Little Bedwyn / Bedwyn Parva

The present font in thi church is octagonal with moulded sides throughout; probably a 19th-century replacement of earlier font(s), since the fabric of the church shows Norman-period features such as the arches of the internal north arcade. The Victoria County History (Wiltshire, vol. 16, 1999) informs: "Little Bedwyn church had been built by 1158, [...] In the Middle Ages each church was dependent on Great Bedwyn church as a chapel [...] From the early 15th century or earlier the chaplain of Little Bedwyn was authorized to administer all sacraments and sacramentals in Little Bedwyn church, which had a graveyard, [...] and in 1554, when the bishop collated a perpetual vicar, the church was expressly said to be a parish church." [NB: the VCH entry notes that the north arcade was built ca. 1200, but does not mention a font; we have no information on the earlier font(s) of this church]