Chatteris / Cateriz / Cetriz

There are two entries for Chatteris [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL3985/chatteris/] [accessed 14 April 2016], neither of which mentions cleric or church in it. The Victoria County History (Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, vol. 4, 2002) notes: "The church of Chatteris was granted to the nunnery by Bishop Niel (1133-69) and confirmed by Prior Roger (c. 1210- 29) [...] The church had originally a chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, and west tower. In 1910 it was in need of repair and a drastic reconstruction then began which involved the rebuilding of the whole fabric with the exception of the nave arcades, western south porch and tower. [...] The font has a plain octagonal bowl and shaft and is of 14th-century date." The church interior plan in this same source shows the font in the northwest corner of the north aisle. The Parish web site [www.chatteris.org] notes: "The Parish Church was given by Bishop Nigel of Ely in 1162. The Abbey held the patronage or 'right of presentation', and was to provide a chaplain to conduct services [...] The parish church, the Abbey and much of the town of Chatteris, was burnt down in a fire which raged between 1306 and 1310. Not until 1352 was the church restored, rebuilt and reconsecrated - by the Bishop of Ely. So the Vicar at the time, Richard, was a priest without a church and died in 1349. This 1352 church was the church basically that was restored and mainly rebuilt in 1910." [NB: the present font may well be the replacement font introduced with the re-buliding completed in the 1350s -- we have no information on the earlier font of this church]