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Passed this place so many times and seen it hanging there in the distance. Finally got to go round this photogenic ruin when I parked up in a lay-by on the A149 and walked across the farmer’s field. Just east of Kings Lynn, the hill-top remains of Bawsey Old Church are visible from miles around. Seen by many but visited by few. The silhouette is quite impressive from the King’s Lynn A149 By Pass, between the Queen Elizabeth and Knights Hill roundabouts. The village of Bawsey St James was still thriving up to the 16th century. Until, that is, the landowner decided to depopulate the village and give the whole area over to farmland. Fortunately the old church of St James was just left to decay. The surviving sections of the tower and nave date from the 11-12th centuries, whilst the remaining part of the chancel is 14th-15th century. It is built from local carstone and iron conglomerate and occasional flint and limestone dressings, constructed in the Romanesque style. It was dedicated to St.James and fell into ruin as far back as 1745.
It became a TV star in March 1999 when Channel 4’s Time Team excavated the surrounding area and found a 14th-century tile. On it was the lettering ‘THOMAS’ printed backwards. It is thought to refer to Thomas de Wigginhall, whose term of office as prior at Castle Acre ended in 1376. Also found on the hillside around the church, was a skeleton of which the skull had sustained a powerful blow from a swordsman. Bawsey Old Church was possibly the site of an earlier pre-Norman settlement that was raided by Viking Norsemen.
img7640 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7642 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7662 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7645 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7648 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7651 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7653 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7655 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img7657 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Thanks for looking!
It became a TV star in March 1999 when Channel 4’s Time Team excavated the surrounding area and found a 14th-century tile. On it was the lettering ‘THOMAS’ printed backwards. It is thought to refer to Thomas de Wigginhall, whose term of office as prior at Castle Acre ended in 1376. Also found on the hillside around the church, was a skeleton of which the skull had sustained a powerful blow from a swordsman. Bawsey Old Church was possibly the site of an earlier pre-Norman settlement that was raided by Viking Norsemen.
img7640 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7642 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7662 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7645 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7648 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7651 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7653 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7655 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg7657 by HughieDW, on FlickrThanks for looking!
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