Saint Andrew - Bacton

Saint Andrew - Bacton (Link)
A Church interior being repaired
© Godric Godricson

The interior of the Church of Saint Andrew at Bacton looking East. This is one of those East Anglian Churches that are a long way from their present community with no sign of being part of a community. A path leads from the graveyard out into the lonely fields. In magnificent isolation on the day that I visited Saint Andrew's was being renovated. The floors were up and the building was largely dark and uninspiring to the sound of hammers.

I was left with the idea of Churches in the medieval period that were 'failing' or perhaps under threat, This must be what it feels like to be in a semi derelict Church. Perhaps this was what it was like to be inside the Beachamwell Churches as they became derelict? I hope to go to Bacton when the work is completed.

All Saints - Beachamwell

All Saints - Beechamwell

The ruined Church of All Saints - Beachamwell, is the sort of site that I really like. It is romantic, fragile and away from the crowds. The Church is also ruined and the sort of place that would be included in a 'lost graveyard' report.

The site is dramatic and out of the way down a footpath and on a slight rise in the land. All Saints is ruined, vulnerable and momentarily dramatic as it finally falls into the same ground from which it arose. The flints that forms the remaining walls are seperating from each other and on a hot day in June 2012 it was hard to see where the walls began and ended. The wind blew through the site and the wild grasses rustled in an evocative sort of way.

The outline of the Church was evident from walking the site and the lumps and bumps of the field were noticed underfoot. There were no burials evident amongst the grasses and I'm sure that even if there were stone memorials they have long gone as the locals robbed the site of building materials for the world of the living. The remaining walls have plants colonising the mortar and the the wild flowers help the final stages of dissolution.




All Saints - Beachamwell
Crumbling walls in a sea of grass

© Godric Godricson



All Saints - Beachamwell
"Big sky country"

© Godric Godricson



All Saints - Beachamwell

© Godric Godricson





Saint John -Beachamwell

Saint John -Beechamwell

The village of Beachamwell is blessed by the presence of the two ruined Churches of All Saints and Saint John. Both Churches are in the process of being swallowed by the Earth that provided the materials for their construction. Saint John has a tower that speaks to the traveller across the fields even if the voice is now ever so quiet with the passing of time.

There is no obvious graveyard at this site with any memorials having disappeared years ago as is the way with such things

Saint John -Beachamwell
Crumbling walls in a sea of sheep

© Godric Godricson



© Godric Godricson


 

Saint John -Beachamwell
© Godric Godricson





The ruins of Saint Andrew - Southolm Juxta Hale

I'm interested in Church ruins because they often contain lost graveyards and a source of social history. Regrettably the site of  Saint Andrew (Southolm Juxta Hale) is a bit of a mystery. I know where the Church should be in the landscape although there is clearly nothing on the surface. Industrial ploughing has taken away the site of the building in the plough soil and the locals have robbed out the stone and flint. Whilst the remains of the departed are no longer commemorated they continue to rest in this magnificent environment.

From the Anglican Church website.... "Holme Hale was originally two lordships: Holm and Hale, both held in the 14th century from Lord Fitzwalter: Holm by Sir Robert de Hulmo and Hale by Sir Edmund de Illeye. The two lordships were separate, distinct places, each with a church dedicated to St Andrew. The Black death in 1349 decimated the population, and the two lordships were eventually combined in about 1375, doubtless on the authority of Edward III"

It's a pity that the modern Church of Saint Andrew in the nearby village of Holme Hale has always been locked when visited. Doubtless through the needs of the Anglican clergy and community.



Saint Andrew - The deserted village of 'Southolm Juxta Hale'.
The faithful departed under the field
© Godric Godricson