Ruined Churches in Norfolk
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:52 Evelyn |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() With its more than 800 medieval places of worship Norfolk has more churches than there are in the whole rest of Great Britain. 125 of the 185 surviving examples of round tower churches in the country can also be found in Norfolk, predominantly built of knapped flint, in areas lacking normal building stone. Churches are often located on pre-Christian sites of worship and they are almost always oriented so that the main altar faces Jerusalem, i.e. is situated on the east end, with the layout of graves in adjoining churchyards following suit. The medieval church dominated everybody's life: peasant farmers worked for free on church land and paid 10 percent of their earnings, either in money or in goods produced, to the church in return. The parishioners were responsible for the upkeep of the nave, which was their domain, whereas the chancel belonged to the priest. In the centuries to follow, however, depopulation as well as changes in settlement patterns resulted in the abandonment of many parish churches which became ruinous as a consequence. During the 20th century further depopulation of rural areas in combination with an increasingly secular society led to a decline in congregation numbers and to redundancy of another wave of churches. When parishes are struggling to support repair and maintenance costs, their church is more often than not closed. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:35 Tiger |
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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:43 Dace83 |
![]() The remains of St Bartholomew's church ![]() St Ethelbert church (remains of) |
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 15:58 Evelyn |
21 July 2020: Due to the censorship and the imposition of editorship by the current Board of Directors - Christine Johnstone, chair; Mark Anderson, Stephen Craven, Michael Dibb, Peter Facey, Barry Hunter and Ruth Sharville - I am currently removing all my Articles. I would perfer to also remove all my Galleries, this being one of three, were it not for the fact that I am unable to do so because access to edit is denied. |
Sat, 1 Aug 2020 14:59 RH3 |
Nice collection |
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