North Creake nr. Burnham Westgate No. 2 / Creic / Creich / Creke / Creyk / Kreichten / North Creak

In his entry for 'North Creak' Blomefield (1805-1810) notes an earlier church here: "In the reign of King Edward I. Sir John de Creyk was lord and patron, when there was also another church, called St. Michael in the Mount, in which there was service only once a week: it was parochial, had a right of baptism, and said to be the most ancient church. The rector had a manse, and 5 acres of land [...] In a bill in chancery preferred by Richard Corbet Bishop of Norwich against Dereham, &c. farmers of Creak abbey, it is set forth, that of the church of St. Michael in the Mount here Richard Vowel was parson, when his brother, William Vowel, lived in the abbey by Creke, and farmer of it, who by the allowance, &c. of his brother Richard the parson, did pull off, and carry away the lead of the said church, and deface the same church, whereby the next farmer of the same, viz. Francis Brampton, Gent. did intitle himself to the said ruins, and as lord of the same abbey, did grant to Francis White the said chapel, by the name of St. Michael, to hold to him and his heirs, by the rod, paying 1d. per annum, and is since come to one Titchwell, to the disinherison of the Bishop, patron of the same, at least alternis vicibus." [NB: Richard Corbet (1582-1635) held the bishop titles of Oxford (1628) and Norwich (1632), which would date the existence of St. Michael's church and its demise somwhere in the 1th century]. Compton (1890) quotes Blomefield [cf. supra] on the existence of St. Michael's church and adds: "This church has disappeared. By Chancery proceedings instituted by Richard Corbet, Bishop of Norwich, during the incumbency of Richard Vowell, the Rector of St Michael, who died in 1550, it appears that William Vowell, the Rector's brother, who lived in the Abbey by Creake, and farmer of it, did, by the allowance of his brother Richard, the parson, pull off and carry away the lead of the said church, and defaced the church, whereby the next farmer of the same, viz., Francis Brampton, gent., entitled himself to the said ruins, and as lord of the Abbey granted to Thomas White the Chapel of St Michael, to hold by the rod, as a copyhold tenement, to the disinherison of the Bishop, patron of the same, at least alterius vicibus. At Docking, about six miles from South Creake, there is an old font in the possession of a farmer's wife, named Burgis, who before her marriage lived with her father, a farmer, at North Creake. My nephew, Mr. Arthur Compton, lately saw this font, at Docking, and has given me the following description of it: "It is octagonal, every other face being plain, the alternate ones having a sculptured device. It has no stem or base, but it is cemented to a stone figure from the waist upwards, It has a canopy over it. Until a few years ago this font was used as a drinking-trough in a farmyard at North Creake, and the image, thrown down on its face, served as a door-step. Mrs. Burgis has set up the font and figure as an ornamental flower-pot in her garden, and she refuses to part with them for love or money. It is supposed in the neighbourhood to have come from Creake Abbey." May it not be the font of the Church of St. Michael in the Mount, which it is stated was parochial, and had a right of baptism? [NB: we have not been able to locate the font reported in Compton, or determine where it originated -- cf. Index entry for North Creake No. 3]