Cringleford / Kri'gelforda / Cringaforda

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and was a rectory till Sir Alex. de Vaux sold it, with an acre of land, to Walter de Suffield, Bishop of Norwich, [...] who appropriated it wholly to St. Giles's hospital in Norwich, which he founded in 1249, [...] It hath a nave 22 yards long and 7 broad, and a small chancel, all tiled, and a north porch leaded [...] The steeple is square, and hath three bells". Wilson's Gazetteer of 1870-1872 reports "a fine crved font" in this church. It is described and illustrated in Tyrrell-Green (1928) as an octagonal mounted baptismal font of the Perpendicular period. Described in Pevsner & Wilson (1999): "Octagonal, C15. On steps the shape of a Maltese cross. Stem with fleurons in sunk panels. Bowl with vine trail like the font at Ketteringham." [NB: the "Maltese cross" steps referred to are actually the half-steps that are not uncommon on 15th-century plinths of this area; they permit several people to stand on the plinth at different heights]. Illustrated in Knott (2007), who writes: "The font is a good one, and must be very late 15th century if not a little later, with the vine trail which would become a motif of what would have been the English Renaissance if the Puritans hadn't stepped in." The panels of the basin are filled with elaborate foliage motifs; the underbowl chamfer has a wavy vine all around; the pedestal base has a tall round arch on each side with two square-flowers in it; the lower end of the base is octagonal with mouldings; the basin well is round. The wooden cover is round, flat and plain; modern; there appears to be a second cover, octagonal and flat, kept behind the font [cf. Images area]