St James Church - Bawsey Norfolk
Posted by: 
Norfolk12
N 52° 45.546 E 000° 27.738
31U E 328762 N 5848492
A ruined Medieval Church on the hillside, is all that is left of this once thriving Village in Norfolk. The new village has moved further eastwards.
Waymark Code: WMCP3Q
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/27/2011
Views: 2
Ruins of Church of St James at Bawsey,nr Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Grade: I
Date Listed: 20 June 1988
English Heritage Building ID: 221934
Locality: Bawsey
There is also a scheduled monument, Remains of St James' Church and Surrounding Saxon and Medieval Settlement, at the same location as this building or very close to it. This was the subject of a Channel 4 Time Team excavation in 1999.
"The Ruins of St James Church stand on a hillside outside of Kings Lynn in North Norfolk.
The huge, gaunt dissected tower and aisle walls manifests a very fine Norman archway. Recent excavations on the hillside around the church, revealed a fine skeleton of which the skull had sustained a powerful blow from a swordsman. Probably dating from the Anglo Saxon period, Bawsey Old Church may well be on the site of a much earlier settlement that pre dated the Normans, and one that was raided by Viking Norsemen." details from information board.
Records are rather scant about Bawsey, but it seems that the village was still thriving in the 16th century, but it was during that period the then current landowner decided to depopulate the village and hand the whole area over to farmland, reminiscent of the Clearances in Scotland.
He may well have had second thoughts though about demolishing Bawsey Church, which has slowly fallen into ruin over the passage of time.
"Bawsey is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is about 4 miles (6 km) east of the town of King's Lynn and 40 miles (65 km) west of the city of Norwich] The village sits astride of the B1145 Kings Lynn to Mundesley road that dissects North Norfolk west to east.
The civil parish has an area of 6.81 km2 and in the 2001 census had a population of 184 in 91 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk." details from wikipedia
In 1999 the TV programme Time Team Excavated around the area there discoveries are on the link.
Time Team Excavation Programme Link :http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/bawsey.html
Property page on English Heritage website: [Web Link]
I am an English Heritage Member: yes
Property Address:
Bawsey
Nr Kings Lynn
Norfolk
PE
Property maintained by:: English Heritage
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