Heath and Reach nr. Leighton Buzzard / Heath & Reach

The Victoria County History (Bedfordshire, vol. 3, 1912) notes: "The church of ST. LEONARD at Heath and Reach has but little history, the oldest part being the west tower, which dates from the end of the 16th century. [...] There are no fittings of any interest." The 'Heath and Reach Church Repairs and Additions' piece on the Bedford County Council web site [www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/HeathandReach/HeathAndReachChurchRepairsAndAdditions.aspx] [accessed 22 September 2015] notes: "Some of the following information is taken from former County Archivist Chris Pickford's Bedfordshire Historical Record Society volume Bedfordshire Churches in the 19th Century: Parishes H-R. [...] n 1866 and the church was suitably extended [...] A new font was made and installed in memory of Martin Benson." This source illustrates the new font, consisting of an octagonal basin of vertical sides, one (?) of which is carved with a foliage motif, raised on clustered colonnettes and a moulded round-to-octagonal lower base, very much a piece of Victorian taste. The source does not mention the fate of the original 16th-century font here.