In 1086 Much Marcle was an important royal manor, and had been held by Earl Harold before the Conquest. It was rated at 17 hides, and the inhabitants consist of 36 villans, 10 bordars, a reeve, a Frenchman and a radknight (or mounted retainer), 8 slaves, 6 female slaves, an oxman and a priest with his church. These 66 listed inhabitants could imply a total population as high as 300. The tithes from the manor and the church were paid to the abbey of Sainte-Marie de Cormeilles, a Norman house favoured by William fitzOsbern whose son, Roger of Breteuil, Earl of Hereford, revolted against king William and was stripped of his earldom and exiled, not being released until the Conqueror’s death. He regained some status under Henry I, and was rewarded with the lordship of Much Marcle, which his descendants held under the surname of Balun until the 14thc.

The English Heritage listing text describes the font as ‘C13 with tapering bowl surrounded by three raised bands as if derived from a wooden, band-reinforced tub font,’ and although the date is certainly wrong the comparison with a barrel is an interesting one. Pevsner (1963) does not mention the font at all.