Corpusty / Corpesti / Corpesty / Corpsty

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The church of St. Peter of Corpesty hath a square tower, with one bell hanging in it, and two more stand in the church [...] The chancel and south porch are tiled; the nave is leaded [...] The Rectory was given to the priory of Horsham St. Faith, to to which it was appropriated, the prior being taxed for his spirituals here, viz. the appropriate church of Corpsty at the rate of 8 marks, without the taxation of the Vicarage, which was endowed with the small tithes, the prior being to repair the chancel, who always presented to the vicarage till the Dissolution. I have met with the following Vicars here: 1333, Robert Attechurch, of Corpesty" [i.e., naming the first recorded cleric here]. There is no mention of a church or priest in the Domesday entries for Corpusty (fols. 43, 147, 209), so the building of the original church here must have occurred between 1086 and 1333. Thomas (1846) reports: "Font. Decorated, daubed with lime -- in cavity, glass bottle, yellow basin and rags." The font here is noted in Lewis' Dictionary of 1848 as "a handsome sculptured font". Dated in Cautley (1949) to the 15th century. Noted in Pevsner & Wilson (1997) as 15th-century. Keeler [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nickkeeler/Corpusty%20Church%20History.htm] [accessed 21 October 2007] comments: "The font looks 19th century, although Cautley thought it to be fifteenth century (Cautley, 1949, 188); it has been smashed by vandals" [and further reports: "The church stands isolated, a hill climb away from the village of Corpusty. Saxthorpe Church, 1 km to the north, is nearer and more convenient for the parishioners. It has not bee used since 1965." Octagonal basin decorated with castellated pattern on the upper and lower rims, and large quatrefoil-in-a-circle panels on the sides; a cinquefoil panel or arch decorates each face of the octagonal pedestal base, the splaying lower base has castellated apttern all around. A "Pencil and watercolour. 30.4 x 21.8cm. Bequeathed by R.J. Colman, 1946" is illustrated in the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery web page [http://www.sandys.norfolk.gov.uk/sand149.htm] [accessed 21 October 2007]. Simon Knott (2005), of Norfolk Churches, reports and illustrates the situation of the church in 1974, after it was badly damaged by vandals, and reports the efforts to restore the interior of the church, still going on ca. 2005. The font was among the objects vandalised. [NB: we have no information on the font of the original church here].