How Church Ruins Reveal The History Of Norfolk

[@wertperch]

Churches rock, East Anglian churches rock most. I think it's the quality of flint. I was talking to someone earlier about the things we miss about the UK, and church architecture was high on both our lists. Once again, thank you for informing and entertaining!

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

I don't think I'll ever tire of visiting Norfolks ruined churches hidden around the countryside 😍

[@PiousMoltar]

About 15 years ago, my mum was part of a genealogy website and forum and they wanted to get pictures of churches so people could see where their ancestors were buried etc. Me and my mum would drive around Norfolk, Suffolk and even Cambridgeshire touring all the towns and villages to take photos of every church we could find. So seeing all these Norfolk churches is really bringing back the memories.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ah that's beautiful! Well I have many photos of Norfolk churches in my photo albums - mostly church ruins since that's what I prefer to photograph. So, if you wanted some photos of any church ruins in particular just let me know and I will happily send you them. Send me a DM on Instagram

[@JANN-JAPAN]

I’ve watched my first video on this channel just now. My ears really perked up when I heard Norfolk. That’s where some of my ancestors emigrated from in 1638. One or more was involved in some trouble with a church there. Possibly in Hingham. I immediately thought I’d like to see the church. I think it still exists. Anyway, the family history is quite interesting and I thought it would be fantastic to see videos of the church and properties they owned. I hope to visit some day and walk the land where they once walked. I’m definitely looking forward to watching more of the videos on this channel!

[@carywest9256]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Just found your channel, my grandfathers family name was Shelton, which is South of Norwich,east of Long Stratton. There is a story about Princesses Mary & Elizabeth I staying at Shelton Hall or whatever it was called in the1500s. Know about that?

[@elim6]

Thank you for another fascinating video. I look forward to the rest of the series.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

A pleasure ☺️

[@HauntedandAbandonedNorfolk]

Great video Alex cheers for sharing

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

A pleasure! I'm sure you've visited most, if not all, of these places yourself ☺️

[@nickyfield137]

I can see eight from my garden and one day riding the twenty miles to work it astounded me to count twelve that I passed close to !

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

8 church ruins from your garden? :O

[@nickyfield137]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy not ruins, churches

[@bl7355]

I would love for you to look at Flixton Church, near Oulton Village in Suffolk. It lost its roof during a major storm in the 1700s. There isn’t much to video but I’m sure it could form part of a larger video on churches in the area.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ah interesting, where abouts is it? I had a little look on Google maps and I saw that the ruins of South Elmham minster is nearby, did you mean that one or does flixton have its own church ruin?

[@bl7355]

Ah, not the Flixton near Bungay. I am referring to the one between Lothingland and Blundeston. It is a ghost Parish and has only 40 residents. The remains of the church are small and almost completely covered in ivy but the churchyard seems quite large. It used Roman bricks scavenged from Burgh Castle in its construction.

[@lemorab1]

This is very interesting. Thank you for putting this together. Is there any chance you can find and photograph drawings or watercolors of these churches and ruins during the past several centuries? I'd love to see that, juxtaposed with filmed sites, if this is possible.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

I have a few drawings and old photographs of various church ruins but they are scattered over various folders on my PC. I could try to fish them out and include them on the next video on my church ruins series :)

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Usually the nearest church has an information board which talks about the local history and sometimes includes old pictures of the church ruins. You can also google "Norfolk ruined churches" and there's an amazing website that comes up. I use it for a lot of my research.

[@wendesmith6240]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Hello, would it be possible to get CCs for your channel.

[@DavidH-ym6ro]

Can you re-record the audio so it's audible?

[@BrianPlace-y2z]

Thank you, Alex. As a CNS "old boy" 1966-72, I am struggllng to remember the name of a small mediaeval church in a back alley of the city centre which functioned as a tiny museum of church art and artefacts: the exhibits included (as I recall) vestments made in the famed English Work mode, stitched usually by nuns. Usually despoiled or burnt at the Reformation, nonetheless I believe that much was smuggled or sold abroad, to the European mainland, which had been an appreciative market for such garments since Saxon times. My memory (some sixty years or so afterwards) is that the church itself had beautiful angels below clerestory level protruding out over the nave, with very long ornate wings - a particularly Norfolk characteristic, we schoolboys were told by our guide! Can you or anyone else supply the name of that church museum and confirm if it still exists? Thanks.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Oof there's so many churches to choose from in Norwich, I'm trying to remember myself! I know that Peter Mancroft church has restored medieval paintings and fabrics on display but that is a very large and well known church. St. Julian's is a small lesser-known church which sometimes displays artwork but I don't know if that's the one you're thinking of. St. Benedicts and St. Lawrence's often has artwork and museum stuff on display. Truth is I'm not sure!

