Methwold nr. Brandon / Matelwalde / Melewde / Methelwalde / Methewolde / Midlewolde

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The Church of Methwold is dedicated to St. George, and was built, as I take it, in the reign of Edward II. [i.e., 1307-1327]", but adds, "1148, Alfric the priest was rector", which would put the existence of a church here to a much earlier period, though none is mentioned in Blomefield. Kelly's directory for Norfolk (1925: 273-275) [transcribed in http://apling.freeservers.com/Villages/Methwold1925.htm [accessed 12 March 2013], however, may provide a clue to an earlier church here: "There was once an older church situated at the edge of the close on which still stands the tithe barn of the Augustinian Priory of Brumwell ( later Broomhill ), founded by Sir H. de Plaiz in the reign of King John, and dedicated to SS. Mary and Thomas, of which various remains have been disinterred; it was probably the church of the original Saxon settlement of the Buntings, by which last name the lower part of the village is still known." Although the date in King John's reign is later -John reigned 1199-1216- the latter church existed much earlier than the present one. [NB: we have no information on the original font(s) of the12th-century or 14th-century church here].