Saxthorpe / Saxthorp

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The Church of Saxthorp is dedicated to St. Andrew, has a square tower, with 4 bells, a nave, 2 isles, a south porch, a chancel, and vestry, all covered with lead; it was formerly a rectory valued at 20 marks, appendant to the manor". Blomefield (ibid.) names "Roger Crees instituted vicar, presented by the master and fellows of Pembroke-hall" as the first recorded here, in 1350, and adds that "Peter Page" took over the church in 1482: "In his time the present church was built by the lord of the manor, his tenants, and this vicar, who seated the church, and the initial letter of his name, a capital P, with a crown over it, may be observed, carved on the seats, the crown over it denoting St. Peter to be his patron, and tutelary saint, and the bottom of the P, having a cross, bespeaks his own christian and sirname; his arms are, or, a chevron between three martlets azure; his crest is the holy lamb holding St. George's banner; he lies buried by the font, with this remembrance; Corpus Petri Page hujus Ecclesiœ Vicarii, sub hoc marmore sepultum, Anno Domini M.CCCCCXXXVI. " The present font is described in Pevsner & Wilson (1997), who date the font 14th-century. The same source (ibid.) describes the cover: "a small charming little piece dated 1621. The drum has foliage carving, no longer strapwork, and there are eight thin solid fins scrolled like volutes tapering up to the top." Described and illustrated in Simon Knott's Norfolk Churches (2005): "The shaft of the font is probably contemporary with the chancel" [i.e., the Decorated period]. The octagonal pedestal base is decorated with a busy pattern of qautrefoil-in-a-circle motifs and traceried window patterns. [NB: the basin is plain, but for a moulding around the lower side and another at the bottom of the underbowl chamfer; from what can be discerned from the photographs, it is probably a Victorian replacement].