[@BrianPlace-y2z]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Thanks for responding so promptly. Of course, I am recalling events from the mid to late 1960s. The (old grammar school) CNS was very commited to Local Studies as a curriculum item for the whole range of its pupils at that time: local history visits to Venta Icenorum, geography trips to the Fens and the North Norfolk coast [glacial terminal moraine], and local industry visits like Jarrolds, Ballys and [our favourite] Macintosh's sweet factory. The church museum visit was a small affair I think - maybe not the whole class. The church was quite small and, I think, located to the North of the Guildhall and the Market - perhaps veering towards the Cathedral area. (So long ago!) The church was of course mediaeval but we were told was no longer in use as a church - hence its use as a primary and exclusivemuseum space. This suggests to me that it remained a CoE asset rather than being a municipal one, at that time. Its location was on a narrowish road, not quite an alley, with no churchyard or grounds to speak of; you just seemed to walk in off the street. Shops and at least one pub were proximate enough to merit the description of being within a stone's throw. (A couple of years later, when of majority, I think me and friends visited the nearby pub to marvel at the perpetually sozzled landlord who sat in place behind the small bar counter.) At least some of the needlework vestments and so on were displayed behind glass, just like a "proper" museum. Beautiful if faded. But it was the sight of the angels lining the nave/clerestory, long wings tucked back against their bodies, that entranced. How they escaped the reformers' and Puritan iconoclasts' musketballs, I don't know. The church names you mention don't ring any bells to me (I've been gone 50 or so years), and frankly any art they might display sounds pretty incidental and secondary. Hope it's not lost (eg by fire) or converted into flats or sundry "other use" purposes. If so, perhaps the exhibits were rehoused on other CoE premises - like St Peter Mancroft that you mention.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Hmm, there's just so many possible churches that fit the description somewhat...I recommend checking out two websites - Norwich Historic Churches Trust, and Norfolk Churches. Google those titles and you should be able to find all the surviving churches in Norwich with individual histories of each church. I know St. Mary-The-Less is a hidden church behind Queen Street, opposite the cathedral at Tombland, that church was used to sell artwork and artisan furniture back in the day so that may be a possible contender.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

And yes I know of Venta very well, it was my old stomping grounds growing up. I used to go net fishing for minnows in the stream at the bottom of the field. Every now and then you'd see a Pike swim last and as a small child, those Pike looked massive!

[@araucaria5173]

A real pity about the audio, otherwise it's very interesting.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Apologies, I have since updated my audio quality a little!

[@AndyVonal]

Love your videos, but please sort out the audio.... get a decent mic! Thanks!

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Check out my latest video - new mic already acquired! :D got it last month

[@AndyVonal]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy Cool! Sorry if I sounded like a bit of a nag!

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Not at all :)

[@captaininspector8898]

nice to see an Anglian history buff bor a ya roight ?

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ayy that ain't half bad accent u got thur my bor

[@captaininspector8898]

@@AlexTheHistoryGuy thas roight hentut ! do you keep a troshin !

[@Kiss_My_Art]

New sub here 👋 I'm not a native of Norfolk but I've lived here nearly 10 years (yes I know, I'm still a newbie!) my parents came to live here 35 years ago....I adore this county, it's old fashioned (in a good way), it's locals are just wonderful, the skies are broody, balmy and beautiful, the churches whether they still be standing or not are simply stunning, the views are spectacular, the dialect can be insane but very amusing and Norfolk is most definitely NOT flat ! .....and it's fabulous to hear & see some excellent video's on somewhere that's still very, very English ! 👍

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ayy thank you I really appreciate that - sounds like you have many hidden gems of Norfolk to visit! Hopefully some of my local videos will inspire some future day trips for you.