Watton nr. Ovington/ Wadeton / Wadetuna

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "Ralf FitzWalter held of the Conqueror's gift, there being four carucates in demean, wood sufficient for its mast to maintain 400 swine, and a church with 20 acres of land belonging to it, worth 1d. an acre [...] The Church was placed by the old manor-house, (which is now quite demolished,) and stands between the present town and WattonGreen [...] The church is very small, which shews that the town is increased since its foundation; it is only 20 yards long, and including the two isles, 11 yards broad; the steeple is round at bottom and octangular at top, having three large bells". Blomefield (ibid.) names "Ralf de Frezinfield" as the first recorded vicar here, in 1302. Pevsner & Wilson (1999) note the original baptismal font of this church under Ovington, Norfolk, where it was moved ca. 1840 [for details of that font cf. Index ebtry for Ovington]. The present baptismal font at Watton St. Mary's is of Caen stone, consisting of an octagonal basin with vertical sides decorated with foiled panels; graded moulding on the underbowl; pairs of cinquefoil windows on the octagonal stem, and moulded lower base. The wooden cover is octagonal and flat, made of oak, with a carved top. Both the font and the cover appear modern, probably installed in the 19th-century renovation of the old church. [NB: it is not clear from the Domesday entry [cf. supra] "Idem. tenet. i. ecclesia xx. acr. et val. xx.d.", whether the said church dated back to pre-Conquest time, when "Wadetuna tenuit Aldreda libera femina". We have no information on the font of the original church here].