Whipsnade / Wehsnade / Wylibesende

No entry for Whipsnade found in the Domesday survey. The Victoria County History (Bedford, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The earliest mention of the church occurs in 1228 [...] The tower is 16th-century work, with a west door way of c. 1480 re-used"; there is no mention of a font in the VCH entry. [NB: we have no information on the medieval font from this church]. A font here is mentioned in notes in a 4th September 1847 article on the church written by WA [i.e., John Martin, librarian at Woburn Abbey], and published in the Northampton Mercury, in the Bedford County Council page 'Whipsnade Church Alterations and Repairs' [www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/Whipsnade/WhipsnadeChurchAlterationsAndRepairs.aspx] [accessed 23 September 2015]: "The font is a poor modern manufacture [there had been no font in 1842 [ABCV128]]; bad as it is, no use is made of it. The roof is tiled. The churchyard is accessible". The present font in this church consists of a shallow moulded octagonal basin raised on a slender pedestal base decorated with pointed arches, and a moulded octagonal lower base; the flat octagonal cover is modern, made of wood.