Acle

There is an entry for Acle in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG4010/acle/] [accessed 29 March 2014], but it mentions neither church nor cleric in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The Church is a rectory dedicated to St. Edmund the King and Martyr [...] About the pedestal of the font—Orate p. ai'ab; qui istu' fontem in honorem dei fecerunt fieri Ao. Dni Mo. C. C. C. C. X.; here seems to have been a brass plate, with the name of these benefactors, but now lost [...] King Henry III. in his 5th year, presented to this church, Ralph de Norwich the Bishop of Lincoln (as the patent expresses it) refusing to present, to the prejudice of the King", which would provide documentary evidence of the existence of a church here by 1221 [5th of Henryy III's], even though the base of the round tower points to an even earlier date for the original church here. Andre (1889) notes: "At Acle the font has panels, one of which has the usual representation of the Trinity, and another the virgin of Pity, the latter a curious composition, as our Lord is portrayed reclining in the arms of His Mother, who appears to be offering to him her breast." Described in Cox & Harvey (1907): "The font at Acle, Norfolk, retained until time of 'restoration' a great deal of its original colouring and gilding; round the base is this inscription -- Orate pro animabus qui istum fontem in honore dei fieri fecerunt, Anno dni Millimo cccc decimo." Octagonal mounted baptismal font of the 15th century, it has a Latin inscription round the base dated 1410, the ornamentation of which is detailed in Tyrrell-Green (1928): the basin sides alternate the symbols of the four Evangelists with a Pietà, a symbol of the Trinity and others. A cherub with extended wings occupies each corner of the underbowl chamfer; the next level down is octagonal and has four-petal rosettes, one on each side; the stem of the base is square with buttressing sedente lions at the angles while the sides are occupied by club-yielding "woodwoses". The short plinth is octagonal and has quatrefoil motif all around, five to each side. Tyrrell-Green (ibid.) reports the presence of paint (red, green, black and gold) on the font surface [NB: T-G lists the font among those of the Decorated period]. Both the 1420 font and the eleven-inch high miniature-font are noted in Pevsner & Wilson (1997). The official Acle town site [www.acle.org.uk] mentions that "the wooden font cover, made in 1934, is a copy of the one at Castle Acre church." Billett (2006) notes that the modern cover was "donated in 1933". Described and illustrated in Simon Knott's Norflok Churches web site [www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm]. The panels, some heavily reconstructed, show the folowing [L -> R]: 1)Maiestas Domini; 2)winged bull, symbol of Luke; 3)angel holding shield charged with the Instruments of the Passion; 4)eagle, symbol of John; 5)Pietà; 6)winged lion, symbol of Mark; 7)angel holding shield charged with the emblem of the Trinity; 8)angel, symbol of Matthew.