Heydon nr. Aylshan / Stinetuna / Stinton

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The town of Heydon is not known by that name in Domesday Book, but was then in Eynsford hundred, and was called Stinetuna, [...] or Stinton", and notes that "the church, which had 14 acres of glebe" is reported in the Domesday survey, a church which Blomefield (ibid.) describes as being "dedicated to St. Peter and Paul, and is a rectory not capable of augmentation [...] a good regular building, having a nave, 2 isles and chancel, covered with lead; the north vestry is in decay; there is a handsome square tower and three bells, and north and south porches, tiled." Blomefield (ibid.) names "Roger de Brewse, subdeacon", first recorded rector here, in 1310. Blomefield's entry for Stinton, in the hundred of Eynford, mentions the Domesday entry with the "Stinetuna" church in it. The font here is illustrated with an engraving by J. Basire in Repton (1812), who writes that this font was "probably executed from about the reign of King John [i.e., 1199+] or Henry the Third" [i.e., 1216+]. Paley (1844) describes as a Norman font in which "the under side of the bowl is bevilled away or rounded off to meet the stem [...] and this hemispherical form is extremely common in Norman fonts as at Cuxwold, Lincolnshire; Clipsham, Rutland; Heydon, Norfolk; Laxton, Northamptonshire; Plymstock, Devonshire." [NB: did Paley really see this font and let it pass as Norman?]. Thomas (1846) dates it to a very early period: "Font. Excellent preservation, but painted; disused; character, Norman." Thomas (ibid.) adds two footnotes that are quotations from Poole (1) and Paley (2): 1)"Some of these round tub- shaped fonts may be of Saxon, many of them are certainly of Norman date." Poole." 2) "The hemispherical form is extremely common in Norman fonts, as at Heydon, Norfolk," &c Paley". Described in Betjeman (1958) as "a most exceptional 'tub' font". Pevsner & Wilson (1997) give a 13th-century date for this font. Baptismal font consisting of a cauldron-shaped basin decorated only with a double roll-moulding at the upper rim; the base is circular and has several roll mouldings of different thickness; all raised on an octagonal plinth. The general shape of the basin resembles cauldron bowls such as those at Little Billing (Nhants.) and Wirksworth (Derbs.) Noted and illustrated in Knott (2004) with date in the 18th century.