Morston / Marstuna / Merston / Merstuna

There are two entries for Morston [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG0043/morston/] [accessed 29 January 2014], but there is no mention of church or cleric in either of them. Blomefield (1805-1810), who uses the spelling "Merston" in his entry, writes: "The Bishop of Norwich's manor of Langham extended into this town, and was the principal manor, the patronage of the church being in the see. In the 15th of Edward I. the Bishop claimed, as lord, frank pledge, a gallows, assise of bread and beer, wreck at sea, &c. It remained in the see till granted to the Crown by act of parliament, in the 27th of Henry VIII. [...] The Church is a rectory, dedicated to All-Saints." The present font here is described and illustrated in Betjeman (1958): "15th-cent. octagonal font with the four Evangelists, interspersed with the Evangelistic symbols, on the panels" [NB: the symbols of the Evangelists are correctly identified, but the identification of the seated figures is probably not correct, as at least one of them is clearly female. In this style of font, common in Norfolk, the figures alternating with the symbols of the Evangelists are usually saints of the Church]. The decoration of the underbowl chamfer alternates floral and heraldic motifs. Like the basin itself, the stem of the base is octagonal with vertical sides, these decorated with a blind arcade of trefoiul arches; short moulded lower base, also octagonal. The tall plinth is octagonal and plain, with a single step cut into every other side of the octagon. Pevsner & Wilson (1997) described the figures as "four seated Saints" and give a 15th-century date for the font. Described and fully illustrated in Knott (2004).