Brettenham / Bretenham / Bretham / Brettenham nr. Thetford

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "It is a small parish of near 100 inhabitants; in 1603, it had 48 communicants [...] The Church and parsonage-house were burnt down in 1693: the nave was rebuilt, but the chancel was not; there is a square tower and one bell; the nave and south porch are tiled. This is written on the north wall, By this Place lyeth the Body of Roger Beales, who died June 29, 1711, and was Church-Warden alone for the Town of Bretenham, and built this Church after the Fire, being the 18th Day of May, in the Year 1693, and laid out all the money, before he made his Rate, to gather in any Money, and whose Names, and what every Man paid." Blomefield (ibid.) further notes that "1303, 5 id. May, a sequestration was granted to Alfred de Brok", first recorded rector. Blomefield (ibid.) cites three entries for this place in Domesday ["Bretham"], but neither of them mention a church or a priest here. Pevsner & Wilson (1999) inform that only the south doorway and the base of the tower of the original Norman church remain; the old church was almost in ruins at the time of its renovation by Teulon in 1852 [NB: the original font of the Norman church is assumed lost -- the present font, octagonal and of a Perpendicular design, is modern].