Farnborough nr. Wantege / Farnbergh / Fearbeorth / Fearnberughe / Fearnbornthaen / Feornbeorh / Feornberge / Ferenburgh / Fernbeorngan / Fernbergam / Fermeberge

There is an entry for this Farnborough [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SU4381/farnborough/] [accessed 11 May 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The Victoria County History (Berkshire, vol. 4, 1924) notes: "The advowson belonged in the 12th century to the Abbot of Abingdon, whose right to it was confirmed by the bull of Pope Eugenius in 1152. [...] With the exception of the 15th-century tower, the building dates from the 12th century"; the baptismal register starts in 1553 but there is no mention of a font here in the VCH entry. The National Gazetteer of 1868 reports "a hansome font" in this church. The present font is modern, probably of the 19th-century renovation of the church: octagonal basin with deeply-carved side panels bearing painted emblems, on a base of clustered columns. The wooden cover may be older, or contemporary but of an older design, an octagonal pyramid with a floriated finial. [NB: we have no information on the font of the 12th-century church here].