Lyng nr. East Dereham No. 1 / Ling

The Domesday entry for "Ling" records neither church nor cleric in it". Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The Church consists of 2 isles covered with thatch, a chancel, and has 6 bells. It is a rectory dedicated to St. Clement [...] Reginald occurs rector, ao. 9 Henry III" [i.e., 1225], which date would be consistent with the one attributed to the font. The entry for Lyng St. Clement's in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 notes: "The church is chiefly in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; the font is of Norman character". Tyrrell-Green (1928) writes: "The octagonal form persisted in fonts of the same class in the thirteenth century, with the change that in the Early English style pointed arches take the place of rounded ones in the shallow incised arcading". This font is one of them. Listed in Leach (1975) as a font made of Purbeck marble. Noted in Pevsner & Wilson (1999): "Octagonal, C13, of Purbeck marble, with the familiar two shallow poited arches on each side. Eight shafts and a central column, restored or renewed." Illustrated in Knott (2006). The interior of the basin is lead-lined; raised on an octagonal lower base and an octagonal plinth, both probably modern. The wooden cover is octagonal and tall, of very airy open-work; modern as well. The Family Source web site [http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Lyng,_Norfolk] [accessed 9 October 2013} notes: "Lyng St Margaret is an Ancient Parish in the Sparham deanery of the Diocese of Norwich. It includes Easthaugh and Ling Easthaugh. The patron saint has changed three times in the last 400 years - originally St. Michael’s, it changed to St. Margaret’s in 1652, then became St.Clements during the 19th Century, reverting back to St. Margaret’s by 1906. Records reflect different dedicatory names for the parish accordingly." [NB: we have not been able to find a single source for this information, but it appears to be correct with regards the changes in dedication of Lyng's present church] [cf. Index entry for Lyng No. 2 for the ruined church of Lyng St. Edmund's].