Besford / Beford / Besbrook / Besceford / Bettesforda / Bezefort / Bezford

There is an entry for this Besford [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO9144/besford/] [accessed 2 October 2014]; the entry does not mention a church in it, the only priest noted being "William the priest", one of the three lords of the manor in 1086. Miller (1890) reports the 14th-century church here as "a chapelry of Pershore" and does not mention a font in it. The Victoria County History (Worcester, vol. 4, 1924) notes: "There was probably a chapel at Besford in 1086 served by that William the priest who held of the abbey of Westminster their 4 demesne hides. A reference to it occurs in 1186–90 as a dependent chapel of St. Andrew's, Pershore. [...] The chapel remained annexed to the vicarage of St. Andrew, Pershore, until 30 June 1865 [...] The old font, with octagonal bowl and stem of doubtful date, stands in the churchyard." Hartwell & Pevsner (2007) note: "Plain octagonal font (C14?); base by Brakspear." [i.e., Sir Harold Brakspear (1870-1934), architect and archaeologist].