Egmere medieval settlement is a

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England, about west of

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Exp ...

. It is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

The manor of Egmere was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as being held by the

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

. Subsidy rolls show a decline in population: in Egmere and Quarles there were 31 taxpayers in 1334, 10 in 1449 and 5 in 1523. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, the King granted the manor and patronage of the church to Sir James Boleyn. A report in 1603 noted that there was one household in Egmere, and that the church had become a barn. The church of St Edmund, now a ruin, dates from the 12th century; its tower is of the early 14th century. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Egmere remained a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

until 1935 and is now part of Walsingham.Vision of Britain
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Earthworks

The remains are on either side of the minor road between the villages of

North Creake North Creake is a village and civil parish in the north west of the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 414 in 184 households at the 2001 census, reducing to 386 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local ...

and South Creake in the west, and Walsingham in the east. South of the road are the ruins of the Church of St Edmund and the site of a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

. The church and churchyard are on a mound about above its surroundings. The church tower stands almost to its original height, and parts remain of the walls of the nave. The site of the manor house, about south-south-east of the church, is now occupied by two cottages; south of this are the earthwork remains of a formal garden, with a long rectangular ornamental pond, about long, on its southern edge. An area west of the church and manor house, along a stream, shows rectangular platforms, the sites of village buildings. North of the modern road are the remains of fishponds, and other features; there are channels thought to be evidence of a system for controlling the flow of water to and from the ponds. The main street of the village survives as a ditch: it runs south along the east side of the area north of the modern road; south of the modern road it bends to the south-west, passing immediately north of the church.

References

{{reflist Deserted medieval villages in Norfolk Scheduled monuments in Norfolk Church ruins in England Former civil parishes in Norfolk Walsingham

History

Earthworks

See also

References