Shipdham No. 1

There are five entries that refer indirectly to Shipdham in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TF9507/shipdham/] [accessed 27 March 2014], one of which reports a church and church lands in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) explains the Domesday references: "In the book of Domesday we find no account of Shipdam being a lordship, or possessed by the church of Ely, but that Thorp, a town of considerable value at that time, though now (as I take it) included in Shipdam, was one of the lordships of that monastery, in the Saxon age, given to it, with that of East Derham, by Ethelwold Bishop of Winchester, in the reign of King Edgar, and extended into Shipdam. [...] On he foundation of the see of Ely, this lordship was assigned to the Bishop, and made part of his barony [...] he was patron of the church of Shipdam." The church at Shipdham, adds Blomefield (ibid.), "is dedicated to All-Saints, and was in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely. It appears that the rector, in the reign of Edward I. had a manse, with 60 acres of glebe, and that there had been formerly a vicar belonging to it, but at that time there was only a rector [...] The church is a good pile, with a very broad nave and chancel, and a north isle that runs the whole length of the nave and chancel, all covered with lead; at the west end of the nave is a strong four square tower, embattled, with 5 bells, a dial, and clock. On the tower, an handsome lantern or turret, covered with lead: between the nave and chancel hangs the saints bell.

Pevsner & Wilson's note (1999): square Norman font, with two rosettes and two sets of three flat arches; the base consists of five columns with cushion capitals. Tyrrell-Green (1928) refers to fragments of a square Norman font mounted on columns at Shipdham, Norfolk; it is not clear whether or not this is the same font. Noted and illustrated in Knott (2007). The basin may have been square originally but was cut into an octagonal (?) shape; it is possible that the font was damaged before it was cut, as the missing chunk on one side indicates, and the 'trim' was done to use the font despite the damage. [NB: the other font in this church is from the Perpendicular period [cf. Index entry fro Shipdham No. 2]]