Little Bookham / Bocheam / Bocheham / Bokham

There is an entry for [Little] Bookham [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TQ1254/little-bookham/] [accessed 1 October 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Allen (1831) reports a "large round basin" in this church. Much the same in Brayley (1850), and "quite plain." The Reports of the Proceedings of the Surrey Archaeological Society (vol. 10, 1981: xxviii-xxix) informs of the annual excursion of its members held on Wednesday 23 July 1890 to Little Bookham Church, Great Bookham Church, etc.; of the visit to Little Bookham Church it notes: "The font is a very plain bowl, 2 feet 4 inches in diameter, and local tradition asserts that Cromwell's soldiers caused the cracks in it, although what authority there may be for supposing that Little Bookham was visited by Cromwell or his soldiers does not seem to be known." The Victoria County History (Surrey, vol. 3, 1911) notes: "church [...] of unknown dedication [...] The north and west walls of an early 12th-century aisleless nave, to which a south aisle was added about the year 1160, are still standing, but the chancel which was contemporary with it was pulled down in the 13th century, and replaced [...] The font is circular, with a peculiar clumsy outline, the bowl being held together by cleverly-designed modern straps of iron and copper." The church-interior plan in the VCH entry shows the font at the west end of the nave. The baptismal font consists of a round basin raised on a round stem and a small square lower base; there is a roll moulding at the upper rim of the basin, and another such moulding on the upper half of the stem of the base; the fonts is covered in a thick coat of whitewash; the basin itself is fitted with an odd wide metal brace [cf. supra], perhaps as reinforcement for a cracked basin. The wooden cover is round and flat, with metal decoration and ring handle; appears modern, probably Victorian. A local handout inside the church reads: "font is roughly circular tub, peculiar outline, believed to be Anglo-Saxon origin. Bowl is lead-lined, recently re-inforced with modern strips of ornate iron & brass"