A few weeks ago I went round half a dozen Norfolk churches. I'd just finished the first one and a local asked me if I liked churches and pointed me in the direction of a little village of Beachamwell which had 3, one intact and two derelict. Here are the derelict ones,
St John's, Beachamwell
The remains of St John are more substantial than those of All Saints, a mile or so off, and so it is interesting to discover that this church fell into redundancy many years before All Saints did. When Catholic England came to an end, and the Anglicans inherited more churches than they possibly knew what to do with, it was inevitable in this area of tiny parishes that many of the churches would no longer be needed. Tiny parishes, probably because this part of England was relatively heavily populated in Saxon times, and the manors were necessarily small. Each had its own church, and, before the 16th century, congregational worship was fairly low down on the list of priorities for a parish church. There was no need to count bums on seats, but the Reformation put an end to all that.
There is an intriguing vignette in the work of the early 18th century antiquarian Blomefield. He came this way, and found that the ruins of St John had been converted into cottages.
All Saints, Beachamwell
One of four former parish churches in and around this fairly remote village, the scanty remains of All Saints sit on a hilltop to the south-west of St Mary. You can walk to them from the village green. Little survives, mostly chunks of the lower part of the tower, but enough remained in the early 18th century for the antiquarian Blomefield to think it worth a visit. Thanks to the splendid St Mary church guide, we know that he found the chancel arch intact, and a 17th century tomb chest to the Athow family of Wells Hall. After the Reformation, when All Saints fell into disuse, it seems to have been bought by the Athows, probably as a family mausoleum. But the family died out, and so in the 17th century All Saints began the long road to the almost total degradation we see today.
For many years, the ruin was a notable landmark, the dramtic west end forming an arch against the sky. In the early 20th century, the site was excavated, and some of the fruits of that dig are on display at St Mary - the font, a shield and an inscription, the last two probably from the tomb that Blomefield saw. The brass he saw has vanished.
11 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
8 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
7 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
5 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
6 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
4 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
3 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
2 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
7 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
5 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
4 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
3 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
1 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
St John's, Beachamwell
The remains of St John are more substantial than those of All Saints, a mile or so off, and so it is interesting to discover that this church fell into redundancy many years before All Saints did. When Catholic England came to an end, and the Anglicans inherited more churches than they possibly knew what to do with, it was inevitable in this area of tiny parishes that many of the churches would no longer be needed. Tiny parishes, probably because this part of England was relatively heavily populated in Saxon times, and the manors were necessarily small. Each had its own church, and, before the 16th century, congregational worship was fairly low down on the list of priorities for a parish church. There was no need to count bums on seats, but the Reformation put an end to all that.
There is an intriguing vignette in the work of the early 18th century antiquarian Blomefield. He came this way, and found that the ruins of St John had been converted into cottages.
All Saints, Beachamwell
One of four former parish churches in and around this fairly remote village, the scanty remains of All Saints sit on a hilltop to the south-west of St Mary. You can walk to them from the village green. Little survives, mostly chunks of the lower part of the tower, but enough remained in the early 18th century for the antiquarian Blomefield to think it worth a visit. Thanks to the splendid St Mary church guide, we know that he found the chancel arch intact, and a 17th century tomb chest to the Athow family of Wells Hall. After the Reformation, when All Saints fell into disuse, it seems to have been bought by the Athows, probably as a family mausoleum. But the family died out, and so in the 17th century All Saints began the long road to the almost total degradation we see today.
For many years, the ruin was a notable landmark, the dramtic west end forming an arch against the sky. In the early 20th century, the site was excavated, and some of the fruits of that dig are on display at St Mary - the font, a shield and an inscription, the last two probably from the tomb that Blomefield saw. The brass he saw has vanished.
11 by graemehutton64, on Flickr8 by graemehutton64, on Flickr7 by graemehutton64, on Flickr5 by graemehutton64, on Flickr6 by graemehutton64, on Flickr4 by graemehutton64, on Flickr3 by graemehutton64, on Flickr2 by graemehutton64, on Flickr7 by graemehutton64, on Flickr5 by graemehutton64, on Flickr4 by graemehutton64, on Flickr3 by graemehutton64, on Flickr1 by graemehutton64, on Flickr
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