East Tuddenham / East Tudenham / Toddenham / Toteham / Tudenham

There are five entries related to [East] Tuddenham [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG0811/east-tuddenham/] [accessed 27 March 2014], one of which reports and church and church lands in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) gives the extent of those church lands as 20 acres, and describes the church of his time: "The Church of East Tudenham is dedicated to All-Saints, has a large broad nave and chancel, the nave covered with lead, the chancel tiled, and a square tower embattled, and 4 bells at the south-west end of the nave." Blomefield (ibid.) also notes that the patronage of the church had been "granted by fine a[nn]o. 15 King John" [i.e., 1214] to "the prior of Wyrmegey", priory which is identified in the VCH (Norfolk, vol. 2, 1906): "The Austin priory of Wormegay, dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Cross, and St. John the Evangelist, was founded by William de Warenne in the reign of Richard I" [1189-1199]. As per usual, the rectory was converted to a vicarage in the ensuing years. The present font is illustrated in Cautley (1949). Described in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as a round stone baptismal font. the basin is almost cylindrical, slightly narrower at the bottom; the upper rim side has a rope motif at the top followed down by a roll moulding of equal thickness; the sides of the basin are ornamented with a wide band of scroll-work; there are two other thin mouldings at the bottom of the basin, as well as one on the upper side of the pedestal of the base; this pedestal is rounded where it meets the underbowl but octagonal everywhere else and has a wider splayed lower base also octagonal. Noted in Pevsner & Wilson (1999): "Late C12, circular, with a broad band of stiff-leaf trails." Noted and illustrated in Knott (2006): "The font is unusual for East Anglia, in that it is circular; vines and foliage twist around it. Pevsner thought it late 12th century, which means it is probably contemporary with the doorway. Perhaps they were crafted by the same hands." [NB: the round-to-octagonal stem is a later replacement of the original base, as is the octagonal plinth with kneeling stone]