Illington / Illinketuna / Illinketune / Ilsingtune

Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "Illinketune, Ilsingtune, or as it is now called, Illington, is a small village joining to Rowdham and Lerlingford; the church is dedicated to St. Andrew, and is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Norfolk, and deanery of Rockland. It hath a rectory-house and glebe, and was valued at 6l. 19s. 2d. in the King's Books [...] In 1603, there were 32 communicants in this village, and now [1737] there are about 60 inhabitants; it paid 53s. to the tenths, and is now assessed at 257l. to the land tax [...] The Church and chancel are very small, having a square tower at the west end." Bomefield (ibid.) gives "John de Bukenham" as the first reported rector, in 1313; the Domesday (fol. 91) entry cited in this source mentions neither church nor priest in it. An entry for this site in 'Derelict Place: Documenting Decay' [www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?p=128456] [accessed 27 February 2013] informs: "St Andrews Parish Church of England Illington Norfolk Built in 1672 there was an appeal for funding in 1882 and it was finally restored in 1887 recorded Baptisms was 1813 to 1880 can not find any information in the 1900's for the church other than there was a Faculty to confirm the erection of a cross on the north wall of the church, with citation in 1924. Also here was Notes of dates and inscriptions of the three bells of St Andrew's church, Illington, early 20th century. c 1900-1939 [...] Records are pretty scarce on this church unfortunately. [...] Was not sure how to gain access to this site, the access roads were very thin and not alot of space to park, you could see the church from the main road but didnt seem to be accessible, we walked down the farmers drive in hope to ask them how to get there but half way down was the entrance to the public bridleway which led straight to it. You can not get in it is very secure and bolted. The site is very overgrown" [The entry in this site is accompanied by a number of photographs of the church]. The church is listed in The Norfolk Churches Trust [www.norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk/featureddetail.php?id=29#.US5zalno7ig] [accessed 27 February 2013] as a 'leased' church: "The church itself has a Norman nave but is best known for its perpendicular tower and a picture of it is currently up on the Home Page of the Norfolk Churches Trust website. It is very distinctive with its battlements picked out in diamonds of flint and stone. The belfry windows are also quite special with quatrefoil tracery. The interior is sparse. In addition to the Norman nave, there is a Norman doorway and a curious window on the south side which can be explained by two arches which must have accessed a now vanished aisle. One of the arches has a 12th Century grotesque corbel. The church contains a curious Jacobean bier which looks as though it might have been a table. The Victorians were responsible for the rest of the furnishings and the roof. In 2002, a Pagan Saxon graveyard was discovered to the South of the Church. Evelyn Simak, a frequent visitor of Norfolk churches [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1758770] [accessed 27 February 2013], notes: "St Andrew's church has been redundant for almost three decades, ever since the building had been declared too dangerous for use and regular services ceased with a baptism that took place in 1983. [...] When the church was declared redundant the Redundant Churches Fund declined to accept and it took until 1997 for the Norfolk Churches Trust to be able to lease the church and to carry out essential repairs and two services per year are once again being held here. The tower dates from the 14th century. The nave is believed to be older - it has several Norman windows and the arches in the south nave wall [...] - one above the doorway and another around a window - are evidence of the building once having had a south aisle. The baptismal font [...] is believed to date from the 14th century. It was repaired and a text was carved around the top of the bowl at some later time. Pews, pulpit and roof are Victorian. A carved head corbel [...] and a niche in the south east nave are medieval and mark the location of a medieval side altar. The only stained glass in this church is in the east window tracery lights [...] where two St Andrew's crosses can be seen depicted."