Severn Stoke No. 1 / Sauernestoch / Savernestoke / Severnstoke / Stoche / Stocke / Stoka / Stoke / Stokes / Stokis /

There are three entries for [Severn] Stoke [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO8544/severn-stoke/] [accessed 21 October 2014], one of which, the part in the lordship of Alfred of Marlborough in 1086, reports a priest and church lands in it. Miller (1890) describes the church but does not mention a font in it. A 27 January 1826 letter to the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (issue of June 1826: 496, 497) notes: "The Saxon font (fig. 3) was a few years since dug up, in three pieces, from under the floor of the Church of Severn Stoke, Worcestershire; near the foot of the present font, which appears to be of the 13th or 14th century. The workmanship, though rude, is highly ornamental; and the device of two of the surrounding bosses, seen at the two extreme sides of the drawing, bear a remarkable similarity to the armorial ordinary the chevron." The accompanying illustration shows a cauldron-shaped basin, with the lettres of the alphabet carved on the upper rim; right below that is a set of round intersecting arch-heads of beaded-tape motif, with human heads and floral motifs in the spandrels, the arch ends decorated with an assortment of curious motifs, some of which may be seen to resemble armorial devices. Bond (1908) mentions a baptismal font that has "the whole alphabet on the flat top margin of the bowl. It has been suggested that the letters were placed there for Sunday school purposes. But alphabets occur also on bells, and mediæval belfries were hardly used as Sunday schools". Noted in Cox & Harvey (1907). The Victoria County History (Worcester, vol. 4, 1924) notes: "A priest is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of Severn Stoke. [...] The oldest parts of the building are the lower part of the west wall and part of the north wall of the nave, which retain several 12th-century features. [...] The font is of 14th-century date and consists of an octagonal bowl with panelled sides and blank shields below." No mention of this font in Brooks & Pevsner (2007). [NB: the original basin was probably partly re-cut and re-carved at some point] [cf. Index entry for Severn Stoke No. 2 for the later font]