Church Asl

Aslacton is a quiet village some twelve miles
south-southwest of Norwich. The name of the
village, spelt Oslactuna and Aslactuna in the
Domesday Book (1086), means Oslac's village an
old English name. It was sufficiently busy in the
Middle Ages to be granted a weekly market in
1263.

Like many churches dedicated to St Michael, the
building stands on a hill; the archangel became
the protector of the high places when the pagan
Anglo Saxons were converted to Christianity. The
church is just over two miles west of the Roman
road running from the settlement of Caistor St
Edmunds southwards and, like many churches in
the vicinity, it has very early foundations.

The tower is one of about 120 round towers in Norfolk. As there is no local building stone it is thought
that they were built round in order to remove the need for freestone quoins at the corners. Apart from
the mediaeval parapet, the tower is entirely Anglo Saxon, over 900 years old.

In Blomefield's time (c.1740), there was glass in the east window of the chancel, depicting an infant in a
cradle, who was said to be a foundling left at the church stile. He was reared by the parish and named
Aslac; he became a standard-bearer to Edward III and refounded the church. (If this story is correct,
one would expect some of the fourteenth century features to be his work.) There were also eighteen
coats of arms in this window some two hundred years ago, in what must have been an interesting and
very colourful display.

(Extract taken from the church guide produced by Rev. John R. Law, Simon Cotton and Roy Tricker)