Thetford No. 1 / Deodford / Tedford / Tedfort / Tefford / Tetford / Theford / Sitomagus

There are five entries for Thetford [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL8782/thetford/] [accessed 6 September 2015]; a total of 12.5 churches are noted in it, with one hide of church lands as well. Blomefield (1805-1810) writes of this church: "Anciently called St. Mary's the Less, is in the deanery of Thetford and archdeaconry of Norwich, and was taxed at 3l. but there being no institution, it is not mentioned in the King's Books, neither do the names of its ancient curates appear. It is the only parish church now standing on the Suffolk side of the town; it belonged to Roger Bigod at the Conquest, and was given by him to the priory of his foundation in this town, the prior being rector of the impropriate parsonage; the cure was always served by one of the monks till the Dissolution". Tyrrell-Green (1928) mentions a square font of the Norman period at "St. Mary's Thetford (Suffolk)" ornamented with zigzag motif. Pevsner & Wilson (1999), in their entry for the Church of St. Cuthbert, Thetford, write: "Font. Moved from St Mary-the-Less in 1976. Square, with tapering sides. This looks Norman, but could be C17. Primitive volutes at the corners. Incised band of scallops between." In the corresponding entry for St. Mary-the-Less, they write: "Font. Moved to St Cuthbert and replaced with a dull C19 font." [NB: Thetford is listed in the GENUKI site as "Norfolk, part Suffolk"]