Stratfield Mortimer / Stradfeld / Straffeld / Stratfeld Mortymer / Stretfield

There is an entry for this Stratfield [Mortimer] [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SU6664/stratfield-mortimer/] [accessed 29 April 2015], and it mentions a church in it. The Victoria County History (Berkshire, vol. 3, 1923) notes: "At the time of the Domesday Survey there was a church in Stratfield Mortimer [...] Against the south wall of the chancel fixed in an upright position is a large Saxon tombstone which was found in two pieces under the tower of the old church when it was pulled down in 1866. [...] The [present] church of St. Mary the Virgin was built in 1869 on an old site. [...] All the internal fittings are modern." The CRSBI (2015) notes and illustrates an earlier font in this church: "Octagonal tub font basin on floor at W end of S nave arcade. The font has no signs of carving except for a cross scratched in the bottom of the basin. It is severely eroded, and shows marks of lock damage on two opposed sides of the rim. It is not lined. [...] could date from the 12thc". The modern stone font has a carved basin with a conical wooden cover suspended from above; both probably from the 19th-century re-building.