Godwick
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Godwick is a deserted village in the county of
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 ...
. Its location was south of
Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north west of Norwich. The town is the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to Norw ...
between the villages of
Tittleshall Tittleshall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 238 - East Dereham & Aylsham''. . Location The village and parish of Tittleshall has an area of 1376 hectares or . The parish is ...
and Whissonsett. There are over 200 deserted villages in
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 ...
, but most sites have been destroyed by ploughing, the pressures of two world wars or other agricultural uses. Only a few still have impressive surface remains. The earthworks at Godwick are well preserved because the site is grazed by
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
and has never been disturbed. Today it is one of the best surviving examples in the county and the only one open to the public. There is agreement between the owner and
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
over the opening and the management of the site, which is open between April and September from 9:30 am until dusk. On site there are information panels with displays of aerial photographs, maps and interpretation plans of this lost village. The earthworks are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is an offence to disturb the site or use metal detectors without the written permission of English Heritage.


Origins

Godwick was first settled in the Anglo Saxon period. By the 15th century Godwick was a small village which was a relatively stable community, but was comparatively poor alongside neighbouring settlements. It was in the 15th century that the village declined sharply. A series of bad harvests, and the difficulty of cultivating the heavy boulder clay soil, eventually proved too much for the dwindling population. In 1428 there were under ten households.Alan Davison, ''Deserted Villages in Norfolk'' p. 69 By 1508 a survey taken showed that of 18 properties on the north side of the main street, 11 were empty and three had no land holdings attached. The same
survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...
showed that a church lay to the south and there was also a
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
with a millpond. By 1595 further decay left Godwick virtually deserted. Its final stages of decay were recorded in an
estate map Estate maps were maps commissioned by individual landowners or institutions, to show their extensive landed property, typically including fields, parkland and buildings. They were used for display and estate management and were fashionable from ...
of 1596 when only three or four houses remained and the
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
tower had collapsed.


The Village Today

What remains of the medieval village today, consisted of a sunken way running east to west with two other roads running off to the south. Along both sides of the street can be seen banks and ditches separating individual house plots. About ten of these still remain to be seen. The church stood within a similar enclosure in an angle between the streets. At the eastern end of the site, the village street ran along a dam holding back a millpond with a small watermill at the far end. The line of the dam is now covered by farm buildings. In 1981 a remaining part of the church tower survived a collapse. The 13th-century church tower had been raised as a brick and flint folly when the church was pulled down in the 17th century. This folly may well have formed part of a scheme of landscape architecture for the later Godwick Manor. Inspection of the 1981 collapse found evidence of a
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
church amongst the rubble. Also still to be seen on the site is a large 13th-century red-brick barn with an elaborate façade, built over the line of the street. During the reign of Charles II, 200 men were garrisoned there and although access is barred, it is possible to walk round it and enjoy its beautiful windows.


The Later Godwick Manor

In 1585, in the middle of the deserted village,
Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, Chief Justice and Attorney General to
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
, built a fine brick manor house, having purchased the estate in 1580. The ruins of the house, which was E-shaped with an impressive two-storey porch and windows, were pulled down in 1962. Its square outline can just be picked out as slight humps in the grass. It had a walled yard and entrance to the north, and around the hall a pattern of formal gardens and enclosures was laid out. Godwick Manor was the birthplace of Admiral Sir William Hoste.


References


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Godwick
Abandoned Communities ... Godwick and Grenstein
North Norfolk Deserted medieval villages in Norfolk Archaeological sites in Norfolk Former populated places in Norfolk Breckland District