably complete scheme of painted wall decoration. One of four local churches sharing sculptural details ascribed to a 'Dymock school' of craftsmen [...] Following the Restoration [...] Among acquisitions for the church were a baluster font"; later on, following a major restoration in 1913, "Blaisdon parish donated its old, 16th-century, font". The entry for this church in Historic England [Listing NGR: SO6698531259] notes: "Former Parish Church, now in the care of the DOE. C12, C13, C14, late C17, restored C19, C20. [...] Font, plain circular bowl on stem, brought from Blaisdon 1913." Verey & Brooks (1999-2002) write: "The round font, probably C16, was given by Blaisdon church in 1913." Baptismal font consisting of a plain cylindrical basin raised on a two-block round pedestal base and a new lower base and plinth. The wooden cover is round and plain. [NB: St Mary's has a Norman nave and chancel, but we have no information on its Norman font]. [NB: St. Mary's is now [2008] disused; the new church in Kempley is dedicated to Edward the Confessor, and is listed in Verey & Brooks (ibid.) with a "good round stone font", presumably contemporary with the 1902 church]