Fundenhall / Fundahala / Fundehala / Fundenhale

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes; "F[undehale], At the Confessor's survey, belonged to one of his thanes named Burkart, who owned the chief part, and was patron of the church, which had then 24 acres of glebe [...] The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and was a rectory appendant to the manor [...] John de Creke was rector sometime before Norwich Domesday was made, and had a house and 40 acres of glebe, and it was valued at 15 marks with all the tithes", but Blomefield (ibid.) names "Ric. de Eye" as the first recorded rector here, putting John de Creke further down the chronological table, between 1270 and 1315. The present font here is noted in White"s Directory of 1883: "The font has figures of angels bearing shields, upon the shaft". Described in Pevsner & Wilson (1999): "Font. C15. Octagonal bowl with shields to alternate facets. Angels against the stem hold shields." Illustrated in Knott (2006). The octagonal basin is renellated around the upper side; between the shield sides are tracery panels; the underbowl is also decorated (floral motifs?); the stem is a cluster of four columns with decorated sides; on a two-step plinth. The wooden coveris octagonal and flat; 19th-century? [NB: the font looks remarkably sharp and clean for a 15th-century one; is it original, re-tooled or Victorian? -- we have no information on the font from the Domesday-time church here].