Corton in Lowestoft / Caretuna / Karetun / Karetuna

Suckling (1846-1848) writes: "The Church at Corton, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, was once a noble structure, of which the chancel only is now used for divine worship, the body of the church having long been a roofless ruin"; apparently this situation had existed since the mid-18th century; there is no mention of a font in Suckling's entry for this parish. A re-cut font is reported in Knott (2010): "A doorway in the south-eastern corner leads through into the body of the church. This consists of the truncated nave and a long chancel with a large perpendicular window filling the space with light. There are silvered bench ends set against the north wall, and the recut medieval font sits rather awkwardly in the middle of the nave", and notes that "where the font was once is now a pretty garden". Described in Bond (1908) as having "demi-angels" alternating with lions on the sides of the octagonal basin. The original font location is now an open space arranged as a sitting corner amid the ruins and next to the new church entrance; a ground stone arrangement appears to mark the spot where the original font stood. The baptismal font is located now inside the church, just west of the presbitery steps, as Knott indicates, rather awkwardly; it is a font of typical 15th-century East Anglian design, consisting of an octagonal basin with deeply-carved panels decorated with four seated lions alternating with four angel demi-figures holding shields charged with emblems (one has three cups or chalices each with a crossed wafer on it; another has three crowns [See of Ely or East Anglian arms]; another has a baculum, a lance and a key crossed [NB: the emblem includes a lance or arrow, a key and a baculum or staff (episcopal?) [NB: could this be related to to the Abbot and Convent of Leiston, who, according to Suckling (1846) held the advowson of this church at the time this font woulf have been made? Suckling (ibid.) also suggests Leiston may have been the founder of this church, and notes that between 1376 and 1529 Corton church was under the patronage of the Abbot and Convent of Leyston]; [we have no information available on the other two symbols]); the frames of the panels are decorated with tiny rosettes; the underbowl chamfer has two levels: the upper level has cherub heads at the angles; the lower level has floral motifs on the panels; the pedestal base, as usual, octagonal-to-square, the sides decorated with four seated lions alternating with four slender buttresses; resting directly on the ground, althouth it is likely to have stood on a plinth originally. Evidence of re-cutting and/or damage and restoration, especially on the upper half of the basin. The wooden cover is octagonal and flat; appears modern. [NB: there is sort of lapidarium puzzle made up of fragments of architetural remains inside the church; it has been suggested that some of them may have belonged to the font base [its missing plinth?].