Smallburgh / Smalb'ga / Smaleb'ga / Smalberga / Smalberge / Smalbergh / Smalburgh

There are two entries for Smallburgh [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG3323/smallburgh/] [accessed 30 April 2014], but neither mentions a church or priest in it. Blomefield (1805-1810) notes: "In the reign of Edward I i.e., 1272-1307] the abbot was patron. The rector had a manse and 8 acres of land [...] The prior of Norwich is said to have a portion of tithe [...] The Church is dedicated to St. Peter and is a rectory [...] In 1677, the steeple fell down, and defaced part of the church; 2 bells were sold to build up a gable, and one left." Blomefield (ibid.) writes about inquisitions and fines related to the patronage of this church, and adds "But all these by several deeds, sans date, about the time of King John, as I take it, released all their right to the abbot" [of St. Bennet's abbey], which woulf put the date of the original church here between 1199 and 1216 at the latest. The present font here is nooted in Pevsner & Wilson (1997): "C14, octagonal, colums against the stem." Illustrated in Knott (2005). The octagonal basin has plain vertical sides; the underbowl is formed by the moulded capitals of the colonnettes of the stem, and there are bases on them to match. On a modern octagonal plinth. The wooden cover is octagonal, flat and plain, with an overly large metal ring handle.