Norfolk Churches and religious sites.... some pictures

[Mid diesel]

a few Norfolk churches...

whilst I cannot claim that these were great new explorations (having a baby son as assistant does limit you a little, I think the pictures came out ok so I thought I would share them.... comments welcome, as ever!

All Saints Church Hainford -- stuck out of the current village and replaced by a newer church

All Saints Church Billocby -- struck by lighning in 1762 - it's well known and very rewarding to photograph at all times of the year

Burgh St. Mary Church - not a lot of this one left

And of course... St. Benets Abbey..... complete with its windpump tower

 

[sam]

there's quite a few norfolk churches that have gone to ruin. i meant to get around them all but then discovered norfolk is quite a big place and you couldn't get to norfolk and round it in a day.

i forget the name of the guy who cycles about to all of them, mostly norfolk, and reports whether the door's open or not (not for the same purposes as us, quite, but he gets annoyed if the door's locked). he has a website called norfolkchurches or something.

nice to see pics of some of them. what's with the weird tower thing built in the middle of the last one?

sam

 

[lizzibear]

What a strange conical tower, I've never heard of a windpump! It looks very out of place, almost industrial looking. It reminds me of those books for children where you have split pages so that you can add a completely different top half to a person or animal.

 

[Mid diesel]

the tower is for a typical Norfolk windpump.... used to drain the land for agriculture -- you can find dozens of pictures of them lablled as windmills!!

The pump was added to the ruined site in about 1800 --- it'ssituated in the old gatehouse

The earthworks are very significant too.

"St Benets is particularly significant for the archaeology of Norfolk for a number of reasons:

* It was the only Anglo-Saxon monastery in the county which continued in use throughout the Middle Ages. The only other comparable sites in the region are Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk and Ely in Cambridgeshire.
* However, unlike Bury and Ely the site was left undisturbed after the Dissolution because of its inaccessible location. Today, St Benets contains a very fine set of earthworks which have not been built over or dug into since. The place is well worth a visit
* Because of the waterlogged nature if its location, it is likely that the site's underlying archaeology contains well-preserved organic remains of Anglo-Saxon and medieval date of great importance.
* The medieval gatehouse and adjoining eighteenth-century windmill are so well known that they have become an icon for the county's historic landscape. The scene of the ruins beside the River Bure has featured in so many paintings and photographs from the Norwich School onwards that it is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the Norfolk landscape. It never fails to evoke interest.
* This was the only monastery in Britain which survived the Dissolution, because, instead if closing the monastery, the king exchanged it for lands owned by the Diocese of Norwich. Although it was soon closed and all the buildings, except for the gatehouse, were demolished, the Bishop of Norwich can still claim to be Abbot of St Benets."

 

[Black Shuck]

Mid I have been to Ludham its only just up the road from me. Here ar some shots from an earlier xsplore.

 

[Mid diesel]

it's a magical place at night - especially if you are 16 and have rowed up the Bure with tons of beer...

My brother lives in Ludham -- where are you Black Shuck?

 

[Black Shuck]

it's a magical place at night - especially if you are 16 and have rowed up the Bure with tons of beer...

My brother lives in Ludham -- where are you Black Shuck?[/QUOTE I am in Yarmouth Mid, its just about 15mins up the A149 from where I live.

 

[HypoBoy]

That picture really brings back memories for me of our incredibly dull RE teacher boring us for hours on a school field trip. Ironic really, as I'd love to see the place again now

 

[Black Shuck]

That picture really brings back memories for me of our incredibly dull RE teacher boring us for hours on a school field trip. Ironic really, as I'd love to see the place again now

Foxy told me that wall looks like Nessie!

 

[Mid diesel]

it's a magical place at night - especially if you are 16 and have rowed up the Bure with tons of beer...

My brother lives in Ludham -- where are you Black Shuck?[/QUOTE I am in Yarmouth Mid, its just about 15mins up the A149 from where I live.

i know yarmouth well -- i spent too many years living in and around Hemsby......:elvis:

 

[Black Shuck]

I am up near Yarmouth Racecourse in the North of the town. Not all that far from Hemsby! The Weather Station was one of my very first explores!

 

[Mid diesel]

I am up near Yarmouth Racecourse in the North of the town. Not all that far from Hemsby! The Weather Station was one of my very first explores!

we used to race down fremantle road many years ago and pull large handbrake turns on that huge sheet of grass that used to be opposite the racecourse.....

my sisters is still in yarmouth and lives behinds the rows near the police station

 

[djrich]

Some cracking shots there guys.