Hevingham / Evincham / Hevincham

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "the capital manor and advowson belonged to Leustan, the ancestor of Teheli, in the Confessor's time, and after Teheli it came to Earl Ralf, who forfeited it to the Conqueror, whose manor it was, and Godric the sewer took care of it for that prince; who soon after granted it to a freeman, a priest, who held it at the survey, by the tenure of singing three masses every week, for the soul of the Conqueror and his relations; [...] and this priest left it to the Bishop of Norwich and his successours, who were lords and patrons. [...] The Church is dedicated to St. Botolph, and the chancel to St. Mary [...] These two transept chapels, made the church in form of a cross; the tower is square, in which there are five bells; the chancel, nave, and south porch are leaded. [...] There are many stones here, but the brasses are reaved; there remains one plate by the font, which shows, that Richard Rayner died 27 August, 1593." Blomefield (ibid.) names "Richard de Sutton" as first recorded rector here, in 1307. Thomas (1846) reports: "Font. Hexagonal, bowl and stem continuous, mutilated fig[ure]s under drop arches with Dec[orated] tracery; basin in cavity." The font is noted in Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of 1870-1872: "The church [...] contains an ancient font". Rye's Index of 1881 refers to "Archa. xvi, p. 335" [to be checked]. White's gazetteer of 1883 reports: "The church possesses a curious hexagonal font, with mutilated figures under florid Gothic arches, which was completely restored in 1881." The present font here is listed in Cox-Harvey (1907) as a stone baptismal font of the Decorated period. Pevsner & Wilson (1997) note: "Only the stem is original C14 work. Hexagonal with statuettes in niches and a Crucifixion." [NB: we have no information on the font from the pre-Conquest church here].