Stanwell / Stanwelle

There is an entry for Stanwell [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TQ0574/stanwell/] [accessed 21 October 2015], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The entry for this parish in the Victoria County History (Middlesex, vol. 3, 1962) notes: "In 1204 the king confirmed a grant of land made by William of Windsor to the parson of Stanwell. [...] This may have constituted the first endowment of a church there. In Domesday Book no priests at Stanwell or East Bedfont were mentioned, but there was one at Stanwell's hamlet of West Bedfont. Most of East Bedfont had recently ceased to be a berewick of Stanwell, and it seems possible that the separate parochial organization of the two villages was established only after 1086. [...] East Bedfont had a church by the mid-12th century. [...] In 1342 a chapel was consecrated across the river in Colnbrook. The inhabitants of the town who lived on the Stanwell side of the river used the chapel, but they continued to owe tithe to the parish church." Of the present church of St Mary the VCH entry (ibid.) notes: "The nave has three bays, the base of the tower forming a fourth bay at the west end. The arcades are of the 13th century, with alternate circular and octagonal piers. The remains of 13th-century piscinas have been found in the chancel and the south aisle, and have been repaired. [...] The south aisle and chancel are of the 14th century: the north aisle was rebuilt in 1863 [...] The tower is of three stages. The lowest is 13thcentury, the second, which is flint chequework, is 14th-century, and the third, with an embattled parapet, slightly later"; the VCH entry mentions no font in it. The present font in this church is Victorian, probably from the mid-19th century restoration by Teulon. [NB: we have no information on the font of the medieval church here].