Barmer / Barmere / Benemara / Benemare

There is an entry for Barmer [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TF8033/barmer/] [accessed 10 June 2014] with a church reported in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "B[armere], Called Benemare, in Domesday book, when it was the lordship of William Earl Warren, and held of him by Ralf. It was a beruite to Rudham: four socmen held then sixty acres of land, and three bordarers had one carucate and an half, and a church belonged to it. [...] The Church is a little pile; stands on a hill, and is covered with tiles: the chancel and the north isle are in ruins; it is dedicated to All-Saints, and has a round tower or steeple. It was a rectory, valued at ten marks". Blomefield (ibid.) names "Andrew de Cutun" first recorded vicar here, in 1302, and notes "John Willys" as the last recorded vicar, in 1404, "I find no institutions after this, and is held of a curacy in the patronage of the Earl of Orford." Knott (2006) writes on this church: "there is no village, and in any case it had ceased to be parish church at the Reformation. But here it is, a small Victorianised Norman church hidden in a thick copse of trees and entirely surrounded by fields, a quarter of a mile or so from the nearest road [...] All Saints was, in fact, a ruin for three centuries. Then, in 1885, the Kerslake family, who owned the land, decided to restore it as a mausoleum in the fashion of the day. This meant engaging London architect Frederick Preedy, who rebuilt the north aisle in a Decorated style and added an Early English chancel [...] The chancel arch and tower arch both survive from the original Norman church, but have been altered at some time to be pointed. [...] The Victorian furnishings have been replaced by modern chairs, which creates a sense of space and allows Preedy's font to dominate the little nave." Preedy's modern font consists of a cylindrical basin raised on a cylindrical base, plain but a few thin mouldings and grooves; on a rectangular plinth. The wooden cover is round, flat and plain. Both font and cover date from the 1885 renovation by Preedy. [NB: we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church].