Ovington nr. Watton / Eaffington / Offington / Uvyton / Uvytone

No entry found for this Ovington in the Domesday survey. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "Uvytone Church is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist [...] The church and chancel are thatched; there is a square tower", and names "Will. Bozun" as first recorded rector, in 1304. Cox-Harvey (1907) lists a stone baptismal font of the Decorated period. Noted and illustrated in Cautley (1949); octagonal baptismal font of the "fused" type (the underbowl just fuses with the pedestal of the base without marked boundaries); the basin sides are ornamented with quatrefoil windows, each with an object in its centre (e.g.: shield, flower(?), etc.); every other side of the underbowl is ornamented with a large protruding bust of an angel (?) holding an object (musical instrument?); these figures, now decapitated or defaced, overlap the bottom of the basin sides [NB: the font at Mundford has similarly placed figures, but they are the symbols of the four Evangelists]; the remaining four sides have blind trefoil arches. At each angle of the basin and base, a thick, buttress-like vertical moulding. On an ctagonal plinth. Pevsner & Wilson (1999) report that this 14th-century font was originally in Watton St. Mary's until 1840. Noted in Knott (2007): "unusual 14th century font with a head in each corner, brought here after being removed from Watton"