New Buckenham / New Bukenham

No entry found for New Buckenham in the Domesday survey. Blomenfield (1805-1810) writes: "A Church dedicated to St. Martin, on the north side of the burgh, where it now stands [...] and after this was founded, the chapel of St. Mary continued to be served as formerly, by a custos and brethren, at the prior's appointment [...] The present church was built at divers times, the nave and chancel being the only (if any) remaining parts of the first building; the north isle was built about 1479 [...] This church is a donative, the minister being chosen by the majority of the votes of all the residents in the parish, that pay to the minister's rate [...] On the font, Knevet's arms: it was erected" [NB: there does not appear to be any arms on the font now -- there had been several members of the Knevet family in the expansion of the church, and Thomas Knevet owned one of the manors of New Buckenham ca. 1572, according to Blomenfeld (ibid.)] Noted in Cautley (1949) as a font dated 1619 by an inscription. Described in Pevsner & Wilson: "On a quatrefoiled step. Against the stem four lions and four Wild Men. The bowl is dated 1619, and an interesting example of how the Jacobean carved re-cut and remodelled motifs of the Perp[endicular] style." Described and illustrated in Knott (2006): "On a medieval stem with wild men and lions on it is an early 17th century bowl. Fonts of this kind are often considered 'Laudian', but in fact this predates Laud's reign as Archbishop of Canterbury by 13 years. There are several of these fine, interesting fonts in Norfolk - there are good ones across the county at Gaywood and Tilney All Saints - but this one has the added detail of the churchwardens' names, Thomas Colman and Christopher Sudbury, and a very precise date, February 1st 1619. The stem has been recut, as likely by the Victorians as the Jacobeans."